Neon Genesis Evangelion
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Neon Genesis Evangelion (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン Shin Seiki Evangerion) is a Japanese media franchise created and owned by Gainax. Most of the franchise feature an apocalyptic mecha action story, which revolves around the efforts by the paramilitary organization NERV to fight hostile beings called Angels, using giant humanoids called Evangelions that are piloted by select teenagers (of whom Shinji Ikari is the primary protagonist). Other works deviate from this theme to varying degrees, focusing more on romantic interactions between the characters, side stories which did not appear in the original works, and/or reimaginings of the conflicts from the original works. The franchise began in 1995 with the titular anime directed by Hideaki Anno and has since grossed over 150 billion yen.[1]
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[edit] Development
Neon Genesis Evangelion first emerged out of a deal struck between King Records representative Toshimichi Ōtsuki and director Hideaki Anno[2], whose proposed sequel to Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise had recently fallen through, over drinks for a TV anime project ("something, anything").[3]
Though the original plot line for Evangelion remained relatively stable through development, production proved to be turbulent: Sadamoto's authorship of the promoting manga caused problems, as multiple publishers felt "that he was too passé to be bankable";[4] the stylized mecha design that Evangelion would later be praised for was initially deprecated by some of the possible sponsors of a mecha anime (toy companies) as being too difficult to manufacture (possibly on purpose),[5] and that models of the Evangelions "would never sell."[6] Eventually, Sega agreed to license all toy and video game sales.
A sudden shift in tone occurred in the series around episode 16, partially due to scheduling restraints (drastically reducing the number of frames that could be drawn for each episode)[7] and the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway on March 20, 1995 (with Anno removing elements of the plot he would be too similar to the real-life attack).[8] While Anno had promised early on that "every episode [would give]...something for the fans to drool over," he began either removing fan service or juxtaposing it with scenes of emotional trauma.[9] The problematic schedule and Gainax's reputation for delivering episode prints at the last minute also resulting in more experimental approaches, with several episodes reusing shots, using uncommonly long still frames, flashing frames of often rhetorical introspective (Japanese) text and the final two episodes changed from their original concept into a psychological deconstruction of the main characters.
The resulting 26-episode anime, animated by Tatsunoko Productions and Gainax, and co-produced by TV Tokyo and Nihon Ad Systems, was broadcast from October 4, 1995 to March 27, 1996 on TV Tokyo. It was critically and commercially successful and acclaimed for its innovative imagery, concepts, and refreshing take on the mecha genre and anime as a whole (though not without controversy, as reception of the latter quarter of the TV series was sometimes hostile to the point of death threats). It was later aired across Japan by the anime satellite television network, Animax. The series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1995 and 1996.
The series' unexpected success would not only spawn countless derivative works and imitators,[10] but established a whole franchise based around a number of distinctive features: a stock set of distinctive characters such as Shinji Ikari, Asuka Langley Soryu, Rei Ayanami, Toji Suzuhara, and others such as Misato Katsuragi (for a complete list, see here); a number of philosophical, psychological, and religious themes; and an idiosyncratic vocabulary of symbols and allusions drawing heavily on Christian and Kabbalistic symbolism, Buddhist beliefs, and the Japanese otaku subculture.
[edit] Films
[edit] Death and Rebirth
Gainax launched a project to create a movie ending for the series in 1997. The company first released Death and Rebirth on March 15, which consisted of a highly condensed character-based recap and re-edit of the episodes 1-24 (Death) and the first half of the new ending (Rebirth, which was originally intended to be the full ending, but couldn't be finished due to budget and time constraints).
[edit] End of Evangelion
The project to complete the final episodes (retelling episodes 25 and 26 of the series) was completed later in the year and released on July 19, 1997 as The End of Evangelion.
[edit] Revival of Evangelion
A compilation of a reedited version of Death (known as Death(true)2) and The End of Evangelion as a single movie, Revival of Evangelion, was released on March 8, 1998.
[edit] Rebuild of Evangelion series
On September 9, 2006, Gainax confirmed a new animated film series called Rebuild of Evangelion, consisting of four movies presenting an alternate retelling of the TV series (including new scenes, settings, and characters) and a completely new conclusion to the story.[11] The first of the new movies, Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, was released in Japan on September 1, 2007 and the second, Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, on June 27, 2009. The third film, Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, will be released in the fall of 2012, with the final film planned for release in 2013.
[edit] Media
The Evangelion franchise has spread from the original anime into a number of different media, with some following the official canon (of the 26-episode anime series and its two related films or the new Rebuild series) and others differing on important plot points originally introduced in the anime.
[edit] Manga
A number of manga series based on the anime have been released, mostly notably the official series by series character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, which was first serialized in February 1995 (eight months before the series' official premiere, in order to promote interest). Three other manga have been created, based on non-canonical video games: Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days by Fumino Hayashi, Shinji Ikari Raising Project by Takahashi Osamu, and Gakuen Datenroku by Min Min.
Evangelion is also popular among doujinshi,[12][13][14] inspiring notable amateur titles (such as RE-TAKE) and even works by famous manga artists (such as "Birth of Evangelion" by Yun Kōga).
[edit] Amusement park
On July 22, 2010, Fuji-Q Highland opened a 1,460m2 section devoted to Evangelion, featuring a lifesize entry plug and statue of Mari Makinami,[15] an approximately 3-meter titanium Lance of Longinus,[16] NERV hallways with character cutouts[17] that lead to a hangar room with the 1:1 bust of Eva Unit-01, SEELE monoliths, appropriate cosplay,[18][19] Eva-themed hotel rooms,[20] and food products.[21] A bust of Eva Unit-02 modeled after a scene in Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance was installed in 2011.[22][23][24]
[edit] Live-action film
Development of a live-action movie version of Neon Genesis Evangelion by Gainax, Weta Workshop Ltd., and ADV Films (then the worldwide distributor of the Evangelion series outside of Asia and Australia) was announced in May 2003. Early coverage included ADV Films raising "about half of the $100 million to $120 million" needed to produce the film"[25] and some concept art produced by Weta Workshop.[26]
As time passed without any official announcements of production, the film project showed increasing signs of being in "development hell." At Anime Expo 2008, ADV founders Matt Greenfield and John Ledford revealed that they had hired the producer John Woo, pitched the idea to other producers such as Jerry Bruckheimer and Steven Spielberg,[27] and seen increased interest in the wake of the success of the 2007 film Transformers.[28] At Ohayocon 2009, ADV director Matt Greenfield announced that several U.S. studios were competing for final rights to the project, predicting an official announcement naming the studio, the director, and perhaps casting information within the next nine months (he later noted that the closer he got to sealing a deal, the less he could say anything about it).[29] Though the sudden collapse and asset sale of A.D. Vision on September 1, 2009 raised concerns over the project's viability, Matt Greenfield, John Ledford,[30] and producer Joseph Chou[31] insisted the project was still actively searching for a director (with delays owing more to the general deterioration of the US anime market than to ADV's internal issues).
In August 2011, A.D. Vision sued Gainax, claiming their refusal to accept an option payment for the perpetual live-action rights to Evangelion was a breach of contact and resulted in losing an opportunity to produce the film with a major studio.[32] A.D. Vision has asked to be awarded the live-action rights to Evangelion and any accruing legal fees.
[edit] References
- ^ "total sales of more than 150 billion yen" http://web.archive.org/web/20070429194334/www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment/news/2007/02/12/02.html
- ^ "Anno knew a guy from King Records named Otsuki, and as the story goes, the two were out drinking one day when Otsuki suggested to Anno that they work on together. Anno agreed on the spot, came back to the office and promptly announced it to everyone. Nobody even batted an eyelash. We just accepted it without further thought." pg 164 of Takeda 2002
- ^ http://khara.weblogs.jp/hideakianno/personal-biography.html
- ^ pg 167 of Takeda 2002
- ^ "At the planning stage, director Hideaki Anno is reported to have said, "With recent robot anime series there have been too many instances of toy makers sticking their big noses in from the design stage so they can get a spec that is easy to turn into a toy. I don't want any interference from toy makers, so I'm going to design a robot that just cannot be turned into a toy." pg 97 of Fujie 2004
- ^ Takeda continues: "He said the legs were too skinny, and then proceeded to give Otsuki a lecture on the principles of robot design. Otsuki is bitter about the incident to this day." pg 166–167 of Takeda 2002
- ^ Gainax (1998-02-20). "A Story of Communication: The Kazuya Tsurumaki Interview". Red Cross Book. http://www.evaotaku.com/html/rcb-tsurumaki.html. Retrieved 2006-08-15.
- ^ Woznicki, Krystian (1998-02-20). "Interview with Azuma Hiroki". http://www.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-9802/msg00101.html. Retrieved 2006-08-15.; see also Azuma Hiroki
- ^ Galbraith, Patrick W. (2009). The Otaku Encyclopedia: An Insider's Guide to the subsculture of Cool Japan. United States: Kodansha. pp. 69–70. ISBN 978-4-7700-3101-3.
- ^ Takeda 2002, for example, mentions that no one in Gainax was expecting NGE to succeed on the scale it did (beyond anything else Gainax had done); indeed, the stress of just handling all the money made by the franchise caused Gainax's accounting scandal and the 1999 arrest of its president.
- ^ "Rebuild of Evangelion". Gainax. 2006-09-10. http://www.evangelion.co.jp/. Retrieved 2006-09-12.
- ^ "Sunday featured mostly male-oriented (read, ecchi) works in anime and girl-get games. Favorites such as EVANGELION, SLAYERS, and TOKIMEKI MEMORIAL were out in full force" http://www.ex.org/3.6/14-event_comike.html
- ^ ""Probably the two biggest titles were SHINSEIKI EVANGELION and Konami's TOKIMEKI MEMORIAL ~forever with you~. About 30-40% of the titles were ecchi." http://www.ex.org/1.4/07-comike.html
- ^ "It has been credited with defining gender roles, influencing attitudes toward the environment, and spawning the madly obsessive—and immensely profitable—otaku subculture embraced by tens of thousands of geeky fans who spend their lives unraveling the larger message of the show and collecting pornographic comic books featuring the show's female characters." "Let's Die Together", David Samuels, Atlantic Monthly; May 2007, Vol. 299 Issue 4, p92-98, 7p
- ^ Neon Genesis Evangelion’s Most Illustrious Character Recreated | Kotaku Australia. Kotaku.com.au (2011-04-05). Retrieved on 2011-12-18.
- ^ 等身大の真希波・マリ・イラストリアスが「EVANGELION:WORLD 第二次計画」で富士急ハイランドに登場. Gigazine. Retrieved on 2011-12-18.
- ^ ネルフ本部が館内に出現、リニューアルされた「EVANGELION:WORLD」と実物大初号機. Gigazine. Retrieved on 2011-12-18.
- ^ Life-Sized Evangelion Unit-01 Completed. EvaGeeks.org (2010-07-15). Retrieved on 2011-12-18.
- ^ http://afufu.net/freewill/2010/07/life-size-evangelion-final-video-and-images/
- ^ 綾波レイをフィーチャーした富士急ハイランドの「EVANGELION:ROOM」を見せてもらった. Gigazine. Retrieved on 2011-12-18.
- ^ 「ゼーレ、チョコクランチの座」など、富士急「EVANGELION:WORLD」のエヴァンゲリオンストアのお土産試食レビュー. Gigazine. Retrieved on 2011-12-18.
- ^ See http://neweva.blog103.fc2.com/blog-entry-1120.html http://www.fujiq.jp/eva/second/index.html http://www.highlandresort.co.jp/guestroom/roomtype/eva.php or ANN coverage: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2011-01-26/life-size-eva-02-head-evangelion-hotel-room-planned
- ^ 「EVANGELION：WORLD」第二次计划启动，继初号机之后等身大二号机实体诞生。 « JPbeta 多元化日本文化资讯站. Jpbeta.net. Retrieved on 2011-12-18.
- ^ 富士急ハイランドに姿を現した「ザ・ビースト」モードのエヴァ2号機. Gigazine. Retrieved on 2011-12-18.
- ^ Roth, Daniel (12 December 2005). "It's... Profitmón!". CNNMoney.com. Fortune. http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2005/12/12/8363101/index.htm. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
- ^ CGSociety link to Weta NGE concept art; http://neon-genesis-evangelion.moviechronicles.com/2006-05/new-weta-workshop-concept-art/
http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=16790 - ^ Movies - The Vile One's Dungeon 8.07.08: San Diego Comic Con 2008 - Jane And The Dragon Interview with Richard Taylor and Martin Baynton. 411mania.com (2011-05-02). Retrieved on 2011-12-18.
- ^ ADV Films - Anime Expo 2008. Anime News Network (2011-12-14). Retrieved on 2011-12-18.
- ^ Evangelion Live Action Movie. Movie Chronicles. Retrieved on 2011-12-18.
- ^ [http://www.mediafire.com/?lzxrxuh30y646cj audio of panel. Evageeks.org (2011-06-19). Retrieved on 2011-12-18.
- ^ "Producer: Live-Action Evangelion Project Still Active". Anime News Network. February 4, 2010. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-02-04/producer/live-action-evangelion-project-still-active. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
- ^ "A.D. Vision, Inc. sues Gainax Co., Ltd. over live-action Evangelion movie agreement". Crunchyroll. August 12, 2011. http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2011/08/12/ad-vision-inc-sues-gainax-co-ltd-over-live-action-evangelion-movie-agreement. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
- Takeda, Yasuhiro; Yu Sugitani, Yasuhiro Kamimura, Takayoshi Miwa; translated by Javier Lopez, Jack Wiedrick, Brendan Frayne, Kay Bertrand, Gina Koerner, Hiroaki Fukuda, and Sheridan Jacobs (2002, 2005). The Notenki memoirs: studio Gainax and the men who created Evangelion. ADV Manga. p. 190. ISBN 1-4139-0234-0.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Neon Genesis Evangelion |
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Neon Genesis Evangelion |
- "Untitled Evangelion Project" profile at the Internet Movie Database
- Evangelion – It's Japan by asianbeat
- "Evangelion Motorcycle to Compete"
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