NEON GENESIS EVANGELION Gets The Ultimate Treatment

In a few months, on the 11th of October, it will be exactly 25 years ago that the first episode of the science fiction mecha anime Neon Genesis Evangelion aired on Japanese television. Produced by Studio Gainax, Evangelion was at first meant as a not-so-subtle stab at the tropes of regular mecha series, but it soon got a cult following as the story increasingly spiraled out of control, becoming more epic and biblical as the series proceeded. The popularity almost destroyed Studio Gainax and director Hideaki Anno's sanity. The series' original ending is a thing of infamy, and the film which meant to replace it is a gloriously befuddling (and messed-up) experience. To this day, fans attack and defend the different endings with holy fire on both sides.

Evangelion is a poison I cannot resist, few works of fiction have both scarred, disappointed yet delighted me as thoroughly as this one. Anno remade the whole story as a series of films later, the fourth and final of which is expected to arrive either this year or the next. Seeing as how the third film divided fandom even harder than the series did, I can't wait for it to arrive.

But another release is being planned as well: prepare your wallet for an impact, because Scottish distributor Anime Limited has announced that in 2021, it will bring out Neon Genesis Evangelion on Blu-ray as one of their glorious Ultimate Editions. The set will include the original series and the two films which replaced episode 25.

Anime Limited does not often release these editions (there isn't one planned for this year, for example), but when they do, these are very much worth checking out. I've written about those several times in the past (here, here, here, here, here and here). I have no idea what they have in store for Evangelion, but it will be fun to find out. The picture below is all they have revealed for now, but knowing that this will be coming our way has made me happy already.