News

Netflix Adds Evangelion Anime Worldwide on June 21

Netflix announced during its stage event at AnimeJapan 2019 on Saturday that it will debut Hideaki Anno and Gainax's Neon Genesis Evangelion television anime on its service on June 21 worldwide. While Netflix's original announcement last November stated that the service will also add the Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth and Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion films, Netflix did not specify if these films will be available at the same time as the series on June 21.

Netflix describes the anime:

A.D. 2015. Tokyo 3 is under attack by powerful creatures known as the Angels. The protagonist, Shinji Ikari, is chosen to pilot the Humanoid Decisive Weapon Evangelion -- the only way for humanity to fight against the Angels. The battle for the fate of humanity starts now. What exactly are the Angels? What fate awaits the young pilots and humanity itself?

The original anime and films are some of the most influential and critically acclaimed works in the history of the medium, but has long remained out of print and unavailable in North America. ADV Films' last release of the anime was the "Platinum Edition" DVDs in 2004 and 2005. The company shut down in 2009.

The franchise has inspired numerous spinoffs, merchandise, and collaborations. Anno, the director of the anime, founded Studio Khara in 2006. He and the studio began producing a new tetralogy of films titled Rebuild of Evangelion, which reinterprets the events in the series. The tetralogy began with Evangelion: 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone in 2007, followed by Evangelion: 2.0 You Can [Not] Advance and Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo in 2009 and 2012, respectively. Shin Evangelion Gekijō-ban :|| (Evangelion: 3.0+1.0), the final film, is currently in production.

Source: Netflix stage event at AnimeJapan 2019