Put on your plug suits and get ready to deploy your AT Fields, folks. Legendary anime franchise Neon Genesis Evangelion comes to the Criterion Channel this September. The legendary and groundbreaking anime will hit the popular streaming service starting September 1.
For anyone not familiar with the now 30-year-old anime series, the Criterion synopsis for the series goes as thus:
“Set in a postapocalyptic world where teenagers pilot giant Multipurpose Humanoid Decisive Weapons–artificial humans known as Evangelions–to defend humanity from mysterious beings called Angels, the story evolves from high-stakes action spectacle into a deeply introspective exploration of identity, trauma, loneliness, and human connection.”
Evangelion premiered in 1996 to immediate popularity. It’s since become a cultural touchstone for anime fans across the world. Even today it’s still regularly cosplayed and reference by fans both young and old.
Criterion will not only stream Neon Genesis Evangelion, but also the two companion films: Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death (True)² and series finale The End of Evangelion.
While Evangelion has been streaming on Netflix since 2019, what makes this special is that the original dub will now be on a streaming service. Evangelion debuted on Netflix with a new dub and translation that upset fans because it’s so literal. It also “softened” the queer reading of the relationship between the characters Shinji and Kaworu. Now viewers will have access to the dub that launched a thousands ships.
Best known as a home for cinephiles, anime has slowly crept in into the Criterion Channel’s curated programming. Right now, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, K-On! The Movie, and Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno’s other mecha epic Gunbuster can be found on the service. Both the TV series and The End of Evangelion will fit in well with films like Ingmar Bergman’s Persona, David Lynch’s Eraserhead, and TV series such as The Prisoner.
This news follows the announcement of a new Neon Genesis Evangelion series from NieR‘s Yoko Taro. It’s the perfect time to watch the original dub.
