A stunning live-action commercial from 2020 shows that a Neon Genesis Evangelion movie could work. Despite the popularity of anime, the genre has proven somewhat resistant to great movie adaptations. The live-action Dragonball Evolution film just might be the low point, but recent years have also seen mixed to bad receptions for Netflix’s Death Note or the Scarlett Johansson fronted Ghost In The Shell. The latter two projects were also accused of whitewashing the source material to appeal to Western audiences.

The enduring popularity of the medium means these adaptations are unlikely to stop, however, with Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop series and a movie of Hellsing also on the way. Shockingly, one of the most popular and beloved anime shows ever produced, Neon Genesis Evangelion, has yet to received a blockbuster movie. This Hideaki Anno-created series is set in the aftermath of the “Second Impact,” and revolves around a young boy named Shinji who is tasked defending the planet from creatures dubbed “Angels” by piloting a giant mech.

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While large-scale mech and monsters fights were part of Neon Genesis Evangelion, it was also a show that explored philosophy, religion, depression and other mature themes. Everything from the fight scenes to the theme song and even the style of font used on the series have become iconic, and Neon Genesis is considered a masterpiece of the medium. While a live-action movie has yet to arrive, in 2020, a Chinese commercial created for the limited edition Oppo Ace2 smartphone showed what a film adaptation could look like.

This Neon Genesis Evangelion commercial almost plays like a film teaser, showing off recreations of famous sequences from the show. Notable examples include Tokyo-3 itself, Shinji’s Evangelion Unit-01 jumping towards the camera, or the second angel Lilith. It is clearly a commercial created with a lot of love and reverence for the source and showed that the designs could be tangibly translated to live-action.

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While the likes of the Pacific Rim movies may have somewhat stolen the thunder of a potential live-action Neon Genesis Evangelion, there’s still hope a film spinoff could be great. A movie adaptation was actually in the works in the 2000s, with Weta Digital going so far as to release concept artwork for their take online. That version fell into development hell before being quietly cancelled, with names like Daniel Radcliffe and the late, great Robin Williams being linked to it. Like the perpetually in development Akira, a live-action Evangelion may never happen – but this commercial shows there’s still potential in the premise.

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Padraig Cotter
(3484 Articles Published)

It’s pronounced Paw-rick, not Pad-raig. Now that’s out of the way, a brief introduction. Padraig has been writing about film online since 2012, when a friend asked if he’d like to contribute the occasional review or feature to their site.

A part-time hobby soon blossomed into a career when he discovered he really loved writing about movies, TV and video games – he even (arguably) had a little bit of talent for it. He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU – where Hawkeye is clearly the best character – to the most obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle.

He’s super modern too, so his favorite movies include Jaws, Die Hard, The Thing, Ghostbusters and Batman. He can be found as i_Padds on Twitter making bad puns.

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