By The Eva Monkey
on Tuesday, July 19th, 2016
It’s been a long time since Evangelion 3.0 was released to theaters in 2012. It may be hard to forget, given the puzzling series of delays before Funimation finally released it in English earlier this year. However it’s approaching four years since the third installment was released in Japan. In case you missed it, director Hideaki Anno published a post explaining that Evangelion 3.0 had left him burned out and in a depressed state. And as a result, work on the fourth and final film, currently known as Evangelion 3.0+1.0 has been slow, or better yet, elusive.
Apparently, Anno spoke to Oricon Style, where he apologized for the delay, and for taking time away from Evangelion to direct Godzilla Resurgence. He explained that Evangelion is his soul, and that it has worn him down to nothing, and that after 3.0, he wasn’t sure he was going to make another Eva film. He went on to explain that while Godzilla has delayed Evangelion, it has also revitalized him, and that without it, it is uncertain if he would return to Evangelion at all.
Sources:
Posted in: Evangelion 3.0, Evangelion 3.0+1.0, News, Rebuild of Evangelion. Tagged: Godzilla, Hideaki Anno.
By The Eva Monkey
on Saturday, July 16th, 2016
In the event you were unaware, Evangelion lingerie is a thing, so much so that there are actually multiple brands of it. Last October, rather than doing a full post of my own, I just shared Crunchyroll’s post through social media, because I doubt very much that Evangelion lingerie is a topic that needs to be discussed at any great length. Nevertheless, there now exists at least two brands of Evangelion lingerie. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of Neon Genesis Evangelion, last year both SuperGroupies and Peach John launched lines of Evangelion-themed lingerie. And this summer, SuperGroupies is back with a new offering. Last year their line focused on the female pilots, Rei, Asuka, and Mari, but this latest line is Shinji and Kaworu themed.
So, yeah. Evangelion lingerie is totally a thing.
Sources:
Posted in: Merchandise.
By The Eva Monkey
on Monday, July 11th, 2016
After spending some time with Andrew’s Evangelion Chiptune album the other day, I did some poking around on YouTube for some other substantial efforts to recreate Evangelion’s iconic themes with lo-fidelity sound chips. In particular, I came across Studio Megaane, which has done an impressive volume of chiptune renditions, with a strong preferance for mecha anime. So it should come as no surprise that they’ve done an entire album’s worth of Evangelion themes. Studio Megaane appears to work primarily with the Famicom/NES, and after spending some time listening to their rendition of tracks like Soul’s Refrain, Kokoro yo Genshi ni Modore, and Beautiful World, I definitely feel like they’re pretty accomplished with translating music to 8-bit sound. For your convenience, I created a playlist of just their Evangelion tracks, it’s definitely worth giving a listen.
Posted in: Fandom, Music. Tagged: chiptune.
By The Eva Monkey
on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2015
Viz announced yesterday on Twitter that they will be releasing a final volume of the Neon Genesis Evangelion Omnibus edition. Slated June 2016, the omnibus volume will include the final two individual volumes of Yoshiyuki Sadamoto’s Evangelion manga, volumes 13 & 14. I anticipate there will be some bonus content produced to help pad out the final omnibus, perhaps not enough to approximate an entire ~175 page manga volume, but definitely something to add value to the release.
The omnibus, or “3 in 1” format was well timed, as many fans were previously finding it difficult to track down certain volumes of the manga. However it was pointed out to me recently that the full run, including the elusive volume 9, was available on Amazon, so it would seem that Viz did a print run recently, possibly due to the release of the 14th and final volume. So if you’ve been missing a volume or two, you may want to look into snagging some copies before they go out of print.
Posted in: Manga, Merchandise, Neon Genesis Evangelion (manga), News. Tagged: Viz, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto.
By The Eva Monkey
on Monday, October 12th, 2015
FUNimation announced Saturday at its industry panel at New York Comic Con that it will be releasing Evangelion 3.33 to home video February 2nd, 2016. Exact details are forthcoming, however it appears that it will be sold as a Blu-ray/DVD combo. It would seem that this is it, finally, after nearly two full years of delays. You may recall that in the past, FUNimation had announced a release date of February 18th, 2014, only to retract that information a few days later. Evangelion 3.33 has since been elusive, to the frustration of many fans, with some claiming they were giving up on FUNimation’s release in favor of other methods, both legitimate, and not.
The reason behind all of this is still somewhat vague. The short is that the English dub that was released to theaters in early 2014 was not well received, to the point that some amount of the dub was reworked. FUNimation was said to have worked closely with khara to do the film justice, and that khara was contributing a subtitle track of their own. Beyond that, nothing truly satisfactory was ever shared publicly to explain or justify such a long delay. Whatever the reason, it’s a relief to finally have something definite.
Sources:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/anncast/2015-10-02/.93694
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2015-10-02/funimation-aims-to-release-evangelion-3.33-in-early-2016/.93709
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2015-10-10/funimation-evangelion-3.33-blu-ray-dvd-slated-for-february-2-2016/.94064
https://www.reddit.com/r/evangelion/comments/3o9ozs/2216_finally/
Posted in: Conventions, Evangelion 3.0, Merchandise, News, Rebuild of Evangelion. Tagged: FUNimation, New York Comic Con.
By The Eva Monkey
on Sunday, October 4th, 2015
Neon Genesis Evangelion, Episode 1, “Angel Attack” aired 20 years ago on TV Tokyo. Happy 20th, Evangelion!
Posted in: Neon Genesis Evangelion.
By The Eva Monkey
on Friday, September 18th, 2015
The third short dedicated to Evangelion in the Animator Expo series has been released. Titled “Neon Genesis IMPACTS”, the short revolves around a trio of female high school students who, as a musical group, go by “Impacts”. The story opens with one member, Ayako, leaving with her family to avoid the danger of life in Tokyo-3.
One of the things about Evangelion that I wish was visited upon more often is life outside of the Nerv bubble. We get a few peaks into the world outside of Nerv at various points in the show, but the show never really delves into the reality of the situation, the way in which Nerv, the Angels, and the Evangelions affect the lives of outsiders, whether they be people in other countries around the world, or just regular citizens of Tokyo-3 who have little or nothing to do with Nerv. This short delves into that somewhat, and I really enjoyed seeing a story, albeit short, that touched upon that.
I would definitely suggest checking this out, these shorts are only made available for a limited amount of time. The prior two shorts are no longer available to view, however i’m sure some enterprising YouTube searches would turn something up.
Posted in: News, Rebuild of Evangelion, Video. Tagged: Animator Expo.
By The Eva Monkey
on Monday, July 20th, 2015
If you’re going to be attending Otakon 2015 this weekend, please stop by my Evangelion panel commemorating the 20th anniversary of Evangelion, as well as 2015, its year of significance. It’s currently scheduled for Friday, July 24, from 12:45 PM – 1:45 PM in Panel 1 (BCC 314-315). This year I will be joined by fellow Eva Geeks admin Drinian, as well as the illustrious Carl Horn, who has been editing Evangelion manga forever. He currently works for Dark Horse, and before that Viz, so he has been involved in the English release of every Evangelion manga with the exception of Angelic Days, which was released by ADV Manga. Please join us as we look back, reflect, and reminisce on 20 years of Evangelion. You may even win a prize!
2015: The Year of Evangelion
2015 marks the 20th anniversary of Neon Genesis Evangelion’s premiere on TV Tokyo in 1995. Coincidentally 2015 is also the year the show is set in. Despite its age, Evangelion remains an active and vibrant fixture of the worldwide Japanese pop culture industry, with new movies, manga, merchandise, and various promotions being released and launched at a steady pace. Join us as we reflect and reminisce on the history of the franchise, from its ups to its downs, the various quirky and sometimes unusual cross-promotional campaigns, and the many ways that fans have shown their enthusiasm and admiration for Evangelion.
Posted in: Conventions. Tagged: Carl Horn, Otakon.
By The Eva Monkey
on Monday, July 6th, 2015
This past weekend at Anime Expo, there was a Neon Genesis Evangelion 20th Anniversary Event featuring a concert with Yoko Takahashi, who you’ll know for singing Cruel Angel’s Thesis from the television series, as well as Soul’s Refrain from Death & Rebirth. It was a premium ticketed event costing an additional $35-$45 dollars, and advertised TBA special guests, a voice-over presentation by Bang Zoom Entertainment, and so forth. This piqued the attention of a number of Eva fans, and there was some speculation as to why Bang Zoom was involved, as they have had no involvement with Evangelion in the past. If it was just the typical dub fluff, why wasn’t Funimation hosting it? The speculation was that perhaps there would be a license announcement for NGE on blu-ray with a dub cast unveiling. But as it turns out, the special guests were Matt Greenfield, Tiffany Grant, and Amanda Winn-Lee, and they had audience members come up on stage to read lines from the original television series. There was also a cosplay contest. The main selling point of the event was the concert, which to the frustration of some attendees, was performed a second time at closing ceremonies for free.
There was also some anticipation that there would be some manner of announcement regarding Evangelion 3.33 from Funimation. This tends to be how it goes with large conventions like Anime Expo and Otakon. However, there was nothing concrete about the release of Evangelion 3.33 at either of Funimation’s panels.
Posted in: Conventions, Neon Genesis Evangelion, News. Tagged: Amanda Winn-Lee, Anime Expo, Matt Greenfield, Tiffany Grant, Yoko Takahashi.
By The Eva Monkey
on Friday, February 13th, 2015
Late last year, Studio Khara teamed up with Dwango (which operates the video site Niconico) to create Animator Expo, a serialized project that provides a venue for animation producers. The site, which is bilingual (Japanese and English) describes its mission:
Original projects, spin-off projects, promotional films, Music PV, and VJ Films etc… Various omnibus animations produced with love and energy, regardless of any genres. The digital distribution anime series bring opportunities for project development, R&D, human resources development, and free production under limited period and budget, to explore the possibilities of future film production.
Evangelion fans will note the involvement of Eva writer/director Hideaki Anno, whose comments (albeit Engrishy) appear on the site:
We planned this short film project for believing in the pursuit and exploitation of fun of images that Japanese animation has, deepening and diversity of flexible expression, understanding and exploitation of inidivisual talents, and the dreams and possibilies to the future, which are inherent in Japanese anima(tor)s.
I appreciate your kind support and approval with this small resistance as many as possible.
Hideaki Anno, Studio Khara
So far, a few of the projects have been Eva themed, as you can expect, given Khara and Hideaki Anno’s involvement.
until You come to me
First off, until You come to me, which was released December 19th, is a slow short that emphasizes stillness and is devoid of dialogue. It seems to pick up where Evangelion 3.33 left off. But given that it features some references to Neon Genesis Evangelion and The End of Evangelion, it’s not only difficult to argue canonicity, but also seems to further tease at the sequel theory that Rebuild and Neon Genesis are connected in some specific way, be it in the same timeline, or in the same meta-verse. I’m undecided, but I want to point you to some analysis that I enjoyed by the YouTuber GoatJesus.
evangelion:Another Impact(Confidential)
Next, the most recently released short, titled evangelion:Another Impact(Confidential), is one to definitely check out. Unlike until You come to me, it’s a fully CG short, and features some cool action. It revolves around the Evangelion unit referred to as “Another Number – Unit Null”, as it undergoes activation, and well… it’s Evangelion, things go bad whenever you try to activate something. Again, this short seems to be in the world of Rebuild of Evangelion, possibly around the time of Evangelion 3.33. The voice cast features Koichi Yamadera (who you should know as Ryohji Kaji) and the prolific Megumi Hayashibara who seems to make a brief appearance as Rei Ayanami. The short is pretty cool, definitely something to check out.
ME!ME!ME!
Lastly, though not specifically dedicated to Evangelion, or any pre-existing IP that I’m familiar with, there’s a short titled ME!ME!ME!. It’s weird, and sexual, and there’s a part where this guy’s Evangelion figures come to life, and it’s just… trippy. For that reason, you might be interested in checking it out.
Posted in: Evangelion 3.0, Rebuild of Evangelion, Video. Tagged: Animator Expo, Hideaki Anno.
It’s been a long time since Evangelion 3.0 was released to theaters in 2012. It may be hard to forget, given the puzzling series of delays before Funimation finally released it in English earlier this year. However it’s approaching four years since the third installment was released in Japan. In case you missed it, director Hideaki Anno published a post explaining that Evangelion 3.0 had left him burned out and in a depressed state. And as a result, work on the fourth and final film, currently known as Evangelion 3.0+1.0 has been slow, or better yet, elusive.
