One of the great values of the catalog of Netflix it is without a doubt Neon Genesis Evangelion. The mythical anime, released in Japan in 1995, has become over time a cult work that has marked a generation, offered all kinds of spin-offs and transmedia products, and even starred in a multitude of analyzes and theses on philosophy, psychology and religion. The latter due to the depth and complexity of its plot, which is set in a dystopian future with locks and it has a strong symbolic component.
There are many who want to take advantage of their time on Netflix to enter the series for the first time and catch up, even more so considering that this August 13th, their last movie, Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.01 Thrice Upon a Time. However, it is not as easy as it sounds. The work of Hideaki Anno It has several endings and films that can confuse the most painted and, for that reason, at MeriStation we wanted to review in what order to watch the series and its movies.
First things first, the series. The 26 episodes by Neon Genesis Evangelion (23 minutes long) that you can easily find on Netflix. In its day, when the anime ended with that chapter 26, it caused a barrage of criticism and complaints due to the cryptic and hermetic end, which left several gaps and questions to be resolved. For that reason he was born Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth, two films that tried to give a close at the height of the series.
The first of the films es Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death, lasts 70 minutes and review the chapters 21 to 24. It had several reissues, calling itself the last and most complete of them Death (true) 2, title under which we can find this first tape in the Netflix catalog, Evangelion: Death(true)2. That would be our second stop.
¿Qué es Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth?
The third stop would be the second movie, which was originally called Neon Genesis Evangelion: RebirthIt lasted 27 minutes and covered episodes 25 and 26. It was released in theaters in 1997 and was a box office success in Japan. And even so, it tasted little, so those two episodes were reinterpreted and reissued again in a new movie called The End of Evangelion that lasted an hour and a half and gave the whole story an even darker ending. The first 27 minutes of this new movie overlapped heavily with Rebirth, so you’d better jump right into The End of Evangelion, which you can also find on Netflix.
Evangelion: Death (true) 2 and The End of Evangelion can also be found in an integral version that brings both together and is called Revival of Evangelion, but it is not available on Netflix.
Evangelion remake / reboot, ending in 2021
As if things weren’t confusing enough, Evangelion’s story was expanded in 2007 with Rebuild of Evangelion. It is a tetralogy of films by the same author, Hideaki Anno, which began as evangelion remake and they have ended up being un reboot. The first of them, for example, followed the events of the first six episodes of the series, while the second began to change and follow its own path, presenting characters never seen before and showing different events, situations and decisions. The third was launched in 2012 and the fourth, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0, premiered last January in Japan and will arrive the next August 13, 2021 to our country, which has us all biting our nails wanting to know how the story ends this time.
The Serie Rebuild of Evangelion is not on Netflix, unfortunately, and it is something hard to find (not impossible) in the different online stores and chains. In any case, and in conclusion, this would be the most recommended viewing order to understand and fully enjoy Neon Genesis Evangelion:
- Neon Genesis Evangelion, Episodes 1-26 (available at Netflix)
- Evangelion: Death (true) 2 (available at Netflix)
- The End of Evangelion (disponible en Netflix)
- Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone
- Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance
- Evangelion: 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo
- Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.0 (Aug 13, 2021 at Prime Video)
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