Neon Genesis Evangelion if

Neon Genesis Evangelion if (Japanese: 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン if Hepburn: Shinseiki Evangerion if, lit. "New Century Gospel if") is a Japanese mecha anime series produced by Gainax and released on October 11, 2021, on Netflix.

The series is, as the title implies, a "what if" scenario where several plot points have been changed and warped to fit the series' story. The series is told from the perspective of the original series' protagonist Shinji Ikari and his deuteragonist and tritagonist, Asuka Langley Soryu and Rei Ayanami.

Main

 * Shinji Ikari (voiced by Casey Mongillo) - one of the three protagonists of the game. Shinji is referred to as the Third Child and is the pilot of Eva Unit 01. He doesn't enjoy being an Eva pilot and is borderline depressed due to the things his father makes him do.
 * Rei Ayanami (voiced by Ryan Bartley) - one of the three protagonists of the game. Rei is referred to as the First Child and is the pilot of Eva Unit 00. She is borderline emotionless for a good chunk of the game and has an odd, father/daughter-like relationship with Gendo.
 * Asuka Langley Soryu (voiced by Stephanie McKeon) - one of the three protagonists of the game. She is referred to as the Second Child and is the pilot of Eva Unit 02. She is aggressive towards the people around her and both loves and hates Shinji.

Recurring

 * Misato Katsuragi (voiced by Carrie Keranen) - TBA
 * Commander Gendo Ikari (voiced by Ray Chase) - TBA
 * Kaworu Nagisa (voiced by Clifford Chapin) - TBA
 * Kozo Fuyutsuki (voiced by JP Karliak) - TBA
 * Ritsuko Akagi (voiced by Erica Lindbeck) - TBA
 * Toji Suzuhara (voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch) - TBA
 * Kensuke Aida (voiced by Benjamin Diskin) - TBA
 * Hikari Horaki (voiced by Abby Trott) - TBA
 * Ryoji Kaji (voiced by Greg Chun) - TBA
 * Makoto Hyuga (voiced by Daniel MK Cohen) - TBA
 * Maya Ibuki (voiced by Christine Marie Cabanos) - TBA
 * Shigeru Aoba (voiced by Billy Kametz) - TBA

Production
After seeing how many new fans the series attracted when it was released on Netflix, Gainax decided to bring the series back for at least one more series. Not wanting to just remake the original series, Gainax decided they wanted to go in a different direction with the series' story, similar to the Rebuild of Evangelion.

After working on the idea for the series for some time, it was eventually pitched to Netflix, who were more than happy to bring more Evangelion content to the masses and accepted in a heartbeat. The series was produced under the codename "Baptism Redo", a reference to both Evangelion's biblical theming and the fact it was more or less a reboot of the series.

The fact the series was an Evangelion relaunch was eventually revealed at an anime convention in Japan on March 16, 2021, and the first trailer of the series was dropped at the same convention. Afterward, questions were accepted about the series and the "what if" concept of the series was revealed.

The reveal that the series would make major changes to the series' plot sparked some controversy, but it died down slightly after Gainax released a post more or less stating that they hope fans enjoy it anyway and if they didn't they will always have the original. Seven months after the reveal, the series was dropped on October 11 as a Netflix Original.

Reception
The series received praise from critics due to its incredible cinematography and animation. They also praised the writing, claiming it showed that that the Evangelion characters could be placed in almost any story and it'd be incredible. Other critics, however, claimed the series wasn't needed and that the series should've ended with the Rebuild of Evangelion.

On the other hand, the series has received mixed reviews from audiences and fans of the original series, who disliked the changes made to the original's plot, with many claiming the series would've been better if it wasn't connected to Evangelion at all. Others have argued that the series' tone fits perfectly within the Evangelion universe and making it anything other than Evangelion would've caused people to call it a rip-off.

Trivia

 * The original title of the series was simply "Evangelion", but it was decided against due to it both sounding too generic and the fact that fans scrolling through Netflix might confuse the series with the original.