Evangelion TV Series and Movies Coming To The Criterion Channel

The Criterion Collection is synonymous with quality cinema. Films selected for release on the label are considered the best of the best and worthy of the special edition treatment. So when Criterion launched its own streaming service, The Criterion Channel it carried with it a certain weight. Not just any film or series would stream there, and they pride themselves on a highly select, curated library.

Animation is not exactly over-represented in the Criterion Collection, and the Criterion Channel doesn't stream a great deal of animation either. So when animation does get added, it's worth paying attention.

GKIDS Films has announced that the Neon Genesis Evangelion collection is coming to the Criterion Channel this September. This will include the classic 1995 anime TV series and the original films Death and Rebirth and The End Of Evangelion. This is not the first time the series and movies are available on streaming, as they are also available on Netflix. However, on Criterion, the series will be available in Japanese with English subtitles and with the original AD Vision dub. When the series debuted on Netflix, it did with a newly recorded dub based on a new translation. The new version was supposedly more accurate, but was not without controversy. Many fans prefer the classic dub from the original VHS release, which featured actors such as Spike Spencer, Amanda Winn Lee, Alison Keith, Tiffany Grant, Brett Weaver and Monica Rial. The classic dub was available as part of the deluxe special edition of the Blu-Ray release, but this will mark its streaming debut.

Neon Genesis Evangelion was created by Hideaki Anno and produced by Gainax. In a future Japan, mankind is being attacked by creatures of unknown origin, known as Angels. The only hope to defeat the Angels is an experimental biological weapon called Evangelion (or the Eva Units), that can only be piloted by teenagers. Including Shinji, the reluctant son of Gendo Ikari, the head of NERV, the organisation tasked with taking on the Angel threat. The scene is set for the Giant Robot show to end all Giant Robot shows (although technically there aren't any Giant Robots in it). And it all gets very weird and existential and the series ends in a way that made a lot of people very angry at the time.

Which is where the first two movies come in. Death and Rebirth is an artful, non-linear recap of the events of the series up to episode 24, and the first reel of the "true ending" that either replaces the original ending or occurs simultaneously with it. The End of Evangelion is the spectacular and devastating conclusion.

The End Of Evangelion was not the end of Evangelion, far from it.  In 2007, the Rebuild Of Evangelion movie series was launched as a reboot of the franchise. It started as a fairly close retelling of the original, before diverging for a radically different take. The series spanned four movies,  with the last one coming out in 2021. The movies are streaming on Prime Video, but are scheduled to be removed any day now.

Studio Khara announced a new Evangelion anime series in February.

 The Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series and original movies will be available to Criterion Channel subscribers from September 1.