'Neon Genesis Evangelion' Celebrates 20th Anniversary; Rerun Of Pilot Episode Planned!
On October 4, 1995 at 6:30 PM Japan Time, the now iconic anime series made by Hideaki Anno and Gainax premiered in Japan. And now, "Neon Genesis Evangelion" marks 20th anniversary by re-running the premiere episode on the exact day and time as reported by Anime News Network.
The first episode of the apocalyptic anime series will be shown on On Sunday, at the exact same time as its original premiere date on nine Street Vision Jack screens in five cities in Japan. There are 8 locations available for the showing: ALTA vision screen in Shibuya, P'PARCO TV-chan and Street Vision screens in Ikebukuro, Street Vision screen in Akihabara, Tonbori Station S/N in Dotonbori, Osaka, Sakae Inter Vision in Nagoya, Street Vision screen in Fukuoka and Mega Vision 4 Pura in Sapporo.
Moreso, the episode will be stream online via Nico Nico Douga.
The first episode of "Neon Genesis Evangelion" is set in year 2000, showing the lead character Shinji Ikari arriving in Tokyo-3 and later on gets involved in piloting Evangelion Unit 01 (EVA) to fight the Angel Sachiel, who is attacking the city. The episode also tells the history of the tragic Second Impact and the establishment of NERV by UN, resulting to development of giant bio-mechanical robots known as EVAs.
To coincide with "Neo Genesis Evangelion" 20th anniversary celebration, a special line of smartphones have been announced inspired from the popular anime series. These phones will be powered by Android OS and will be available SIM-lock free. While the manufacturer of the specialized phones have to be revealed, Crunchyroll reports that NTT DoCoMo will provide telecommunication services for these phones in Japan.
The EVA phones are priced at 78,000 yen ($649.34) including tax. Pre-orders will be available in November. A bullet train inspired from the anime series is also in the works in Japan, which is set to open in October.
