Yoko Taro’s New Evangelion Anime Will Quietly Callback to the Greatest RPG to Hit PlayStation 4

Only five years after fans said "bye-bye, all of Evangelion," in what was reported to be the final film in the long-running Neon Genesis Evangelion series, studio Khara has announced the iconic anime franchise would be returning to TV once more. The series is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary in Japan at a special event in Yokohama City.

Following the screening of a new short by series creator Hideaki Anno, one that gave fans a look into Asuka's point of view during the Third Impact, a surprise announcement revealed that a new entry in the franchise is currently in production, and will be spearheaded by Khara and CloverWorks.

Most surprising, however, are the names attached to the project. Specifically, Yoko Taro, the visionary creator behind the Drakengard and Nier video game franchises. Taro has cited the classic 1995 anime as a major influence on his work, and his involvement in the upcoming anime should excite fans of both Evangelion and Nier.

Nier's Yoko Taro Will Bring His Own Evangelion-Inspired Touch to the Iconic Anime Series

Evangelion Is Returning With Yoko Taro in the Driver's Seat

For thirty years, Neon Genesis Evangelion has been the brain child of Hideaki Anno, the legendary artist and director who, even beyond his work on Evangelion, has long been one of the most influential and successful Japanese directors in history. Now, it appears his promise to leave the franchise behind with Evangelion 3.0+1.0 didn't quite mean what fans thought.

Evangelion isn't over, but rather Anno will be handing his series off to other artists who will bring their own unique visions of it to life. The first of which will be Yoko Taro, who anime fans may recognize as the eccentric director and writer donning an instantly recognizable and oversized mask.

Yoko Taro is responsible for the Drakengard and Nier RPG video game franchises, the latter being a spin-off series of the former. Thematically, and often stylistically, Taro's work has always been spiritually connected to Evangelion, touching on many similar human subjects and apocalyptic story beats. In 2024, Taro humbly stated:

"The work I was most inspired by is Neon Genesis Evangelion. I thank you for praising Nier: Automata's story, but, actually, it's pretty much just a retelling of Evangelion, so there isn't much originality to it. I don't really watch modern movies, so I'm most inspired by memories of works I saw in the past."

Despite his sentiments, fans of Taro's work might point to the Drakengard games as having clearer similarities to Evangelion, with characters, events, and aspects of its world all having ties to Anno's anime series. Fans of Evangelion, on the other hand, might have concerns about the series' future without Anno's involvement.

Given the similarities between the stories, however, and the clear inspiration Yoko Taro has taken from the series, there may be no better person to help usher in a new era for the Evangelion franchise.

Evangelion Is Being Left in Good Hands as It Enters a New Era

For many, it might be difficult to imagine Neon Genesis Evangelion without the presence of Hideaki Anno. Beyond the fact that Anno created the series and remained at the helm for three decades, Evangelion is a uniquely personal story, and the myth behind the series has always been inextricably tied to the myth behind its creator.

To fans, Evangelion's mysterious lore is just as important as the lore behind the series' production, and many of the stories have become legendary. Anno famously battled mental health struggles throughout the creation of Evangelion, and those personal struggles are clearly expressed throughout the events of the series.

Despite the personal nature of Evangelion's story, it will nevertheless continue without Hideaki Anno at the steering wheel, though fans can rest assured that it's being left in good hands. Yoko Taro, throughout his own work on the Drakengard and Nier games, has expressed nothing less than an absolute understanding and intense passion for Evangelion.

Nier: Automata's conclusion, the game Taro himself dubbed a 'retelling' of the anime, does hit many of the same notes. Main characters 2B and 9S appear on a rooftop, ready to start their stories over once more, despite the possibility that their being alive will only result in the same doomed future reoccuring time and time again.

It's an ending that fits nicely within The End of Evangelion's main message: "the fate of destruction is also the joy of rebirth," a quote which was used in the marketing for the 1997 film. The fact that Nier: Automata contains a total of 26 distinct endings might also be a plus, considering that Yoko Taro will now be responsible for ending Evangelion a fifth time.

Neon Genesis Evangelion will officially return to screens in an all-new series, and Yoko Taro's involvement should be cause for excitement among fans of gaming and anime. Little else has been revealed about the series thus far, so fans will want to keep an eye out for further details to come.