‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ Is Coming To The Criterion Channel With Its Pre-Netflix English Dub

Hideaki Anno’s landmark anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion is coming to the Criterion Channel on September 1, accompanied by two of its feature-length companion films.

The streaming package will include all 26 episodes of the original 1995–96 series, The End of Evangelion, and Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth. The titles are being dealt by North American distributor GKIDS.

Criterion’s summary of the block reads:

Set in a postapocalyptic world where teenagers pilot giant Multipurpose Humanoid Decisive Weapons – artificial humans known as Evangelions – to defend humanity from mysterious beings called Angels, the story evolves from high-stakes action spectacle into a deeply introspective exploration of identity, trauma, loneliness, and human connection.

The series will be available in Japanese and with its “Classic” English dub, which Criterion says is making its streaming debut. When Netflix added Evangelion in 2019, it featured a newly recorded dub with a different cast and revised translation.

This week’s streaming announcement applies to the Criterion Channel only. Criterion has not announced a physical Criterion Collection edition of the series or films.

Meanwhile, a new Evangelion series is in development at Studio Khara and Spy x Family studio CloverWorks. NieR creator Yoko Taro will serve as series composer and scriptwriter, with Kazuya Tsurumaki and Toko Yatabe directing. Plot details and a release date have not been announced.