Funimation has the NERV to pick up Evangelion 1.01!

Evangelion 1.01 was a huge success and it is not surprising that an North-American company picked up the rights to distribute it outside of Japan. Sure it took a little bit longer than expected but the news is a good one for Evangelion fans living outside Japan!

The North American distributor FUNimation Entertainment has announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Evangelion:1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, the first film in an ongoing four-film remake of the Evangelion science-fiction anime franchise. Director Hideaki Anno (Aim for the Top! Gunbuster, His and Her Circumstances, Love and Pop) co-created the original 1995-1996 Neon Genesis Evangelion television series at the anime studio Gainax (Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise, Nadia – Secret of Blue Water, FLCL). The Evangelion story subverted the standard robot anime tropes of a scientist’s robot-piloting son and global apocalypse, all while dealing with themes of alienation and individuality.

Evangelion already hit the big screen in two films in 1997, but Anno co-founded a studio called Khara to remake Evangelion into four new films with NTV. The first film, Evangelion:1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, opened in Japan at #1 with standing-room-only audiences in September 2007. It eventually earned over 2 billion yen (about US$20 million) at the box office. It then sold 219,000 DVDs in its first week of release in April, and sold 297,927 copies by December. It won the Harayasa Tōkaimura Award at the 7th Annual Japanese Otaku Awards, the Animation of the Year award at the 7th Annual Tokyo Anime Awards, and the Theatrical Film Award at the 13th Animation Kobe Awards.

The official website notes that FUNimation has the enhanced Evangelion:1.01 You Are (Not) Alone edition that was first released in Japan on DVD.

Source: ANN

There are a couple of questions that fans will probably ask, but of course, Funimation will answer later before the official release. Questions like the release date, the extras that are included on the DVD and of course, the cool thing is if there will be a Blu-Ray release as well?…Visit the official website for details!

Meanwhile, guess I will enjoy the official japanese DVD version!

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