Marking its 30th anniversary since the TV anime first aired, the iconic Neon Genesis Evangelion continues to dominate pop culture with endless collaborations, a testament to its three-decade-long appeal.
With the "Rebuild of Evangelion" film series recently re-released in Japanese cinemas, Khara's official X account (@khara_inc2) dropped a bombshell: director Hideaki Anno's original vision for the Evangelion New Theatrical Edition. The reveal included some mind-blowing plot points that were initially planned, sparking a massive fan frenzy over just how different things could have been!
According to Anno's statements released by Khara, the "production concept document" from the 2005 planning stages for the "Evangelion New Theatrical Edition" was wild. It initially proposed a simple compilation of the TV series, but here's the kicker: "the very first plot draft had Kaworu killing Gendo Ikari, followed by an EVA showdown between the two!" Talk about a completely different direction from the "Rebuild" series we know today.
Here's a breakdown of the "original Rebuild version" key points:
● The initial plan was just a compilation film of the TV anime, with only the ending after TV episode 20, "Of the Shape of Hearts and Humans," being changed.
● Early on, the concept included "Gendo Ikari assimilating with Adam and merging with EVA Unit-02."
● Kaworu Nagisa would then kill this Gendo Ikari.
● This would lead to a direct confrontation between Kaworu's EVA and Shinji's EVA.
● The story would ultimately conclude with "Shinji forgiving Kaworu."
This is a wildly different trajectory from the "Rebuild" films we eventually got! Anno himself admitted, "After countless twists and turns and concept changes, I honestly never imagined, until September 2018, that the final stage would be Ube-Shinkawa Station."
(For those who need a refresher, Ube-Shinkawa Station is where Shinji and Mari's final scene takes place.)
While these initial concepts never made it to the screen, they certainly fuel the imagination for fans still dissecting "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and the "Rebuild of Evangelion" films. It just goes to show that Hideaki Anno always has some incredible behind-the-scenes tidbits to share!