Within the world of anime, certain series and films have become iconic. There are the progenitors like Astro Boy and Mazinger Z; your shōnen favorites like Dragon Ball and One Piece; and you can’t forget about the cultural juggernauts, films like Akira and Ghost in the Shell.
It’s tough competition, but in the 1990s, Hideaki Anno and Studio GAINAX created one of the biggest series of all time - not in length and scope, but in cultural influence. Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-1996) came out over 30 years ago now, and it hasn’t left public consciousness since its release.
From an initially polarizing conclusion to numerous films, spinoffs, video games, and a merchandising empire, Neon Genesis Evangelion (NGE) has redefined anime and culture as a whole.
The Legacy of Neon Genesis Evangelion
While the original 26 episodes came out between 1995 and 1996, the series did not end there. Fans (and critics) of the series wanted more from the ending. It was apparently too open-ended and abstract, straying too far from the action that characterized the first half of the episodes.
What followed was Evangelion: Death and Rebirth, The End of Evangelion, Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, Evangelion: 3.0 (-46h), Evangelion: 3.0 (-120min), Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, and now a new anime series is on the horizon. Audiences wanted more, and Anno and Studio GAINAX delivered.
Beyond just these, there were manga spinoffs, light novel series, dozens of video games, crossovers and collaborations, and a merchandising explosion. In addition to around 50 pachinko and pachislot games generating billions of dollars in revenue, there are amusement park rides, attractions, and if there is a product, there is an NGE version of it, including:
- Shovels
- Ice Packs
- Razors
- Wedding Rings
- House Paint
- Credit Cards
- Tamagotchis
- Electric Cars and Car Chargers
- And "American Style" Buckets
It’s a lot, but the studios were happy to put more NGE material on the market after seeing the home video sales keep coming in. Both VHS and LaserDisc copies of the series were hot commodities in Japan and overseas. It was one of the first anime series in Japan to really blow up through word of mouth and home video sales.
NGE had a measurable impact, both in sales and cultural influence, and with so much peripheral material for the series, it is easy to get lost in the legacy. Yes, people can recognize A Cruel Angel’s Thesis or the Rei and Asuka character types (or see them racing in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds), but what actually is Neon Genesis Evangelion?
The Beginning of GAINAX, Hideaki Anno, and Neon Genesis Evangelion
You can’t discuss Neon Genesis Evangelion without talking about GAINAX and series creator Hideaki Anno. He began working in the animation industry in the early 1980s while at University, and soon chose professional work like 1984’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind instead of finishing school (he was expelled for not paying tuition).
After this, he helped co-found GAINAX. He became the go-to animation director at the studio, leading projects like Gunbuster (1988) and the series Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (1990-1991). Anno was successful, but felt little creative fulfillment with these properties. Around this time he fell into a deep depression, which was then exacerbated by the failure of GAINAX’s Uru in Blue (1992).
Anno was troubled, but used these feelings as inspiration for NGE. An executive had practically guaranteed the team a TV timeslot to do anything, and Anno wanted to create something for anime fans, for the otakus. He envisioned a new take on the mecha genre with his own clinical depression as the blueprint for the series and characters.
In 2015, after a global cataclysm, Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, and Asuka Langley Soryu are three teenagers who pilot EVAs, bio-mechanical mechas that protect Tokyo-3 from “Angels.” They fight to prevent another cataclysm, but the organization they’re working for, NERV, is more focused on the Human Instrumentality Project, forcing humanity to evolve and merge together.
Anno created something that wowed a small audience in a children’s timeslot, but the later episodes of a more cerebral NGE, diving into characters’ psychology and trauma, was too much for them. NGE later moved to a more adult-oriented time slot, but navigating timeslots was not the only problem the show faced.
The series began airing with only 12 finished episodes, and this took GAINAX two years. Now, with inadequate materials and staff, they had to produce 14 episodes in eight months. As the series progressed, GAINAX and Anno had to move away from the planned ending. The new ending took place in the main characters’ minds.
It was unclear what actually happened, and viewers did not like this ending. They wanted answers.
After the previous failure of Uru in Blue, Anno struggled, even contemplating suicide after seeing further criticisms of his work. However, neither Anno nor GAINAX wanted the series to end here, though. Going into 1997, the project to re-adapt the original scrapped ending began. In March, the studio released Evangelion: Death and Rebirth, a full-length film that amounted to a 70-minute recap of the first 24 episodes and a 24-minute preview of something that may provide viewers with the answers they wanted, the project that became The End of Evangelion.
The End of Evangelion (1997)
A remake/alternate ending, The End of Evangelion released just a few months after Evangelion: Death and Rebirth. GAINAX’s budgeting issues were in the past, and fans old and new alike got to see Anno’s original vision.
A great way to contrast The End of Evangelion to the original NGE’s ending is that it is more of an external depiction of this merging of humanity, while the original series opted for an internal exploration of Shinji’s mind.
While people cannot agree completely on what happens during the ending, what Shinji and Asuka’s words mean, they can agree that both the series and the film are groundbreaking. From the script to the direction, the sound design to the music, and all of the abstract symbolism in between, Neon Genesis Evangelion was something the masses had not seen, something that changed the course of all anime going forward.
The Rebuild of Evangelion Tetralogy
Anno originally intended NGE to inspire a new generation of otakus, and with The End of Evangelion he wanted to tell the rest of the story, closing off the series (while also rejecting fans/otaku who had an unhealthy obsession with the series and sent him death threats after the original’s ending).
This was the goal, but in 2007, Anno and GAINAX began the Rebuild of Evangelion, an alternate retelling tetralogy of films using new visual technology to make the series accessible to non-fans.
With more fans than ever before and fewer limitations, technological and budgetary, Anno wanted NGE to be the new Gundam (an ongoing property with new creators telling new stories). When he started the project in 2000, Anno originally wanted this new tetralogy to be with a new creator, but everyone was too intimidated to touch the series.
In 2007, the world got Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, essentially a retelling of episodes 1-7 with earlier introductions of characters like Lilith and Kaworu.
Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance was released in 2009 and retells episodes 8-13 with a major change at the end.
Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo came out three years later in 2012, and it’s here that this alternate telling goes in a new direction.
In 2021, the world got the conclusion of this tetralogy with Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time. Without jumping into spoiler territory, this film essentially deletes the Evangelion universe.
The Future of Neon Genesis Evangelion
With an ending like that, what does the future have in store for the Evangelion property? Well, at the Evangelion: 30+; 30th Anniversary of Evangelion Festival earlier this year, a new anime series was teased with CloverWorks at the helm alongside Studio Khara (Anno’s studio after leaving GAINAX).
What’s really exciting is that this might be Anno’s original vision coming to fruition. Instead of being attached to the project himself, there are new names like Anno’s protege Kazuya Tsurumaki and Tōko Yatabe directing, Yoko Taro writing, and Keiichi Okabe handling the music (each a titan in their respective field).
In the years since the original series, Anno has mostly stayed away from anime. He had a large role in the Rebuild tetralogy, but his main efforts have been with Studio Khara and the Shin Japan Heroes Universe. He wrote and directed Shin Godzilla (2016), wrote and co-produced Shin Ultraman (2022), and wrote and directed Shin Kamen Rider (2023).
Studio GAINAX also has no role in the property’s future - they filed for bankruptcy in 2024. Financial issues have plagued their entire existence, but before dissolving, they transferred media rights to the rightful owners.
Culturally, people look at Neon Genesis Evangelion fondly, citing it as an incredible influence in the anime space and media as a whole. Anno and GAINAX excitedly explored religious, philosophical, and psychological ideas as they deconstructed the mecha genre and anime tropes as a whole, and in the process, they created a new status quo.
Many texts post-Neon Genesis Evangelion explore themes of grief and trauma, including the aloof and mysterious girl (Rei) and the overbearing, bossy girl (Asuka). Yes, the idea of alternate futures, incorporating outside elements of mythology and religion, isn’t new. However, you can trace a direct line to NGE essentially making the postmodern exploration of sophisticated ideas more mainstream, at least in anime circles.
It was complex, it was controversial, and now it’s standard watching for anyone who wants to say that they’re an anime fan, or more generally, a media fan. It’s not the pinnacle of what artists can make in the anime space, but it is certainly one of the most groundbreaking and pioneering, making it more of a cultural touchstone today than a simple “anime.”
