I’m aware, moreso than anyone else here, the anime is a niche hobby. Just like you have musical theatre fans or people that frequently see arthouse films, anime is a relatively small and insular hobby. There are hundreds of shows that release every year that get completely overlooked, but every couple of years or so you’ll have a title that breaks through the masses into mainstream popularity. For some, that breakthrough title is Neon Genesis Evangelion.
To deny the impact of Evangelion would be to deny one of the most important landmark anime its place in history. You won’t ever catch me saying that the series is good because dear lord there are some major issues in this series, but a tv show doesn’t have to be good to be influential. Just look at the recent Star Wars movies for proof of that concept.
But unlike Star Wars, which is almost impossible not to have in your collection, Evangelion hasn’t had an official physical release in over 15 years. Physical copies on the show are sold on the second-hand market for astronomical prices, but that is all set to change next year as anime distributor GKIDS announced that they will be releasing a Blu-ray transfer of the seminal sci-fi series sometime in 2021. They will also be releasing the series for digital purchase as well around the same time.
The Blu-ray is set to include the original series as well as its two films, the pseudo-recap film Death (True)2, and the totally bonkers and insane true finale of the series, End of Evangelion. What hasn’t really been made clear is exactly which version of the show we will be getting. For those who may remember, Netflix released a new dub of the show last year that polarized fans, mostly because of the radically different cast as well as the alternative ending theme. GKIDS has not stated whether this rerelease will be of the original 1996 dub or Netflix’s dub. Regardless, we won’t have long to wait to watch audiences scream at Shinji to get in the damn robot.
