Neon Genesis Evangelion -dub- (2025)

Let鈥檚 not pretend it鈥檚 perfect. The ADV dub is loose . Localizers in the 90s took wild liberties. Kaworu鈥檚 famous 鈥淚 love you鈥� to Shinji becomes 鈥淚 like you,鈥� subtly changing the romantic subtext to platonic ambiguity. The translators also consistently missed the nuance of 鈥淚kari鈥� (anger/fury) as a surname.

If you want precision and fidelity , watch the Japanese with subtitles or the newer VSI/Netflix dub (which is cleaner but sterile).

B+ (Cult Classic Status) Final Grade for Nostalgia: A Neon Genesis Evangelion -Dub-

Do you prefer the ADV dub or the Netflix redub? Sound off in the comments below. Get in the discussion.

Let鈥檚 be honest: Neon Genesis Evangelion is not an easy show to translate. Between the dense Judeo-Christian imagery, the psychoanalytic jargon, and moments of gut-wrenching silence, capturing its essence in another language is a monumental task. For a generation of fans in the late 鈥�90s and early 2000s, their first trip into the Geofront wasn鈥檛 via subtitles鈥攊t was through the VHS dub produced by . Let鈥檚 not pretend it鈥檚 perfect

Yes and no.

You cannot discuss the original dub without mentioning the ending. Every episode of the ADV release closed with Claire Littley鈥檚 ethereal cover of 鈥淔ly Me to the Moon.鈥� It provided a melancholic, jazzy comedown after the psychological horror. Netflix stripped this (due to licensing), and the absence is felt. The original dub lives and dies by that 60-second outro. Kaworu鈥檚 famous 鈥淚 love you鈥� to Shinji becomes

Two decades later, with the Netflix redub (and subsequent re-redub of the redub) dominating conversation, how does the original 鈥淒ubaji鈥� hold up? Is it pure nostalgia, or is there still a current running through it?

Here鈥檚 a solid blog post about the Neon Genesis Evangelion English dub, written in an engaging, thoughtful style suitable for anime fans and retrospective pieces. Plugging In Again: Revisiting the Neon Genesis Evangelion English Dub