The 30th Anniversary 'Evangelion' Short is All About Asuka

Before we get a new take on Neon Genesis Evangelion from Yoko Taro, studio Khara and Hideaki Anno went back to the past for the series’ 30th anniversary. After trying to contain leaks of a new anime short celebrating the series’ milestone, Khara accidentally leaked the short itself and decided to make it an official release to celebrate the five-year anniversary of Evangelion 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time. For those who didn’t watch the leaks, the short sees Asuka Langley Soryu take the stage alongside her Rebuild of Evangelion counterpart, Asuka Shikinami Langley. After chatting about their experiences in their respective adaptations, Asuka confesses she’s not happy about dying in End of Evangelion and then coming back to life as Shinji’s strangling her. So she’d like a better conclusion to her story, and that’s where Rebuild Asuka comes in. Together, the two go through a number of “what ifs” that lead to different outcomes including her accidentally killing or hurting Shinji in some way (whoops), an endless wave of Asukas, and a single mech-sized version. Many of these sequences are inspired by the aesthetic of the original Gainax adaptation, while one takes after Rebuild’s modern s