Amazon has released a new clip from Evangelion: 3.0+1.01: Thrice Upon A Time, which previews the first few minutes of the highly anticipated finale to the series.
The new clip was released through Amazon Prime Video's Japanese YouTube channel following Amazon's Comic-Con@Home panel. Studio Khara, the animation studio founded by Evangelion director Hideaki Anno, announced earlier in July that Thrice Upon A Time would make its international debut exclusively on Amazon's streaming service, following a record-breaking run in Japanese theaters earlier in the year. The previous three films in the Rebuild of Evangelion series will also be available for Prime Video subscribers. Depending on your interpretation of the story, the Rebuild of Evangelion movies are either a reboot or a direct continuation of the events from the original 1995 Neon Genesis Evangelion TV show, which is widely regarded as one of the most influential anime series of all time. Regardless of where you think it fits into the series timeline, Hideaki Anno has stated that Thrice Upon A Time will be his final work in the franchise.
MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE EVANGELION SERIES FOLLOW:
The clip released by Amazon is from the beginning of Evangelion 3.0+1.01, which picks up immediately following the events of Evangelion 3.o: You Can (Not) Redo. The Fourth Impact has been prevented, but the conflict between the crew of the Wunder, led by Misato Katsuragi, and the remnants of NERV, led by Gendou Ikari, continues. The mysterious Mari Illustrious Makinami is in Paris, investigating NERV's European branch, while Asuka and Rei force a despondent Shinji, who has once again been forced to witness the violent death of the Angel Kaworu, to march through the devastated ruins of Tokyo-3. After an unspecified amount of time, the trio is greeted by a man in a haz-mat suit, who appears to be personally familiar with Shinji.
Evangelion 3.o+1.0 was greeted with rave reviews and the best box-office performance in franchise history when it was originally released in Japan earlier in 2021. Several months after its debut, Khara released an updated version of the film, which made no changes to the story but featured newly reanimated scenes, under the title Evangelion 3.o+1.01. The revised version of the film will be the cut of the movie that will stream on Amazon Prime Video. Anno has stated that Khara's decision to partner with Amazon for the movie's international release was partly motivated by the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. "We were looking for the best way to offer the movie to fans overseas as early as possible in a challenging situation with movie theatres during COVID-19, and are happy to have found Prime Video as a partner to stream it globally." Anno said, adding, "We highly recommend watching it on a big TV screen for the best viewing experience."
The entire Rebuild of Evangelion series, including Thrice Upon A Time, will debut on Amazon Prime Video on Aug. 13. The movie will be available dubbed in ten languages, including English, Spanish, French and German, and will also be available with its original Japanese audio track with subtitles in 28 languages.
Source: YouTube
