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This year, 2015, is the same year that the first Angel appeared in the timeline of the Evangelion series. It’s also the 20th year since the anime was first broadcast in 1995. To celebrate this occasion the crowdfunded "Pierce the Moon with the Spear of Longinus Project" was announced on Jan. 30. As of March 28, the project has raised approximately 40 million yen in funding with eight days left in the campaign.
As the name suggests, the project involves sending a Spear of Longinus to the moon. It aims to recreate the scene in the anime in which EVA-00 throws the spear at the moon causing it to stick into the surface. It’s a truly unique project that will bring the fictional world of Evangelion and the moon together. The spear measures 240 millimeters (9.45 inches) in length and weighs 30 grams (1.06 ounces). It will be attached to a rocket launched from America, and then shot from a lunar rover into the surface of the moon. A committee has been made to see this project through, and all technological development and planning will be done by Hakuto, Japan’s first civilian space exploration team. The project is being funded through Readyfor?, Japan's largest crowdfunding website.
The project aims to raise the 100 million yen necessary to launch the rocket by April 5, 2015. The donation options range from 5,000 yen to 10 million yen. Depending on how much they donate, supporters can receive original illustrated posters, have their name etched into the Spear of Longinus, get a replica of the Spear of Longinus custom-made by a sword-maker, or become a Team Longinus member. If the project is successfully funded, Hakuto will begin development and plans to launch it between the end of 2015 and 2016. However, if it is not successfully funded, the project will be abandoned and all donations will be returns to the contributors. Just two days after donations started, the 5 million yen and 10 million yen donation rewards were already claimed, and the project was 30% funded.
At the project's presentation event, 3D printed, scale versions of both the Spear of Longinus and the lunar rover were on display. Actress Natsuki Kato, known for being a big Evangelion fan, astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, Hakuto representative Takeshi Hakamada, and Readyfor? representative Haruka Mera were all on stage to explain the project and ask for support. “I hope that the Spear of Longinus can create a bond between the earth and the moon, and serve as a symbol for the development of future technology, and for peace,” Yamazaki said.
“I’m just so glad that one of my favorite works has become such a big project,” said Kato, “I’m going to talk with my Eva-fan husband about contributing."
Currently, an English version of this special page on Readyfor? has been made for the “Pierce the Moon with the Spear of Longinus Project.” The page includes a comment from Evangelion creator and director Hideaki Anno: “To see the wild fantasy universe expressed in the anime manifested in the real world as this serious yet playful endeavor makes me surprised, happy, and very grateful."
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