Evangelion fans have been eating well over these past two weeks. Firstly, the stunning announcement of a new Eva series - co-produced by CloverWorks and written by Nier: AutoMata’s Yoko Taro - was a welcome and unexpected surprise. But attendees of the classic mech-psych drama’s 30th Anniversary celebration in Yokohama also got another special treat in the form of a brand new animated short from Studio Khara - written by series creator Hideaki Anno himself.
To say this short created a bit of a buzz online over the weekend is, at best, putting it mildly. Like all limited-run films, it promptly got ‘leaked’ online, only for Studio Khara themselves to blunder their inevitable cease and desist notice by somehow including links to the original 4k master within it. Not exactly the most convenient time to kick off an accidental guerilla marketing campaign. But 'best laid plans' or otherwise, the special is now up on Khara’s YouTube channel. Which gets us to the second reason why it had so much hype. It’s a 13-minute vignette dedicated to Evangelion’s most complicated character - fan-favourite Eva-02 pilot, Asuka Langley.
Whatever their take on this franchise (and holy shit, are there some takes), most fans who have followed Evangelion from its 1995 TV roots all the way through to the Rebuild movies could at least agree that when it came to resolutions - original or reboot - Asuka wound up getting the worst deal. Suffering complete mental breakdown while combatting the 15th Angel in the original TV show? Stranded at the end of the world with only Shinji for company at End of Evangelion? Yeah, not great. Even in the Rebuilds, with Shinji’s decision to reset the world to a timeline free of Evas and strife, giving everyone a happy ending, there’s still a complete lack of agency involved for her.
That’s exactly what this short covers. If Asuka did have that choice, what would she do with it? With all the trauma of her childhood and everything that’s transpired in the Eva series for baggage, could she even make the right choice for herself? And what would it all mean for her ever-complex relationship with Shinji? Most importantly - are any of us truly ready for another deep-dive into the rollercoaster of big robots, faux-Christian symbolism and deep internal suffering that is an Evangelion production?
Luckily, whether you’re ready or not, it won't be a heavy viewing burden. This 30th Anniversary Special is mostly tongue-in-cheek and very funny in the regular Eva comedy style. Crucially though, it’s also an Eva work that finally offers its focal character some long overdue compassion. It mostly revolves around a back-and-forth conversation between the two narrative ‘Asukas’ in question - the outwardly cocky, easily flustered version of the original TV show, and her progressively more hardened, cynical persona in the Rebuild movies. ‘TV’ Asuka asks her counterpart for a better ending than what they both got the first time around. ‘Rebuilds’ Asuka, having the power to do so, then provides several of them - but not before suggesting she’s about to put her into one increasingly ridiculous ‘what-if’ scenario after the next.
While I won’t detail these outcomes for spoilers’ sake, fans who have gone deep into the franchise will not be disappointed at the hilarious skits that ensue. Be it the TV show, End of Evangelion, the Rebuilds or even the dodgy ‘fan service’ she’s been subjected to over the years, nothing is safe from parody. Naturally, most of these revolve around the core facets of Asuka’s personality - her need to be No. 1 Eva pilot (and screwing up in the process), her traumatic upbringing, those confusing feelings she has for Shinji etc. But it is with the short’s conclusion that it provides its most moving moment. When finally faced with the one fate that, in theory, would give her that happy ending, her reaction to the possibility of embracing it doesn’t just underline her will for independence. It also provides emotional closure, both for her, and the fans who’ve been rooting for her all along.
With the short now available in HD on YouTube, there’s no excuse for any die-hard Evangelion fan to not give this a watch. With the future path for the franchise still uncertain at the moment on what exactly is next, there is at least the relief that Hideaki Anno could tie up thirty years of bad endings for one of Evangelion’s most discussed characters, with a 13-minute short that finally sticks.
