Evangelion is a franchise that began as an original 26 episode anime series titled Neon Genesis Evangelion. It was produced by GAINAX and directed by Hideaki Anno and was originally aired from October 1995 to March 1996. Music for the series was composed by Shiro Sagisu. “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis” was used as the opening theme while the ending theme used several variations of “Fly Me to the Moon”. The Evangelion series is widely known for its psychological and often existential style of storytelling. It has gained popularity through the years and spawned countless forms of other media and merchandise. The original series and the first two movies are currently available for streaming through Netflix.
Plot Summary
While there are numerous different universes and continuities within the Evangelion universe, most of them share a few key points with one another. The world of this franchise is usually set in a version of Earth in the “future” (2015, but the series was originally released in 1995) where a significant portion of humanity was wiped out in an event called the “Second Impact”. The protagonist of this story is Shinji Ikari, a timid and self-doubting teenager that is called to Tokyo-3 by his father - the commander of a special agency named NERV - to pilot a biological robot called an Evangelion Unit. These Evangelion Units are the only weapons that are effective when it comes to destroying Angels - strange, otherworldly beings that often have unbelievably destructive power. Risking his own life to protect humanity proves to be incredibly stressful for the young boy, and his struggles become the main focus for many entries in the franchise.
Characters
Shinji Ikari: The protagonist of the series. He is suddenly thrown into a harsh world where everyone expects him to pilot Eva-01 even though he doesn’t want to. Shinji often thinks that he doesn’t have any choice but to pilot Eva-01, as he keeps being told that he is the only one who can and, without him, many people will be hurt or killed.
Rei Ayanami: The pilot of the prototype unit Eva-00. She is often portrayed as having a very deadpan personality that will agree to anything that is asked of her, but she does have her own desires and opinions, even if she doesn’t want to state them.
Asuka Langley Soryu/Shikinami: The hot-headed pilot from Germany that is in charge of Eva-02. She often likes to show off to others to make herself seem superior.
Misato Katsuragi: The leader of the tactical division of NERV and the effective guardian of both Shinji and Asuka, as she lets them stay at her apartment. Although she is seen as a strict commander, Misato has a goofy and sloppy side that she shows when at home.
Kaworu Nagisa: A young boy designated as the “Fifth Children” (“Children” being the term used to refer to an Eva pilot). He only shows up toward the end of the series, but quickly develops a friendship with Shinji. Unfortunately, he is also an Angel, which leaves Shinji feeling betrayed and confused.
Movies
First Series of Movies
Death & Rebirth: A movie that includes a condensed, re-edited version of the first 24 episodes of the original series (referred to as “Death”) plus a retelling of episode 25 (referred to as “Rebirth”). A complete retelling of the ending was planned, but was split into two movies due to time constraints.
The End of Evangelion: The complete retelling of the ending of the original series. It reuses the last 25 minutes of Death & Rebirth, but includes the second half that was previously absent from the first movie.
Revival of Evangelion: A release that compiles the previous two movies into one.
The Rebuild Movies Series
This series is comprised of four movies and act as a recreation of the Evangelion story on a fundamental level. Many characters and locations develop in significantly different ways when compared to their original counterparts. Although these movies are still directed by Anno, they are produced by Studio Khara, which was founded by Anno in 2006.
Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone: This movie acts much like a retelling of the beginning of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Very little is changed in terms of story until the very end, where Kaworu is seen on the moon with a white giant that resembles Lilith.
Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance: 2.0 is where the stories between the original series and the Rebuild movies begin to truly diverge. A new character named Mari Illustrious Makinami is introduced. It is also revealed that Asuka’s family name was changed from Soryu to Shikinami for the movie series.
Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo: 3.0 takes place 14 years after the second film, leading to a story that is completely unique when compared to Neon Genesis Evangelion. During this time, Misato, Ritsuko, and many other members of NERV rebelled and are now a part of an organization called Wille.
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: The final movie in the Rebuild series. It is currently unreleased (as of January 2020), but its first screening is scheduled for June 27th, 2020.
Other Media
Video Games
A variety of video games have been released since Neon Genesis Evangelion began airing in 1995. The genres of these games can range from cute point-and-click games, to arcade-style fighters, to visual novels with original stories. The following list highlights a few particularly notable Evangelion games that have been released.
Neon Genesis Evangelion: 1st Impression: An FMV game developed for the Sega Saturn. Its story is set right after Asuka arrives in Japan. An Angel designed specifically for this game appears and steals Shinji’s memories. A sequel titled Neon Genesis Evangelion: 2nd Impression was also released later.
Girlfriend of Steel/Iron Maiden: A visual novel that introduces a new character named Mana Kirishima, who becomes the main romantic interest for Shinji.
Neon Genesis Evangelion 2: A game developed for PS2 and PSP that focuses much more on interacting with characters rather than battling Angels. Hideaki Anno was also extensively interviewed during the development of the game, which resulted in unlockable “Classified Information” files that explained various aspects of the Evangelion universe that were previously unknown.
Manga
The franchise has also spawned several published manga series. The official manga was created by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto and contains 97 chapters over 14 volumes. While the series starts out much like the original anime, many differences began to pile up as the publication continued, leading it to be considered a separate continuity. Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days is another manga created by Fumino Hayashi and based on the video game Girlfriend of Steel 2nd/Iron Maiden the 2nd. An original spin-off manga titled Petit Eva: Evangelion@School was also written by Ryusuke Hamamoto. It is drawn in a chibi-style and has a lighthearted, slapstick tone.
Merchandise and Collaborations
Since the Evangelion series became such a hit, an incredible variety of collaborations and merchandise were created and are still in development today. Many kinds of figures, model kits, clothes, and art books can be found both online and in anime merchandise stores. On the other hand, Evangelion collaborated with other well-known franchises like Godzilla and New Balance to create special events and products. A number of other video games like Valkyrie Connect and Phantasy Star Online 2 have also collaborated with Evangelion to have characters from the series appear in their respective games.
Table of Contents
Shinji Ikari is the 14-year-old pilot of Evangelion Unit 01 and the main protagonist of the Evangelion series as a whole. He is the son of Gendo and Yui Ikari, the commander of NERV and an engineer that worked under Gendo respectively. Shinji was present for the experiment that r...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Rei Ayanami is the 14-year-old pilot of Evangelion Unit 00 and is known as the First Child. She lives alone in an apartment and attends Class 2-A along with Shinji and Asuka. She has a rather unusual appearance when compared to most other characters in the rest of the series: lig...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Asuka Langley Soryu (Asuka Langley Shikinami in the Rebuild movies), is the pilot of Evangelion Unit 02 and is known as the Second Child. She is part German, Japanese, and American. Her mother’s name is Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu, while her father is left unnamed.
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
In the Evangelion anime series, Misato Katsuragi is a Captain (and later a Major) at the NERV Headquarters. She is in charge of directing all of the Evangelion pilots in battle. Ritsuko Akagi and Misato have a long history of being friends. Dr. Katsuragi, Misato’s father, was a w...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Kaworu Nagisa is a character from the Evangelion series. While major aspects of his character can vary between different continuities (like the original anime series and the Rebuild movies), Kaworu is generally portrayed as both an Angel and an Evangelion pilot as the Fifth child...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Mari Illustrious Makanami is a character that first appears in the second Rebuild movie, Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance). She does not appear in the original series and many aspects of her character are unknown. She is capable of piloting Evangelion Units with incredible p...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
The following is a list and description of important characters affiliated with the NERV headquarters, which is located in the GeoFront under Tokyo-3:
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When Shinji Ikari attends school in Tokyo-3, he is assigned to class 2-A, as are the other Evangelion pilots Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley Soryu. According to Ritsuko, all of the students in this class were secretly brought together as a pool of potential Evangelion pilots.
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The following list of characters includes those with significant background roles in the Neon Genesis Evangelion series. Also characters that only appear as original characters in a specific game or other forms of media in the Evangelion franchise:
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Megumi Ogata is a Japanese voice actress, singer-songwriter, and radio host that was born on June 6th, 1965 in Tokyo, Japan. At the 7th annual Seiyu Awards in 2013, she was awarded the Kazue Takahashi Memorial Award, an achievement given to a voice actress that is involved in var...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Megumi Hayashibara is a Japanese voice actress that was born in Tokyo, Japan on March 30th, 1967. Although she is mainly known through her work as a voice actress, she has also written literature and comics and performed as a DJ and a singer-songwriter. Hayashibara is best known ...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Yuko Miyamura (born December 4, 1972) is a Japanese voice actress, singer, sound director and actress. She is originally from Kobe in Hyogo prefecture. She has an extensive history in the media and entertainment industry. She is most well-known in the anime world for being the vo...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Kotono Mitsuishi is born on December 8, 1967 in Toda City in Saitama, Japan. She is a well-known Japanese voice actress and also a narrator that had worked with Arts Vision and Lasley Arrow. She is currently a freelance voice actress without any affiliation with a talent agency. ...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Maaya Sakamoto (born March 31, 1980) played the role of Mari Makinami Illustrious, an Evangelion pilot and third party operative that was first introduced in the 2nd installment of the Evangelion Rebuild movie series, ‘Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (not) Advance’ in 2009. She also had ...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
In addition to the voice actors of the main characters in the Evangelion series, there are many other famous voice actors and actresses that have played a large role in the success of the anime and stayed with the franchise for so many years. Here are some of the voice actors/act...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Neon Genesis Evangelion is an anime series that began airing on Japanese television on October 4th, 1995. It was produced by Studio GAINAX and directed by Hideaki Anno. Many characters were designed by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto and music for the series was composed by Shiro Sagisu. The ...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Neon Genesis Evangelion is comprised of 26 episodes. The following list contains the titles of each episode followed by a brief summary.
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Evangelion Units are huge, humanoid biological weapons that were created to defeat Angels. Since they are completely covered in armor plates, they are often mistaken for robots, but when this armor breaks off or cut through, organic tissue and blood can be clearly seen. Most Evan...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Evangelion Unit 00 (often abbreviated as Eva-00) is the first functional prototype of an Evangelion Unit. It was not originally designed for use in combat, but was eventually modified and upgraded in order to aid in the destruction of the Angels. Rei Ayanami is the pilot assigned...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Evangelion Unit 01 (often abbreviated as Eva-01) is the second functional Evangelion Unit to be produced and is designated as a “test” Unit. It is the first Unit that was specifically designed for battling Angels and was also the first Unit deployed to do so in the pilot episode ...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Evangelion Unit 02 (often abbreviated as Eva-02) is the third functional Evangelion Unit and is designated as the first “production” model, suggesting that Eva-02 is the first fully functional Unit. This does not mean that it is the “final” version of Evangelion Units, however, a...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Evangelion Unit 03 (often abbreviated as Eva-03) is the fourth functional Evangelion Unit and is designated as the second “Production” model, Eva-02 being the first. This does not mean that it should be considered the “final” version of Evangelion Units, however, as further exper...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Evangelion Unit 04 (often abbreviated as Eva-04) is the fifth and final Evangelion Unit to be developed before the Mass Production Evangelion Units. Eva-04, like Eva-02 and Eva-03, is a “Production” model, however there was a separate experiment performed on this specific Unit in...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
“Mass Production Eva Units” refers to a collection of nine Evangelion Units (Eva-05 to Eva-13) that were produced in secret by SEELE and appear in the End of Evangelion movie. Each unit is nearly identical in appearance and has the same weapons and abilities. Their bodies are sim...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
The term “Angels” is a term that can refer to a variety of things but is often used to refer to otherworldly beings with unbelievable destructive power and abilities that are not yet fully understood by NERV. The destruction of Angels is the main objective of NERV, as the assumed...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Adam is a being that is designated as the First Angel and, long before human history, was the first living being to arrive on Earth. It is one of several beings that carries a “Fruit of Life”, which is another name for an Angel’s S2 engine according to information in the PS2 (and...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Lilith is a being that is designated as the Second Angel. Like Adam, Lilith is another creator of life, however, it carries a “Fruit of Knowledge” instead of a “Fruit of Life”. Although Adam’s appearance is largely unknown, Lilith is first shown briefly in Episode 15, where Misat...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Sachiel is the first Angel shown in the Evangelion series and is designated as the Third Angel and named after the Angel of Water. It first appears emerging out of the ocean in Episode 1, but is not defeated until Episode 2. It is one of the Children of Adam and is the first Ange...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Shamshel is the second Child of Adam to appear in the Evangelion anime and appears in Episode 3. It is designated as the Fourth Angel and is said to be named after the “Angel of the Morning”.
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Ramiel is a Child of Adam and appears in Episodes 5 and 6 and is designated as the Fifth Angel named after the “Angel of Thunder”.
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Gaghiel is a Child of Adam and is designated as the Sixth Angel named after the “Angel of the Fish”. It appears in Episode 8 of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
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Israfel is a Child of Adam and is designated as the Seventh Angel and named after the “twin Angels of Poetry, Music and Dance”. It appears in Episode 9 of Evangelion anime series.
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Sandalphon is a Child of Adam and is designated as the Eighth Angel named after the “Angel of Embryos”. It appears in Episode 10 of the Evangelion anime series.
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Matriel is a Child of Adam and is designated as the Ninth Angel named after the “Angel of Rain”. It appears in Episode 11 of the Evangelion anime series. This Angel attempts to infiltrate NERV Headquarters directly by using a powerful acid to melt through the ground. Matriel’s at...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Sahaquiel is a Child of Adam and is designated as the Tenth Angel and is named after the “Angel of the Skies”. It appears in Episode 12 of the Evangelion anime series. It is first seen orbiting Earth above the Indian Ocean.
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Ireul is a Child of Adam and is designated as the Eleventh Angel named after the “Angel of Terror”. It appears in Episode 13 of the Evangelion anime series.
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Leliel is a Child of Adam and is designated as the Twelfth Angel named after the “Angel of the Night”. It appears in Episode 16 of the Evangelion anime series.
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Bardiel is a Child of Adam and is designated as the Thirteenth Angel and is named after the “Angel of Haze”. It appears in Episode 18 of the Evangelion anime series. This Angel is a parasitic being that appears as a fungus-like slime that is capable of forcefully taking control o...
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Zeruel is a Child of Adam and is designated as the Fourteenth Angel named after the “Angel of Strength”. It appears in Episode 19 of the Evangelion anime series.
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Arael is a Child of Adam and is designated as the Fifteenth Angel and “Angel of the Birds”. It appears in Episode 22 of the Evangelion anime series.
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Armisael is the final Child of Adam and is designated as the Sixteenth Angel and is named after the “Angel of the Womb”. It appears in Episode 23 of the Evangelion anime series.
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Tabris is the Seventeenth and Final Angel of the Evangelion anime series named after the “Angel of Free Will”. Tabris appears in Episode 24. Unlike most of the Angels shown throughout the series, Tabris is not a Child of Adam. Rather than being created by Adam, Tabris is said to ...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
There are several characters that are significantly different from their counterparts in *Neon Genesis Evangelion or are unique to the Evangelion Rebuild movies. The following list is an example of said characters:
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Neon Genesis Evangelion Death & Rebirth is the first theatrical film of the Evangelion series to be released. This movie is split into two sections: “Death” and “Rebirth”. “Death” is a recut and condensed version of the first 24 episodes of the anime series, while “Rebirth” i...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
The End of Evangelion is a movie based on the Evangelion series that acts as a retelling of the final two episodes of the original series. It is split into two halves that are referred to as “25’” and “26’”, alluding to the fact that these halves are an alternate version of Episo...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Revival of Evangelion is the final Evangelion movie release before the announcement of the Evangelion Rebuild movies. It is essentially the culmination of Death & Rebirth and The End of Evangelion and is supposed to contain the entire story of Evangelion in a single release t...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone is the first of four movies in the Rebuild of Evangelion movie series. This series acts as a recreation of the Neon Genesis Evangelion story on a fundamental level and has major differences when compared to the original in both story, character...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance is the second of four movies in the Rebuild of Evangelion movie series. This series acts as a recreation of the Neon Genesis Evangelion story on a fundamental level and has major differences when compared to the original in both story, charac...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
