Ask John: How Much Eva is There?

Question:
I’ve been wondering how many different Evangelions Tapes there are? How many series are there? How is the series different from the movie? I heard that the first movie is a recap of all that’s happened in the series?

Answer:
Evangelion began as a 26 episode TV series. In the US, the 26 episodes are available on 13 tapes. In Japan, the 26 episodes are spread onto 14 tapes/laserdiscs/DVDs. The first movie, Evangelion: Death is a summary of the character development that occurs in the first 24 episodes of the TV series. The “second” Eva movie, Rebirth, takes place directly after TV episode 24 and replaces the original TV broadcast episodes 25 & 26. The final 2 TV episodes, as they aired on TV, are very philosophical and intellectual, but do not answer the many questions raised in the series. The Rebirth movie is a more literal and action oriented ending to the series. Rebirth was later extended with nearly an hour of new footage to become End of Evangelion. From what I’ve read, a slightly re-edited version of End of Evangelion was aired on the Japanese satellite TV station WowWow, under the title Revival of Evangelion.