Every newEvangelion Rebuildfilm has had some bizarre naming conventions and while there is some thought put into it, it’s hard not to find the name3.0+1.11a bit funny. With the upcoming Blu-ray release under this new (and hopefully final) name, fans aren’t just completing their collections, but witnessing a new story in the form ofEvangelion 3.0 (-46h).Back at the end of 2022,we wrote about the news about this mysterious shortsaid to be included with the home video release and speculated about its story. It was speculated to be an adaptation (and perhaps expansion) of a short comic given to moviegoers in Japan titled(-120min), a speculation that so far seems accurate in the wake of new stills.RELATED:7 Anime That Came Out Before Their Light Novels
Minus 48 Hours
The original comic given out during the theatrical release expanded on the events directly precedingEvangelion 3.33, with Asuka and Mari preparing for the mission from the start of that film. It can be assumed that the(-120min)was the literal timeframe of that story. It would make sense if the short covered the 48 hours prior to the beginning of3.33.
The three new stills seem to confirm this, as they seem to imply a focus on characters other than Asuka andthe state of the world after the Third Impact. In2.22, Asuka was injured after her new Eva was taken over by the Ninth Angel, and needed to be quarantined out of a risk of contamination. In3.0+1.11, it was revealed that the Ninth Angel was being held inside of her.
One of the new stills shows Asuka piloting an Eva with her eyes covered, perhaps a precautionary measure to prevent her Angel abilities from triggering.(-120min)’s story was about Mari convincing Asuka to take the lead in the mission to save Shinji, and perhaps this prologue will show a training session that didn’t go quite as planned.
There’s also a shot from space that mirrors some of the iconic imagery fromEnd of Evangelion, namely the pillars of lightshooting up from the Earth like crosses in a graveyard. It could very well be tied to some sort of briefing for the mission from3.33, but the pillars of light give the impression that this could be a flashback to the Third Impact as it appeared from space.
The biggest mystery from the new stills is the new girl featured and what kind of role she might play in the story, either as a victim of the Third Impact or a member of Wille who Asuka meets.
The inclusion of a new character comes as something of a relief because it implies that the short has to be a certain length to necessitate their introduction.
Eva’s Future
Not much is known about how long this short will be and the tweet unveiling these stills described it as simply a bonus video, which could mean just about anything. Could it belong enough to be considered a one-episode OVAor is it something shorter like one of theJapan Animator Exposhorts? However long, here’s hoping It’s long enough to tell a good story.
While Hideaki Anno has said goodbye toEvangelion, this short feels like the first step in what could beEvangelion’s future, rather than an extended epilogue. The aforementionedAnimator Expoalready explored new ways to tell stories within theEvangelionbrand and if there is positive reception from fans, newer creations could be on the horizon.
Kazuya Tsurumaki is the underappreciated right-hand man of theseEvangelion Rebuilds, as well as the director ofFLCLandDiebuster. It would be awesome to see Tsurumaki take the reins now just as he didwith Anno’s directorial debutGunbuster. It would undoubtedly be different but perhaps different is what the franchise needs after such a momentous conclusion.
