After about five years of what many thought was a definitive ending, Neon Genesis Evangelion is back. A recently released teaser trailer from Japan during the 30 year anniversary of Neon Genesis Evangelion has sparked major conversation, hinting that the iconic series will be continuing with a new sequel. Almost immediately, fans started analyzing every frame of the trailer, trying to figure out what this next chapter in the franchise could mean.
This sequel is a big deal not just because of the franchise’s popularity, but because of its impact on anime as a whole. Neon Genesis Evangelion has always stood out for its deeper themes and unique storytelling, so any continuation raises big questions about how the story, and its legacy, will evolve. For fans, it’s not just about more content, but about what direction such an influential series could take next.
The original Neon Genesis Evangelion show and the first movie were massive successes. The psychology in the films and how much one needed to think about what was happening were huge factors in the success.
“Their struggles and psychology is the whole plot in the series. If they just got rid of it, it’s like the soul of the whole show and films are just gone. That’s what the entire series is about,” Loutsenhizer (9) said.
Fans are very excited about the sequel to Evangelion, especially after the multitude of endings within the different movies and their influence on anime as a whole. This is because due to Neon Genesis Evangelion’s various psychological scenes and its great success, many animes wanted to be like Neon Genesis Evangelion so they could get money.
“I’m very hyped because it influenced my opinion a lot. It’s my favorite series, like the top three most influential anime of all time. And then it’s also made by people who made NieR: Automata, an amazing series of video games with similar themes and stuff too,” Daly (9) said.
Neon Genesis Evangelion has mixed opinions on how endings should be, whether it should be a happy ending, a sad ending etc. But, what most fans want is a post apocalyptic beginning to the upcoming sequel.
“I do want to see how they would build on the very ending. It would be cool to see if it was a post apocalyptic style thing, that’d be sick,” Loutsenhizer (9) said.
Neon Genesis Evangelion is loved by countless people due to the extremely deep story and how easily the creator removes fan favorite characters, which causes more heavy emotions to compare with the psychological factor of the series.
“I think people may like it more now rather than fans from the 90s because I feel like the people may be able to understand it and have better media literacy and see that all the cool robots fighting is a big part, but also the psychological stuff,” Daly (9) said.
Neon Genesis Evangelion is a franchise that needs to be heavily analyzed to understand, due to its abundance of psychology, religion and philosophy, all crammed into a single, very symbolic story. Many fans had to watch deep dives of the series in order to understand it because of this complex story.
“I remember watching a deep dive in the whole series and there was one point that the video made on Asuka’s character that I thought was like, ‘Oh my gosh. It all makes sense,’” Loutsenhizer (9) said.
The animation style in anime can either save or sell a franchise. Examples that supposedly ruined their franchise in anime adaptations include “Berserk”, “One-Punch Man”, “Tokyo Ghoul”, etc. Many animation studios completely risk the reputation of what they’re animating by changing the animation greatly within seasons, but it doesn’t always go bad, depending on how much the animation is changing. Examples of times where it went good include “My Hero Academia”, “Attack on Titan” and “Demon Slayer.”
“As long as it looks kind of close to originals, it’d be cool to see. Like, one of the bigger reasons I’m excited for it is because different animation would be cool, but I don’t want to make it look way different,” Daly (9) said.
Fans are exhilarated, hopeful, and worried about the sequel. Most of all, they’re anticipating an amazing anime due to the creator’s known success among the franchises they have written.
