Evangelion shorts on Animator Expo
By The Eva Monkey on Friday, February 13th, 2015
Late last year, Studio Khara teamed up with Dwango (which operates the video site Niconico) to create Animator Expo, a serialized project that provides a venue for animation producers. The site, which is bilingual (Japanese and English) describes its mission:
Original projects, spin-off projects, promotional films, Music PV, and VJ Films etc… Various omnibus animations produced with love and energy, regardless of any genres. The digital distribution anime series bring opportunities for project development, R&D, human resources development, and free production under limited period and budget, to explore the possibilities of future film production.
Evangelion fans will note the involvement of Eva writer/director Hideaki Anno, whose comments (albeit Engrishy) appear on the site:
We planned this short film project for believing in the pursuit and exploitation of fun of images that Japanese animation has, deepening and diversity of flexible expression, understanding and exploitation of inidivisual talents, and the dreams and possibilies to the future, which are inherent in Japanese anima(tor)s.
I appreciate your kind support and approval with this small resistance as many as possible.
Hideaki Anno, Studio Khara
So far, a few of the projects have been Eva themed, as you can expect, given Khara and Hideaki Anno’s involvement.
until You come to me
First off, until You come to me, which was released December 19th, is a slow short that emphasizes stillness and is devoid of dialogue. It seems to pick up where Evangelion 3.33 left off. But given that it features some references to Neon Genesis Evangelion and The End of Evangelion, it’s not only difficult to argue canonicity, but also seems to further tease at the sequel theory that Rebuild and Neon Genesis are connected in some specific way, be it in the same timeline, or in the same meta-verse. I’m undecided, but I want to point you to some analysis that I enjoyed by the YouTuber GoatJesus.
- until You come to me on Animator Expo
- Evangelion: until You come to me – Analysis, Thoughts and Guessing a LOT by GoatJesus
evangelion:Another Impact(Confidential)
Next, the most recently released short, titled evangelion:Another Impact(Confidential), is one to definitely check out. Unlike until You come to me, it’s a fully CG short, and features some cool action. It revolves around the Evangelion unit referred to as “Another Number – Unit Null”, as it undergoes activation, and well… it’s Evangelion, things go bad whenever you try to activate something. Again, this short seems to be in the world of Rebuild of Evangelion, possibly around the time of Evangelion 3.33. The voice cast features Koichi Yamadera (who you should know as Ryohji Kaji) and the prolific Megumi Hayashibara who seems to make a brief appearance as Rei Ayanami. The short is pretty cool, definitely something to check out.
- evangelion:Another Impact(Confidential) on Animator Expo
ME!ME!ME!
Lastly, though not specifically dedicated to Evangelion, or any pre-existing IP that I’m familiar with, there’s a short titled ME!ME!ME!. It’s weird, and sexual, and there’s a part where this guy’s Evangelion figures come to life, and it’s just… trippy. For that reason, you might be interested in checking it out.
- ME!ME!ME! on Animator Expo