30.0 Years

Watch on YouTube

This brand new Neon Genesis Evangelion short was released to YouTube a few days ago, following its screening at a special event in Japan. It marks the 30th anniversary of the franchise's inception. It definitely leans hard into the light comedy side of the series rather than the dark, psychological elements that originally made the title famous. It's effectively funny and cute. I always did like Asuka, she and Misato being my two favourite characters. I remember seeing an interview with one of the creatives involved with the project, I think it was even Anno Hideaki, the director, in which he said Japanese fans tend to prefer the quiet, submissive Rei and Americans like the loud, assertive Asuka. I guess I fit that stereotype. All the same, it's easy to forget that Asuka's supposed to be half-German.

The short features two versions of Asuka, one from the original series and one from the Rebuild of Evangelion movies, amusingly appearing as a comedic double act as they explore alternate realities, presenting different outcomes to the series' events for Asuka. The Rebuild movies did not end with Asuka ending up with Shinji but with one of Shinji's high school friends instead. Apparently this did not sit well with the original Asuka.

Shortly after the release of this short, it was announced that there's going to be a new Evangelion series spearheaded by Tsurumaki Kazuya, a director who's increasingly taken the reins in Anno's Gainax splinter company, Khara. I loved Tsurumaki's work on Gunbuster 2 and FLCL, not to mention the Rebuild of Evangelion movies. His work doesn't have the depth of Anno's original but it's always impressive. I'll certainly watch the new series, even if it probably is a cash grab. I guess it'll have to be in another alternate universe. Hopefully it'll work out better for Evangelion than it did for Marvel.