Neon Genesis Evangelion gets a new anime short in 2026

A mysterious new Evangelion project emerges, 30 years in the making...

Next year is the 30th anniversary of creator Hideaki Anno’s magnum opus Neon Genesis Evangelion, and its being celebrated with special exhibits, G-Shock & McDonald's collaborations, and a big festival in Feb. at Yokohama Arena. However, a new animated short has been announced for Evangelion: 30; 30th Anniversary of Evangelion. Alongside the announcement is key art depicting Shinji, Rei, Asuka, Mari from the Rebuild of Evangelion series, and Kaworu in casual outfits and smiles on all their faces.

Outside the anniversary, Evangelion: 30 is obviously a nod to the naming scheme of films within the Rebuild of Evangelion series (the last of which released in 2021), and since Mari is involved, we can speculate that this anniversary film will take place within this alternate universe, which is separate from the original anime and film.

Although we don’t know much about the upcoming short film, we know it will be directed by Naoyuki Asano and Anno himself will be in charge of planning, scripting, and supervision.

What’s amusing are the fan reactions, who yearn to see their favorite characters once again, but hopefully under happier circumstances. Neon Genesis Evangelion isn’t a happy-go-lucky anime, despite its beloved characters, it’s actually quite depressing and introspective. The cheery dispositions of everyone in the key art have fans hoping the series reflects the merriment, but given the heavy subject matter of the anime, the smiles just may be a ruse for a more brooding story.

Since the Rebuild of Evangelion films play with alternate timelines, it could be possible this film will examine a timeline seen at the end of the series, one in which Shinji is still deciding on going through with the human instrumentality project to make all living souls compile into one. This was depicted as Shinji and his friends living in a slice-of-life high school anime complete with the awkward tropes that come with it. So it’s possible this film will circle back on a reality where the kids can just be kids, and somehow Mari from the films is there, too.

So fans could get their wish for a happy-go-lucky Neon Genesis Evangelion after all, but only time will tell when the short film releases sometime in February.