NEON GENESIS EVANGELION Receives Very First English Dub Blu-Ray Release – With A Catch

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When Netflix launched the “English Dub” of Neon Genesis Evangelion in 2019, the streaming platform was met with criticism for a number of reasons. Not only was the entire English dub voice cast replaced and key dialogue altered in the translation, but the iconic Fly Me to the Moon credit sequence was nowhere to be found.

In fact, fans weren’t the only ones to speak out against this release. Two years ago, back in 2018, Funimation CEO Gen Fukunaga, an expert with over two decades in the industry, was anything but quiet about his feelings on the announced Netflix release of Neon Genesis Evangelion. When speaking with Polygon he shared his true thoughts, pulling no punches.

“Honestly, Netflix is willing to significantly overpay for something like [Evangelion] and outbid anybody by multiples, no matter what their ROI is. I’m 100-percent sure that [Funimation would] have done a much better job brand-managing it and turning it back into what it was. It would have just dropped on the platform with any number of titles and probably would have died as a brand.”

As Fukunaga points out, Funimation would have proven a much better home for the series, and fans would likely have received a much more pure translation. Luckily for those upset by Netflix’s version, a new Ultimate Edition Blu-Ray is coming in 2021 which contains all 26 episodes and the films The End of Evangelion and Neon Genesis Evangelion Death (true)² in proper English translation.

Take a look at the following tweet from All The Anime which announces the upcoming release. Unfortunately, not all pertinent information is contained in the context of the announcement, leaving out the one big catch that could alienate fans even more than the Netflix version already has.

 

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So what’s the catch? Apparently, the release is only scheduled to debut in the United Kingdom and Ireland. While there are surely plenty of anime fans in those two locations, the rest of the world has also been waiting for a proper English release of Neon Genesis Evangelion, and a select release may prove to anger fans even more than Netflix already has.

What’s more, is that there is no knowledge as to whether or not the Blu-Ray will feature the initial English dub or the Netflix version which hardcore fans have agreed to revolt against.

With no U.S. release date scheduled as of yet and the possibility of the Blu-Ray release of Neon Genesis Evangelion being region locked to those two areas, there doesn’t seem to be any restitution for the English-speaking viewers the world over who have been looking for a proper translation.

The English Dub Blu-Ray release of Neon Genesis Evangelion will arrive at some point in 2021 for the United Kingdom and Ireland, with no worldwide release date set.

About Joseph Alan Gharagheer