Hideaki Anno's Neon Genesis Evangelion (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン, 1995) is one of the most studied works in the medium. The original 26-episode series, its 1997 theatrical conclusion The End of Evangelion, and the four-film Rebuild of Evangelion retelling (2007–2021) together constitute the most-discussed single anime property in academic literature. The series' production history, with documented budget shortfalls altering the final episodes, is itself a subject of analysis.
The original 1995–1996 series
Neon Genesis Evangelion broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 1995 to March 1996, twenty-six episodes produced at Gainax under Hideaki Anno's direction. The first half of the series is a recognisable mecha-action format; the second half progressively dissolves narrative into psychological and theological abstraction. The final two episodes (#25–26) consist almost entirely of internal monologue and abstract animation, partly because of acute production budget shortfalls and partly as deliberate authorial choice. Reception at the time was sharply divided.
The End of Evangelion (1997)
The 1997 theatrical feature The End of Evangelion, directed by Anno and Kazuya Tsurumaki, replaced episodes 25 and 26 with an alternate ending: a fully-animated apocalyptic confrontation that resolves the series' external plot while preserving its psychological ambiguity. The film is treated as canonical and the original episodes 25–26 as a parallel ending; both remain available in current releases.
The Rebuild project (2007–2021)
Anno left Gainax in 2006 and founded Studio Khara to produce a four-film retelling of Evangelion at the higher production quality and creative autonomy that Gainax's circumstances had not allowed. The four films — 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (2007), 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2009), 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (2012), and 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (2021) — initially retell the original series with small variations and then progressively diverge until the final film offers a substantially different conclusion.
Critical literature
Evangelion has generated more academic writing than any other anime. Key references include Susan Napier's writing in Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke, Mick Broderick's edited volume Hibakusha Cinema, Hiroki Azuma's discussion in Otaku: Japan's Database Animals, and Patrick W. Galbraith's work on otaku culture. The series is also one of the most-cited examples in discussions of religious and philosophical content in popular media.