In a different timeline, Rebuild of Evangelion 3.0+1.0 would’ve hit Japanese theaters on January 23, 2021, and observers would be getting their first looks at the critical and audience reception. Sadly this isn’t that timeline, as the movie’s premiere has been delayed indefinitely following the declaration of a state of emergency in Japan due to the worsening COVID-19 pandemic. Many Evangelion fans, though used to waiting by now, are thus chomping at the bit for new information, especially now that the long-delayed film is indisputably a finished product. To that end, Studio Khara has released another brief commercial to keep the fires lit, with a tiny bit of new footage to devour [Thanks, Game Watch!] :
The brief, 15-second Evangelion 3.0+1.0 TV spot shows off new, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it looks at Shinji, Asuka, and Mari. Asuka and Mari appear to be dressed in new plugsuits, this time with a white-dominant color scheme. An action scene shows Mari’s Evangelion Unit-08 suspended against a Third Impact-like red portal, passing a massive double-ended saw-like weapon to Asuka’s Unit-02, which is missing one of its four eyes. Both Units have clearly been through the wringer, sporting large amounts of external gear repaired damage, as well as being surrounded by countless haloed Evangelion-sized figures. It appears to be part of a scene shown in the full-size Evangelion 3.0+1.0 trailer released on January 14, 2021. That trailer showed Unit-02 laying into the surrounding humanoids with a huge rotary cannon:
Both trailers also show the flying battleship AAA Wunder engaged by what seems to be a hostile, highly similar vessel, with a new theme song from singer Hikaru Utada playing in the background. Titled “One Last Kiss,” the single was to debut close to Evangelion 3.0+1.0, on January 27th, 2021. The circumstances that led to the film’s delay also postponed the song’s release.
As for when fans can expect to see the film, that is as yet undetermined. Both trailers close with a message from Studio Khara, rendered in Evangelion‘s iconic text style: “Release date under consideration. Let’s overcome this together.”
Evangelion 3.0+1.0 will be released in theaters in Japan and elsewhere sometime in the near future. Meanwhile the original series can be streamed on Netflix, while the previous three films in the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy can be purchased via DVD and Blu-ray from FUNimation. If you need something to hold while you wait for news, try an entry plug pillow.
