All photos by Daryl Harding There are only a handful of anime that have changed the course of the industry. Of those, only a few still sit in our collective conscience. Evangelion is one of them, changing how anime is seen worldwide, how series are funded in Japan and solidifying the “late-night anime” landscape that the industry thrives on to this day. 2025 marked the 30th anniversary of Neon Genesis Evangelion ’s premiere. Now that Gainax as a studio has closed, Studio Khara and Hideaki Anno are able to celebrate the franchise in its full glory. The first big event for the franchise was the " All of Evangelion Exhibition ," which held its first stop high above the Tokyo skyline on the 52nd floor of the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, giving some spectacular views of Unit 1 suspended over Tokyo Tower. The exhibition traces the original series’ path from the concept art all the way to the final designs of EVANGELION:3.0(-46h) , the short made after the last film. The exhibit gave a historic look at a franchise that started in cel animation on TV in the early 1990s, moving to film format, the introduction of digital workflows and then finalizing with 3D renders and CG techniques in the 2020s. There are few anime that have spanned four different decades of anime production, and even fewer that still have original materials to present. Thanks to Studio Khara, we were able to see that journey. Looking at Original Neon Genesis Evangelion Production Material A winter sun shone brightly on the main event hallway, illuminating the original concept art for Neon Genesis Evangelion . Unlike the rest of the event, most of the pieces were reproductions of Yoshiyuki Sadamoto’s character designs, including an adorable Asuka, Anno’s drawing of machines and drawings that capture the feeling of the series. The red text denotes the concepts as their “final draft,” the confirmed drawings as approved by heads of production. Most of the images are dated November/December 1994 — less than a year before the first episode of the series aired on October 4, 1995 — further confirming how short a timeline the staff at Gainax and Tatsunoko Production had to animate this classic. Speaking of Tatsunoko Production, it’s interesting to see just how much of the original concepts were done at the studio, rather than in-house at Gainax where Hideaki Anno was based. One of the biggest surprises was the view of Unit 1 waiting inside NERV: It’s such an iconic shot of the mecha that it feels almost odd to be in the concept section with Tatsunoko branding on the sheet. Neon Genesis Evangelion was made with the full technology of the 1990s anime industry. Walls of original cel animation greeted me as I walked into the dark, but very full hall. These iconic frames I've seen throughout my life were breathtaking to witness right in front of me. Khara showcased the cels in multiple ways: standalones, stitched together, as panning shots and even with the accompanying background art. It was so cool being able to see these as they were so detailed and crisp. As with the background art, the character art cast shadows, giving the frames real depth. These were also a fascinating look into how the cels were used during production. A few frames had multiple character cels on top of each other, such as the image of Rei, Shinji and Asuka above. Unlike animation today, where everything is composited on a computer, each cel had to be layered by hand, photographed and then repeated. It’s a lost art. At the end of ( Evangelion !) cels, the voices of the cast could be faintly heard. Turning a corner and a screen with text was playing on a loop with the sound of the original auditions of Rei, Asuka, Misato, Ritsuko and Gendo. At first, it seemed like lines from the series, but you could hear the slight difference in the performances. Yuko Miyamura’s audition was outstanding, right down to the German! Under the screen were the original storyboards of the fight between Unit 1 and Sachiel. It showed how detailed Anno was on the storyboards in the first episode, and how much of his style bleeds into the earliest stages of production to the final product. Rebuilding Evangelion ’s Production We already know the story of Anno leaving Gainax and starting Studio Khara to remake Evangelion under better conditions and in a better mental state. This section, which covered all the Rebuild films in order, mainly featured the original layouts and key frames. It was striking to see the differences between the same characters over Neon Genesis and Evangelion: 1.0 . Everyone was cuter in a way; A little rounder and softer. Those sharper features did return in Evangelion: 3.0, but seeing Asuka and Misato presented this way after the original series’ framing was an interesting sign of the times in which the first two films were made. Eating All of Evangelion It wouldn’t be an anime exhibition without the adjoining anime collaboration cafe. That breathtaking view of the Tokyo landscape was my entertainment as I ordered Asuka Shikinami Langley's Tomato Pasta, Rei Ayanami’s Chiffon Cake Dessert and Asuka Shikinami Langley's "Anata, Bakaa?” Orange Juice. They were delightfully fun. I didn’t expect the dried chilis in the pasta, but the food lived up to its namesake and was fiery in a way Japanese pasta usually isn’t. I also appreciated the LCL colors from Rei’s cakes. A lot of care and detail went into the food, and as a fan, I enjoyed it. The Finale of Evangelion Of course, CG technology got better as the fourth film was in production. For Evangelion 3.0 , AAA Wunder was completely modeled by Anno, with concepts by Ikuto Yamashita. The concept art on display showed that progress, with notes by Anno for the modeling teams and the two creators’ stamps on their ideas. These culminated in a fully 3D projection of the AAA Wunder in the middle of the Rebuild halls, letting me look at the machine from every angle possible in great detail. Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 , the franchise's final piece of the story, had a hallway leading to a screen. One side featured some of the now iconic backgrounds from the film, with the other featuring image boards from the concept artists and the new character design sheets. That screen had looping videos showing the 3D models of scenes from the film. This included the motion-captured dinner shot, the scene of Asuka on top of Shinji that used a 50mm digital lens and the scene of two Unit 01s fighting. The fight scene was dated November 15, 2020, only a few months before release and after the first delay due to the pandemic . Khara made good use of the time they were given. Evangelion is a history-making anime that continues to influence the current landscape. This 30th anniversary exhibition, full of work spanning decades and hundreds of animators, color designers, CG artists and more, offered a deeper appreciation for a franchise already widely beloved and a deeper understanding of the craft that brought Anno’s story to life. I couldn’t help but love seeing the thank you message at the end of the exhibition, as if Anno himself is thanking everyone for putting up with him for all these years. But no, thank you, Anno-san, you king.
