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GKIDS Licenses Evangelion TV Series & Death (True)², End of Evangelion Films for Blu-ray, Digital Download
posted on by Egan Loo
GKIDS announced on Saturday that it has licensed the North American theatrical, home video, and EST rights to the 1995-1996 Neon Genesis Evangelion television series as well as the films Evangelion: Death (True)² and The End of Evangelion. The company plans to offer these titles on Blu-ray Disc and digital download-to-own next year. This is the first time that the television series has been available on Blu-ray in North America.
The series will mark its 25th anniversary on Sunday.
Netflix began streaming the television series in June 2019, and it describes the anime:
A.D. 2015. Tokyo 3 is under attack by powerful creatures known as the Angels. The protagonist, Shinji Ikari, is chosen to pilot the Humanoid Decisive Weapon Evangelion -- the only way for humanity to fight against the Angels. The battle for the fate of humanity starts now. What exactly are the Angels? What fate awaits the young pilots and humanity itself?
Evangelion: Death (True)2 is the updated 1998 edition of the 1997 compilation of the television series with some updated footage. The End of Evangelion film provided a new ending to the story in 1997.
The original anime and films are some of the most influential and critically acclaimed works in the history of the medium, but had long remained out of print and unavailable in North America. ADV Films' last release of the anime was the "Platinum Edition" DVDs in 2004 and 2005. The company shut down in 2009.
The franchise has inspired numerous spinoffs, merchandise, and collaborations. Hideaki Anno, the director of the anime, founded Studio Khara in 2006. He and the studio began producing a new tetralogy of films titled Rebuild of Evangelion, which reinterprets the events in the series. The tetralogy began with Evangelion: 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone in 2007, followed by Evangelion: 2.0 You Can [Not] Advance and Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo in 2009 and 2012, respectively. Shin Evangelion Gekijō-ban :|| (Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time), the final film, is currently in production, but delayed due to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Source: Press release
