Thirty Years of Not Letting Go

Thirty Years of Not Letting Go

Five years after Shin Evangelion closed the Rebuild tetralogy, Studio Khara staged the franchise's first dedicated anniversary event at Yokohama Arena — three days in February 2026 that split a 17,000-seat venue between exhibition and performance, premiered new animation, crossed into kabuki theatre, and extended the event's visual language across an entire waterfront district. Every stage seat sold out during the lottery window. The ¥100,000 Platinum Passes moved before general sales opened.

EVANGELION:30+; 30th ANNIVERSARY OF EVANGELION — February 21–23, 2026, Yokohama Arena. Key visual by Studio Khara, structural lattice referencing the exhibition's six-sided LED Central Tower EVANGELION:30+; 30th ANNIVERSARY OF EVANGELION — February 21–23, 2026, Yokohama Arena. Key visual by Studio Khara, structural lattice referencing the exhibition's six-sided LED Central Tower

Architecture, Not Archive

The exhibition zone — EVA EXTRA 30 — is built around a six-sided LED Central Tower that functions as both wayfinding landmark and narrative spine. Visitors navigate chronologically from the 1995 TV series through the Rebuild tetralogy, encountering hand-painted animation cels, production documents, and a Virtual Camera Studio recreating the technology behind 3.0+1.0's Unit-01 vs. Unit-13 sequence. An Anniversary Park screens original episodes on vintage CRT televisions — a deliberate regression to the broadcast conditions under which the series was first absorbed. The structure treats Evangelion's production history as spatial experience rather than timeline.

The stage area occupies the arena's opposite half — an 18-by-15-metre LED screen built for single-screening events rather than looping content. A new 13-minute animated short, written and supervised by Anno with direction by Naoyuki Asano, screens once per day across all three festival days. The short is set in the Rebuild timeline with Asuka as protagonist — the first new Evangelion animation since 3.0+1.0 in 2021. No streaming release announced. No home video timeline. If it exists, it exists in this room, on this screen, for these three days.

The Stage Area render — 18×15m LED screen with hexagonal lighting arrays, two silhouettes at center scale. Venue for the short film screening, Yoko Takahashi concert, and Eva Kabuki world premiere The Stage Area render — 18×15m LED screen with hexagonal lighting arrays, two silhouettes at center scale. Venue for the short film screening, Yoko Takahashi concert, and Eva Kabuki world premiere
Eva Kabuki key visual — Unit-01's face rendered as traditional kumadori makeup in purple, green, and red. Produced with Shochiku, February 23, 2026 Eva Kabuki key visual — Unit-01's face rendered as traditional kumadori makeup in purple, green, and red. Produced with Shochiku, February 23, 2026

“For me, the story of Evangelion ended. I am not going to continue on, but now that it's ended, it’s actually very peaceful for me. I don’t feel a need to see Shinji and the other characters any time soon. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see them ever again — there might come a time when I meet them again.”

— Hideaki Anno

Evangelion × Yokohama satellite campaign visual — five pilots against the Minato Mirai skyline, 30th anniversary logo by Yamashita Ikuto Evangelion × Yokohama satellite campaign visual — five pilots against the Minato Mirai skyline, 30th anniversary logo by Yamashita Ikuto

The satellite campaign extended across Yokohama's Minato Mirai district from January 30 through February 24. The Cosmo Clock 21 Ferris wheel displayed Unit-01's head hourly between 6:00 and 9:30 PM. The Hammer Head Crane and surrounding buildings glowed in purple and lime green — the Eva color language applied at urban infrastructure scale. Night Flowers pyrotechnics in character-image colors launched from Shinko Futo Pier on February 7 and 14. Photo installations at seven venues, stickers distributed across 450 stores in 32 facilities. A franchise anniversary rewritten as civic event.

Cosmo Clock 21 in Unit-01 purple — the Ferris wheel's LED display runs the illumination hourly, Yokohama Landmark Tower visible at left Cosmo Clock 21 in Unit-01 purple — the Ferris wheel's LED display runs the illumination hourly, Yokohama Landmark Tower visible at left
Hammer Head Crane — the 1914 industrial heritage structure lit in Unit-01 purple and green, Minato Mirai skyline behind Hammer Head Crane — the 1914 industrial heritage structure lit in Unit-01 purple and green, Minato Mirai skyline behind
EVA EXTRA 30 — elevated view showing the six-sided LED Central Tower at center, exhibition corridors radiating outward through Yokohama Arena's floor EVA EXTRA 30 — elevated view showing the six-sided LED Central Tower at center, exhibition corridors radiating outward through Yokohama Arena's floor
EVA EXTRA 30 — ground level with seating areas visible, the Central Tower's black LED panels cycling through 30 years of title typography EVA EXTRA 30 — ground level with seating areas visible, the Central Tower's black LED panels cycling through 30 years of title typography

The festival opens twelve days from now in a city already glowing purple. Anno wrote a new Asuka short and handed the direction to Naoyuki Asano — the animation director who helped him finish the Rebuilds. Shochiku is staging kabuki with Unit-01's face painted in kumadori. Every stage ticket is sold out. The signal is not nostalgia. It is a franchise that ended its story in 2021 and still has things it has not tried.

Making Of
EVANGELION:30+; logo visual — the handwritten title over concentric red and cyan rings, referencing the Angel detection pattern from the series EVANGELION:30+; logo visual — the handwritten title over concentric red and cyan rings, referencing the Angel detection pattern from the series
Unit-01 statue — life-sized bust at the ALL OF EVANGELION exhibition (Roppongi Hills, through January 2026), the touring precursor to the Yokohama festival Unit-01 statue — life-sized bust at the ALL OF EVANGELION exhibition (Roppongi Hills, through January 2026), the touring precursor to the Yokohama festival
Minato Mirai building illuminated in Unit-01 purple and green — part of the satellite campaign's architectural lighting programme Minato Mirai building illuminated in Unit-01 purple and green — part of the satellite campaign's architectural lighting programme
Cosmo Clock 21 wide shot — the purple illumination visible across Yokohama's waterfront, January 30 – February 24, 2026 Cosmo Clock 21 wide shot — the purple illumination visible across Yokohama's waterfront, January 30 – February 24, 2026
Night Flowers × GREEN×EXPO 2027 — the pyrotechnics programme launching Eva character-color fireworks from Shinko Futo Pier, February 7 and 14 Night Flowers × GREEN×EXPO 2027 — the pyrotechnics programme launching Eva character-color fireworks from Shinko Futo Pier, February 7 and 14
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