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Evangelion Festival to Present Voice Drama Reuniting 17 Cast Members

The staff for the "Evangelion:30+; 30th Anniversary of Evangelion" festival, the first festival event for the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise, announced on Tuesday that the event's stage area will present an exclusive voice drama on its second day, February 22. The tentatively titled "Cast Performance Spinoff Voice Drama" will feature an "unbelievable" spinoff story with 17 original cast members from the franchise. The event staff also revealed a visual of the voice drama, with what appears to be the title logo, but with some parts blurred or smudged.

The cast members who will perform in the voice drama are:

• Megumi Ogata as Shinji Ikari
• Megumi Hayashibara as Rei Ayanami
• Yūko Miyamura as Asuka Langley Shikinami
• Maaya Sakamoto as Mari Illustrious Makinami
• Kotono Mitsuishi as Misato Katsuragi
• Yuriko Yamaguchi as Ritsuko Akagi
• Akira Ishida as Kaworu Nagisa
• Fumihiko Tachiki as Gendō Ikari
• Tetsuya Iwanaga as Kensuke Aida
• Junko Iwao as Hikari Horaki/Hikari Suzuhara
• Miki Nagasawa as Maya Ibuki
• Hiro Yūki as Makoto Hyūga
• Akio Ōtsuka as Koji Takao
• Sayaka Ōhara as Sumire Nagara
• Mariya Ise as Midori Kitakami
• Anri Katsu as Hideki Tama
• Kōichi Yamadera as Ryōji Kaji

(The staff noted that some cast members will perform via recording only.)

The voice drama's story will center in an incident that occurs at NERV headquarters caused by a certain person, which will eventually involve the WILLE crew. 

The event will take place at the Yokohama Arena from February 21 through 23. 

Khara and Shochiku are also collaborating for the Kabuki Kōkyōkyoku Dai Kyū-ban Evangelion (Kabuki Symphony No. 9 Evangelion) kabuki project. The performance will also be held at the "Evangelion:30+; 30th Anniversary of Evangelion" festival.

The event will also screen the world premiere of a new anime short for the franchise titled "Evangelion Hōsō 30 Shūnen Kinen Tokubetsu Kōgyō" ("Evangelion Broadcast 30th Anniversary Special Screening"). The short will screen one time each day on the arena's 18 meter x 15 meter (about 59 feet x 49 feet) giant LED screen.

Hideaki Anno is the planner, scriptwriter, and chief supervisor of the work. Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time animation director Naoyuki Asano is directing the short. Supervisors also include Kazuya Tsurumaki (Evangelion 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 3.0+1.0 director), Shinji Higuchi (Evangelion 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 storyboard artist), and Ikki Todoroki (Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time assistant chief director).

The event will feature an exhibition area, a stage area, merchandise, and other content, and the creators at Studio Khara are directing the event's spatial and layout design. Neon Genesis Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno himself created the festival's title icon visual, pictured right.

Also as part of the 30th anniversary, the staff are hosting the "Monthly Eva: Evangelion 30th Movie Fest. 2025-2026," which features monthly revival screenings of the franchise's six films in theaters throughout Japan. The event is running from October to February.

Anno speculated in May 2024 "there may be plans" for more in the Evangelion anime franchise, but possibly with "someone other than [himself]" at the helm.

Source: Press release