Netflix’s Neon Genesis Evangelion debuts English re-dub

For years, Neon Genesis Evangelion sat in licensing limbo, leaving English-speaking fans without a legal avenue to watch the classic anime. That changed last November when Netflix announced that all 26 episodes of the anime series, and the films Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death (true)² and The End of Evangelion, would arrive to the service in 2019.

The announcement garnered mixed reactions. Evangelion would finally be available on a major streaming platform, but would Netflix deliver the same show that global audiences embraced in the decade after its 1995 debut? Was Evangelion still Evangelion without the original subtitles, or the 1996 English translation and voice-over dub, supervised by creator Hideaki Anno himself? In the lead-up to the release, Netflix was unable to provide Polygon with a firm answer after multiple inquiries. But now, the newly released episodes give the answer.

Netflix provides multiple ways to watch Neon Genesis Evangelion in North America: a new subtitled version, with English, Spanish, and two Chinese sets of subs, and a redubbed version with English, Spanish, French, and German audio options. The English dub was directed by Carrie Keranen and Kevin Hoffer, and written by Keranen Garcia and Oscar Garcia. Key roles are now voiced by Casey Mongillo (Shinji), Stephanie McKeon (Asuka), Ryan Bartley (Rei), and Keranen (Misato).

A series of licensing snafus — complicated by legal battles between the anime studio Gainax and creator Hideaki Anno’s Studio Khara, and the collapse of ADV Films, the North American distribution company behind the original dub — may have played a role in Netflix’s ultimate decision to scrap the well-known English tracks in favor of self-owned dialogue audio. Polygon has reached out to Netflix for clarification on the decision to redub the series.

Whatever the case, speculation over a redub sparked commentary from the anime community well before the June 21 launch of the series — including from those involved with the late ’90s North American release.

Shortly after Netflix announced the Evangelion license deal, original Asuka voice actress Tiffany Grant published a press release and fan petition on behalf of herself and the rest of the original English dub cast, including Spike Spencer (Shinji), Amanda Winn Lee (Rei), and Allison Keith (Misato).

“It seems there is some possibility Netflix may be considering a new dub of the show,” Grant wrote. “Although this hasn’t been confirmed, many of the original cast members [...] have taken it upon themselves to launch a campaign in a bid [to] reprise their iconic roles should this be the case.”

“This time I will be heartbroken if I don’t do Rei’s voice,” Winn later tweeted. “I poured so much of my life into that original show and those movies.”

While Spencer remained optimistic at the time, hoping to get the chance to redub Shinji himself, his ultimate reaction to the new ensemble was a wish for the best. “Congratulations to the new dub cast of Evangelion on Netflix,” he tweeted on the night of the release. “It’s an amazing show and a talented cast. Looking forward to seeing what you guys do with the franchise. Hang on to your hats. This will be a wild ride.”

Echoing Spencer, a number of anime fans took to social media to temper the inevitable eruption in the community. “A preemptive tweet,” one Twitter user wrote. “Don’t harass any new Evangelion dub cast members. The actors aren’t the ones commissioning a new dub; that’d be Netflix and Khara. If you’re mad about the dub go yell at them, not at a bunch of actors who may not even have known what they auditioned for.”

Based on their own reactions, the new cast members seem to understand the gravity of the opportunity. They took to Twitter themselves to praise Keranen’s work and celebrate the series.

With a redub set to introduce Evangelion to a new audience, and devoted fans prepared to assess Netflix’s work, Anno’s franchise remains open-ended and ready to rewrite history in Japan, too. Evangelion: 3.0+1.0, the fourth film in the writer-director’s Evangelion: New Theatrical Edition quartet, which retells the events of the series with flashy new animation, is expected to hit theaters — and rattle fandom — in 2020.