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Original Eva English Cast Petition to Re-Dub Series for Netflix

Netflix announced some of its biggest anime news last week when the streaming service revealed that it will begin streaming Hideaki Anno and Gainax's Neon Genesis Evangelion television anime, as well as the Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth and Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion films. Neon Genesis Evangelion is considered a landmark anime production and the television series has long been out of print in the United States.

The news also prompted questions from fans: would Netflix re-dub the anime series before adding it to its line-up in the spring or would it include the original English dub from the ADV Films release? Many fans closely associate Shinji, Rei, and Asuka with their English dub voices performed by Spike Spencer, Amanda Winn Lee, and Tiffany Grant. Winn Lee, who directed the dub version of the anime series, wrote on Twitter on November 30 that a new dub is definitely happening. She expressed her disappointment over the decision but added on Tuesday that she met with the dub director and that "whatever happens, Eva is in good hands."

Grant has taken a proactive approach in an attempt to get the original cast back for the Netflix premiere. Grant shared a Change.org petition in hopes of getting 1,000 signatures in support of the original cast returning to the show. Spike Spencer is also sharing the petition.

Supportive tweets are using the Twitter hashtags "#spikeisshinji", "#tiffanyisasuka", "#amandaisrei", and "#allisonismisato". Fellow voice actor Kyle Herbert has also shown his support for the cause.

The original anime and films are some of the most influential and critically acclaimed works in the history of the medium, but has 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 Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise has inspired numerous spinoffs, merchandise, and collaborations. 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), the final film, is currently in production.

Source: Change.org