Evangelion: 3.0+1.11 Thrice Upon a Time (シン・エヴァンゲリオン劇場版𝄇, Shin Evangerion Gekijōban 𝄇) is a 2021 theatrical anime film based on Hideaki Anno’s anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. The film was produced by Studio Khara, and the staff credits include chief director & writer Hideaki Anno, directors Kazuya Tsurumaki, Katsuichi Nakayama & Mahiro Maeda, character designers Atsushi Nishigori, Hidenori Matsubara, Moyoco Anno, Shigeto Koyama & Syūichi Iseki, and music composer Shirō Sagisu. The film was first released theatrically in Japan in March 2021.
Background:
“From legendary director Hideaki Anno, EVANGELION:3.0+1.11 THRICE UPON A TIME is the fourth and final installment of the REBUILD OF EVANGELION films, bringing an epic conclusion to the story of Shinji and his fellow Eva pilots, with the stunning visuals and thought-provoking storytelling that has made EVANGELION a global pop culture phenomenon.
Misato and her anti-NERV group Wille arrive at Paris, a city now red from core-ization. Crew from the flagship Wunder land on a containment tower. They only have 720 seconds to restore the city. When a horde of NERV Evas appear, Mari’s improved Eva Unit 8 must intercept. Meanwhile, Shinji, Asuka, and Rei (Provisional Name) wander about Japan.”
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, November 2023.
After many years, Hideaki Anno and Studio Khara have managed to finally wrap up their Rebuild of Evangelion film series with their fourth film Evangelion: 3.0+1.0, which was then updated to become Evangelion: 3.0+1.11 Thrice Upon a Time. It’s still unbelievable that this was even a thing, because many know that there’s been production challenges for the director and studio over the years. The first two films were released back in 2007 & 2009, but then there’s the third film in 2012. This final instalment was supposed to have been back-to-back with the third film but things changed along the way.
The third film Evangelion: 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo took a very bold approach by deviating completely from the original series Neon Genesis Evangelion and while it’s good to tackle original ideas, this one went way beyond the comfort zone for a lot of fans and it was clear Hideaki Anno didn’t like the reception that it received. Since then the director then took a break from Evangelion for personal reasons and worked with TOHO to produce Shin Godzilla with another director Shinji Higuchi which was really good. From there came more Shin projects including Shin Ultraman, Shin Kamen Rider and then eventually Evangelion‘s final film also being called Shin Evangelion was added to the Shin line-up.
Much like Evangelion: 3.33, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 also had multiple directors and designers contributing to the project to help Hideaki Anno finish his Rebuild of Evangelion project, from the characters to mechs to the world-building. Eventually Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 was finally repromoted and released in Japan in early 2021, which was supposed to have been in 2020 but then the global pandemic got in the way which closed a lot of theaters.
One of the biggest concerns for the international audience was how long were they going to take to bring it over, because there’s been controversy with how Evangelion: 3.33 was handled by Funimation. For context, the film was on-hold for western release due to supposedly members of Studio Khara reacting negatively to the English dub performance to the film’s screening at an anime convention, which resulted in a revised English dub and subtitles after a 3-4 year wait.
In recent years, Evangelion had a revival of sorts for the international community. The original series was unavailable for a long period of time until Netflix were given streaming exclusivity which included a new English dub, but the Rebuild of Evangelion series was somewhat readily available under Funimation. But it’s clear the handling of Evangelion: 3.0 convinced Studio Khara to move the final film to a different distributor. Before that though, the streaming rights was separate from what Funimation had (which was theatrical and home video only) so Amazon Prime out of nowhere announced not long after the Japanese theatrical release for Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 that all four films will be available internationally on their service. The Amazon Prime streams used the updated Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 version which is like a patch update to the film. In addition the English dubs were re-done.
The English dubs was interesting because it’s primarily the cast from the ADV & Manga Entertainment English dub version of the original series with some members from the Funimation dub. All four films were re-done and the result was considered a mixed bag due to how Studio Khara wants them to speak and act etc. compared to Funimation’s dub.
Moving back to the distributor part, Anime Limited and GKIDS both rescued the home video rights for Neon Genesis Evangelion for the United Kingdom, Ireland, United States and Canada territories and they have done the same for Evangelion: 3.0+1.11 Thrice Upon a Time (the 1.11 part being the updated name for the home video releases worldwide). Anime Limited was also included in the film’s credits so I had a feeling they would eventually license the film for our region.
I did watch the film via Amazon Prime the day it was made available and while I was fine with how 3.33 was handled, it did rely heavily on this film for it to age better. And thankfully I had such a blast watching this final film that it had reinvigorated my interest with the franchise and made up for a lot of the flaws that 3.33 had. It’s got a great conclusion and it seems a lot of people felt that way as well.
Deluxe Edition Contents:
Fans will be pleased to hear that Anime Limited have of course provided a special packaged release for Evangelion: 3.0+1.11 Thrice Upon a Time and in addition the spine will also match Anime Limited’s collector’s release for Evangelion: 1.11. There is a difference between their 1.11 release and this one in terms of content.
The package is presented as a rigid box housing an Steelbook case that includes both the 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray discs. Also included with the set is a 28-page booklet, 5 art cards and A3 Poster. The booklet features character designs and information about the world-building.
The artwork is free of any information on all sides of the box and the info sheet covers the BBFC content, information and specification. The deluxe edition 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray combo pack set is limited to 1000 units for SRP £79.99. Also available on the same day and date is both a limited edition Blu-ray & DVD steelbook combo pack and a standard Blu-ray. Currently, the 4K Ultra HD deluxe edition is exclusive to the AllTheAnime store.
I pre-ordered my copy through Anime Limited’s store during their early bird offer back in August 2023 for £49.99 but with the Anime Unlimited membership offer at £44.99.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with Steelbook packaging and clean artwork
- Info sheet with info, specification and BBFC description
- 28-page Booklet
- 5 Art Cards
- A3 Poster
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 20th November 2023
The deluxe edition release for Evangelion: 3.0+1.11 Thrice Upon a Time contains the film on a single 4K Ultra HD disc and two Blu-ray discs.
The 4K UHD disc is encoded and authored by the folks over at GKIDS, with some tweaks by Anime Limited. Studio Khara did not include HDR for their Japanese release so this release is also presented in Standard Dynamic Range. The audio options include Japanese with English subtitles, and the Dubbing Brothers English dub commissioned by Studio Khara with optional English SDH subtitles also available. The tweak that I mentioned is that Anime Limited have removed the additional language subtitles for French & Spanish, presumably due to licensing reasons. As for the playback, the white subtitles are unlockable during playback, and the disc is all region.
The Blu-ray discs are also encoded and authored by GKIDS (again with the same tweaks from Anime Limited), with the same audio options as the 4K disc. One focuses on the main feature film, whilst the other includes additional bonus features. As for the playback, the subtitles are unlockable during playback, and the discs are locked to Blu-ray players set to B.
4K Ultra HD Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 |
| Video | 2160p Ultra High Definition format 2.39:1 aspect ratio SDR |
| Region | All Region |
| Subtitles | English, English SDH |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 1 BD-100 |
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | Main Feature Film: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 EVANGELION:3.0(-46h) & EVANGELION:3.0(-120min): Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 2.39:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English, English SDH |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 2 (1 BD-50, 1 BD-25) |
4K Ultra HD On-Disc Extra Features:
No extras on this disc
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Bonus Blu-ray Disc:
- SPECIAL 01:
- Teaser:
- Teaser 1
- Teaser 2
- Teaser 2.5
- Teaser 2′
- Teaser 3
- Trailer:
- Trailer
- Trailer Updated
- Trailer Updated 2
- Trailer Updated 3
- Additional Trailer:
- Additional Trailer A
- Additional Trailer B
- TV SPOT:
- 15sec A
- 15sec A Updated
- 15sec A Updated – Kinro :2.22
- 15sec A Updated – Kinro :3.33
- 15sec A Updated 2
- 15sec A Now Showing
- 15sec B
- :3.333 – Trailer Updated:
- :3.33 – Trailer Updated
- :3.33 – Trailer Updated 2
- :3.33 – Trailer Updated 3
- Promotional Reel
- Teaser:
- SPECIAL 02:
- Character Promotion Reel:
- Shinji Ikari
- Rei Ayanami / tentative name: Rei Ayanami
- Asuka Shikinami Langley
- Mari Makinami Illustrious
- Kaworu Nagisa
- Misato Katsuragi
- [Current EVANGELION]:
- Message for Kinro:
- Megumi Ogata Ver.
- Megumi Hayashibara Ver.
- Kotono Mitsuishi Ver.
- Message for ANN:
- Maaya Sakamoto
- Kotono Mitsuishi
- Yuriko Yamaguchi
- Fumihiko Tachiki
- Motomu Kiyokawa
- Tomokazu Seki
- Tetsuya Iwanaga
- Junko Iwao
- Miyuki Sawashiro
- Koichi Yamadera
- Character Promotion Reel:
- SPECIAL 03:
- Stage Greetings
- :1.11, :2.22, :3.33 – Trailer for 4D
- Rebuild of EVANGELION:3.0+1.11
- EVANGELION:3.0(-46h)
- EVANGELION:3.0(-120min)
- :3.0+1.11 – TV SPOT
- :3.0+1.11 – Promotional Reel
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Evangelion: 3.0+1.11 Thrice Upon a Time is available to purchase on Blu-ray by Anime Limited in the UK & Ireland territories. The deluxe edition 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray combo pack is exclusive to Anime Limited’s store, while the limited edition Steelbook Blu-ray & DVD as well as the standard edition Blu-ray can be acquired through Amazon UK, Anime Limited’s store, and MVM’s Anime–on-Line.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
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