News & Updates

Evangelion 3.0+1.0 has grossed over 10 billion yen in Japan

By The Eva Monkey on Monday, July 12th, 2021

Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon a Time
Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon a Time

The official Evangelion twitter account has announced that Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time has grossed over 10 billion yen in Japanese theaters from 6.54 million ticket sales.

This is a major milestone for Evangelion, Anno, and Studio khara, as the film has now out-grossed the three prior Rebuild films, as well as Anno’s Shin Godzilla, which was the top grossing Japanese produced film of 2016. 3.0+1.0 is currently the 12th highest grossing Japanese film of all time, and the 9th highest grossing anime film of all time.

The film opened on March 8th, and will officially cease its run on July 21st, although some theaters may continue to exhibit it. There were a number of pushes along the way to keep its momentum. From special merchandise, the updated 3.0+1.01 version of the film, and the July 11th screenings which included a live broadcast with speakers Hideaki Anno, Megumi Ogata (Shinji), Kotono Mitsuishi (Misato), Yuriko Yamaguchi (Ritsuko), and Fumihiko Tachiki (Gendo), they definitely capitalized on repeat viewings from the otaku market.

Over the past several months, I’ve often heard of people going to see the film multiple times, three times seems fairly common, however I’ve also heard people having gone to see it five, or even seven times. Having not yet seen the film, I’m going to take this as a positive sign that the film is a satisfying viewing experience.

Evangelion 3.0+1.01, as well as the prior three films Evangelion 1.11, 2.22, and 3.33 will be released on Amazon Prime Video on August 13th.

Look forward to it.

Posted in: Evangelion 3.0+1.0, Japan, Rebuild of Evangelion. Tagged: , , .

Amazon’s Comic-Con@Home panel to showcase upcoming titles including Evangelion 3.0+1.01

By The Eva Monkey on Saturday, July 10th, 2021

Comic-Con@Home
Comic-Con@Home

On Thursday, Comic-Con International released the programming schedule for its 2021 Comic-Con@Home event, which will replace its usual in-person event held each year in San Diego.

Among the various events, Amazon will be hosting a panel showcasing upcoming Prime Video releases, including The Wheel of Time, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and in particular, the long awaited conclusion to the Rebuild of Evangelion film series, Evangelion: 3.0+1.01.Thrice Upon a Time.

The multi-title panel will have host Tim Kash speaking with showrunners and stars from each title. For Evangelion 3.0+1.01, Kash will be speaking with Evangelion writer and director himself, Hideaki Anno. The panel is advertised to feature “illuminating discussion and exclusive asset drops and announcements”.

The panel is scheduled to stream on Comic-Con International’s official YouTube channel Friday, July 23rd at 11:00am PT and will run for 1 hour.

Given that the panel has a lot of ground to cover, five titles in total, some with higher profile than Evangelion, we probably can’t expect anything especially in-depth, but if Amazon plans to reveal details about English voice cast between now and when 3.0+1.01 goes live on August 13th, this panel would be the time to do it.

Posted in: Evangelion 3.0+1.0, News, Rebuild of Evangelion. Tagged: , , .

Chuck

By The Eva Monkey on Monday, February 22nd, 2021

Chuck Shandry at Otakon.

I didn’t know Chuck really well, but like a lot of people in the convention scene that you saw several weekends out of a year, we were friendly, and enjoyed sharing our love for various nerdy things with each other. In my case, that largely revolved around Evangelion, and other closely associated works.

I don’t remember when I actually met Chuck, he was just always there, he was always a part of Otakon, either working registration, or running around with that slight hobble that he had. For a number of years, he would have that mass of convention badges, proof that he was a veteran of the scene, that he had been around for ages. He made me want to collect more badges, and add more notches to my convention belt.

Chuck was hard to miss, he was older than many of us, and with that bushy beard of pure white, he stuck out among the crowd. I recall a friend once referring to Chuck as something like “Father Time”. It might not have been out of affection or respect, but there’s something fitting about it. Chuck was always there, and I thought Chuck would always be there, as if mortality somehow didn’t apply to him.

Chuck first entered my orbit when I began my tenure as a panelist. It might not have been the first Evangelion panel I presented, but he attended several, and sometimes we would talk a bit after. He was old enough to be my father, but it didn’t matter, we connected over a mutual love of Evangelion and similar anime.

In the mid 2000s, years before smartphones became ubiquitous. Chuck carried around a manilla folder with various bits of fan art or funny images he had printed off the internet. It’s quaint in retrospect, but he had figured out his own low-tech, analog way of image sharing. Someone mentioned he showed them an image from the extracanonical Evangelion visual novel Girlfriend of Steel, where Evangelion Unit-00 goes fishing, complete with an Eva-sized fishing pole, basket, and folding chair.

Evangelion Unit-00 fishing in Neon Genesis Evangelion: Girlfriend of Steel.

In particular, I remember him enthusiastically showing me an Evangelion fan art by Denise Jones, parodying Ghostbusters and featuring the fan-designed Diemay angel, in place of the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.

Evangelion Ghostbusters parody fan art by Denise Jones.

Like pretty much all of us, Chuck would eventually upgrade to a smartphone, and would continue to enthusiastically push cute cat pictures and silly memes to our attention, as we congregated in the hallways at Otakon staff meetings.

Having spent years in the Evangelion fandom, people have contributed various items to my collection. One particularly unique item he gave me many years back was an unused guest badge for Hideaki Anno, writer and director of Evangelion, for Otakon 1999. The story goes that Anno was so narrowly a guest that year that it was never formally announced, but such that a badge was still printed for him. For whatever reason, it failed to coalesce in the eleventh hour, and at this point, seldom few will even remember the circumstances. One of the only pieces of physical evidence of this bit of Otakon apocrypha is that unlaminated guest badge. As Chuck told me, he saved it from a pile of materials that was destined for the trash. He said he figured someone would treasure it, and so he passed it along to me years later. To this day, it is one of, if not the most prized item in my collection. It’s a long shot, but I would like to have Anno sign it some day.

Hideaki Anno’s unused guest badge from Otakon 1999.

Chuck was a part of Otakon’s history, and it’s fitting that he would play a key role in the creation of the Otakon museum. He collected and preserved numerous items, going all the way back to the first Otakon in 1994. I know he won’t be forgotten anytime soon, but I’m relieved to know a part of Otakon will endure as his legacy. I hope more people will take the time to visit the Otakon museum in the future.

Whether I was an attendee, a panelist, or a staffer, Chuck was always there. He was friendly, kind, hardworking, dependable, and he gave a lot to the conventions that he frequented. Otakon will not be the same without him. The next time I’m able to go, I’m bringing my now sizable collection of badges, and if anyone asks, I’m going to tell them about Chuck.

Posted in: Personal.

Neon Genesis Evangelion 25th Anniversary Digital Art Petit Collection by Wolfgang LeBlanc

By The Eva Monkey on Tuesday, December 8th, 2020

As time goes on, it amazes me how Evangelion continues to endure, now 25 years later. All works can age, and can hit arbitrary milestones that end in nice round numbers like 0 or 5, but not all maintain their cultural importance, let alone thrive. By all accounts, Studio Gainax was in real danger of shutting down in the early-mid 90s, and Neon Genesis Evangelion was quite possibly their last chance to produce a hit that would keep the studio going. I wonder if Hideaki Anno and company had any idea what sort of juggernaut they were about to unleash upon the world.

It’s 25 years later, and Evangelion is still generating new works and new expression, both officially through Anno’s Studio khara, and unofficially via the works of talented, and dedicated fans. I’ve been privileged to share the work of one such artist during the month of October, in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of Neon Genesis Evangelion’s original airing on TV Tokyo in 1995.

Wolfgang LeBlanc is a professional illustrator & visual artist for film and advertising, and to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Evangelion, he assembled 25 illustrations, emulating the style of series character designer and mangaka Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and paying homage to his third collection of work, Carmine.

LeBlanc’s work looks like it could have been pulled out of any official art book, and in particular, it’s worth highlighting how often he plays with both focus and reflection. Quite often, the focus of the piece is not on the characters themselves, but rather their reflections, whether that be in a mirror, on a polished surface, or on the surface of water.

Here are LeBlanc’s comments on his series:

“As an artist and a long time Eva fan, I’d always wanted to put together a collection of illustrations to show my love for the series created by Hideaki Anno. I remember being 12 or 13 years-old when the Rebuild films caught my eye and re-introduced me to the franchise. It was at that same time that I started paying attention to the distinct and unique art style of Yoshiyuki Sadamoto and instantly fell in love with it. Until this day, it has become a cornerstone of my journey as an artist and it’s what inspired me to become an illustrator in the first place, so it’s no wonder that on the 25th Anniversary of NGE, I wanted to pay my respects not only to the series, but to Sadamoto himself. This collection is a compilation of many doodles I’ve done over the years in my free time. One day I hope to illustrate a proper art book with many more pieces than the ones seen in this petit collection. Many thanks to Aaron (Eva Monkey) for sharing this series, I’m eternally grateful.”

– Wolfgang LeBlanc

View the series:

Download the full series in high quality, including mobile wallpapers:

Download .zip file (83 MB)

For more of Wolfgang LeBlanc’s work, follow him on social media:

You can also purchase his art from either of the services below:

Posted in: Fan Art, Fandom, Neon Genesis Evangelion. Tagged: .

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