Evangelion is ending – again! The anime series about teenagers who pilot giant robots to defend the earth from monsters ended with its 26th episode in 1996, only to end again in 1997 with aptly titled film End of Evangelion. In 2006, Gainax announced a new animated four film series called Rebuild of Evangelion. The final film in that series, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, will debut stateside on Amazon this August and you can watch the trailer now.
So what’s it about?
This version of Evangelion is a sort of theatrical reboot of the original series. The first film, Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone, debuted in 2007 and retold the first six episode of the anime. The second and third films, 2009’s Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance, and 2012’s Evangelion: 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo diverge from the original completely, bringing in new plotlines and all-new characters, including Evas and Angels. Thrice Upon a Time will complete the new story and hopefully give fans a bit more closure than the end of the original series did.
Amazon will also release the previous three films on their streaming service before the arrival of Thrice Upon a Time, to ensure fans can catch up before the premiere. While I’m sure Shinji is still the same whiny jerk, there’s plenty of other character developments to sink your teeth into. The trailer above doesn’t give too many clues about the plot of Thrice Upon a Time, but it does give us some glimpses of the characters we can expect.
According to a release from Amazon, Thrice Upon a Time picks up as Misato Katsuragi and her anti-NERV group arrive in Paris, presumably to mess up some EVAs. (EVAs are the name given to the massive mechs that are used to fight the monsters, which are called angels.) Shinji and his crew are in Japan, but no further details were given. If I had to guess, the series is probably about to get pretty trippy. After all, the previous endings of Evangelion are psychedelic fever dreams. There’s also some kind of internal dispute at NERV, as the trailer shows two EVA units duking it out. (That’s right baby, EVA on EVA action!)
Giant Robots and Existential Despair
So why should you check out Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.01 Thrice Upon a Time? If you’re a fan of the original series, this is a chance to return to the world and characters that you love to be depressed by. Hideaki Anno, the creator of the original series, wrote the screenplay and serves as chief director, so you know this is “official” Evangelion goodness. The original voice actors are back, too, including Megumi Ogata (Shinji), Megumi Hayashibara (Rei), and Yûko Miyamura (Asuka).
For those who haven’t seen the series (and you should), this is your chance to get into the world of Evangelion. Thrice Upon a Time is the most-watched movie in Japanese theaters in 2021, and is the highest grossing of all of Anno’s movies. And don’t worry if you can’t understand Japanese – the movie will be dubbed in 10 languages including English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian, and offer subtitles in 28 languages.
Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.01 Thrice Upon a Time will premiere globally (except for Japan, where it debuted in March) on August 13, 2021 exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
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