TV Production Timeline

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TV Production Timeline

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Postby Szmitten » Thu May 07, 2020 7:54 pm

I've been going through a bunch of stuff on the Wiki and Gwern's wonderful source anthology trying to assemble a timeline of Evangelion's TV production, with the extremely optimistic idea of reverse engineering their production schedule (in the vein of https://i.imgur.com/xRVd3xW.jpg) in part to work out just what happened. What I'd be most interested in is, a) any other information, b) if any of the scripts (published or leaked) have dates on them, and c) any other sources in their original Japanese.

I know that the general process for Evangelion was that:
-A writer writes a First Draft, then collaborates with Anno.
-The writer writes a Second Draft, then collaborates with Anno.
-The writer writes the Definitive Draft and presents it to Anno. The scripting process ranges from 6 months for #01 and 3 days for #26.
-Anno turns the Definitive Draft into a Storyboard with changes. Boards for the first few episodes were done in 2 months.
-The Storyboard is passed to the animators who work 4 months optimistically or 3 weeks if you're on #24 onwards.
-Dubbing.
-Broadcast.

My current timeline is roughly:

SPOILER: Show
    20 September 1993 – Anno submits a first draft proposal of Evangelion.
    5 January 1994 – A second draft series plan featuring synopses of all 26 episodes is submitted.
    4 February 1994 – Internal draft fixed.
    April 1994 – Planning Draft for external distribution completed.
    May-October 1994 - Anno spent 6 months writing #01 and #02, jumped ahead to #05 and #06, went back to #03 and #04, the wrote #07-#09 with a lighter tone.
    November-December 1994 - Work begins on the storyboards for the early episodes.
    December 1994 - Sadamoto's manga debuts based on existing scripts and storyboards. The Evangelion's colour and cockpit design are not finalised yet.
    January 1995 - #01 and #02 are being animated.
    February 1995 - The cockpit is finalised and appears in chapter 3 of the manga.
    Spring 1995 - A speculative original release date, but is delayed to Autumn.
    April 1995 - Dubbing begins.
    July 1995 - Completed episodes #01 and #02 are screened at the Gainax Festival. They lack OP/ED because they haven't been storyboarded yet.
    September 1995 - The OP/ED are completed.
    27 September - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles airs it's final episode in its 18:30 timeslot and advertises Evangelion's debut next week. Features footage from episodes #01, #05, and #08. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhIRBgEoOb0
    4 October 1995 – Airing of Episode #01.
    11 October 1995 – Airing of Episode #02.
    18 October 1995 – Airing of Episode #03.
    25 October 1995 – Airing of Episode #04.
    1 November 1995 – Airing of Episode #05.
    8 November 1995 – Airing of Episode #06.
    15 November 1995 – Airing of Episode #07.
    22 November 1995 – Airing of Episode #08.
    29 November 1995 – Airing of Episode #09.
    6 December 1995 – Airing of Episode #10.
    13 December 1995 – Airing of Episode #11.
    20 December 1995 – Airing of Episode #12.
    27 December 1995 – Airing of Episode #13.
    End of December 1995 – Anno finally decides on what to do for #26, putting aside a script of #25 that resembles #25' in order to do it. It's possible that the original #25 was boarded and had some layouts done that were tossed. The new #25 is written in a week and #26 is written in 3 days the following week.
    3 January 1996 – Airing of Episode #14.
    10 January 1996 – Airing of Episode #15.
    17 January 1996 – Airing of Episode #16.
    24 January 1996 – Airing of Episode #17.
    31 January 1996 – Airing of Episode #18.
    7 February 1996 – Airing of Episode #19.
    14 February 1996 – Airing of Episode #20.
    21 February 1996 – Airing of Episode #21.
    28 February 1996 – Airing of Episode #22.
    4 March 1996 – After recording #25, the voice actors invite the animation team (who are working on #26) to a party.
    6 March 1996 – Airing of Episode #23.
    13 March 1996 – Airing of Episode #24. The key animation was done in a 3 week stretch presumably in Jan-Feb.
    20 March 1996 – Airing of Episode #25.
    27 March 1996 – Airing of Episode #26.

    And furthermore:
    April 1996 – Announcement that #25 and #26 would be remade for the home release as a form of OVA, followed by an announcement of a completely new, original, unrelated, standalone Evangelion film. (Is there an announcement?)
    Mid-late 1996 – At some point, it’s decided to release a compilation film of the TV series as a double feature with the OVA’s, followed by a new standalone film. (When?)
    21 December 1996 – An ad campaign encourages viewers to buy a poster on this date for Evangelion: Death and Rebirth. (Was the title known?)
    February 1997 – A trailer for Death and Rebirth includes incomplete shots from episode 25’, and audio from 26’ that doesn’t appear Rebirth. The trailer has no release date. (Was Rebirth still going to be 25'/26' this late? When was the release date announced?)
    March 1997 – It’s somehow communicated to the audience that Rebirth will be incomplete and to expect a Rebirth Part 2 later in the summer. (How?)
    25 March 1997 – Theatrical release of Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth.
    May 1997 – Announcement that Rebirth 2 is retitled to The End of Evangelion and given a release date of 19 July. Plans for the original Evangelion film are abandoned.
    19 July 1997 – Theatrical release of The End of Evangelion


It's an awful format to read in but if there's anything sketchy or if there's more information somewhere that you can think of, it'd be appreciated.

EDIT: As an aside - working on the assumption that an episode director can't work on more than one episode at any one time, but you can have several working on different episodes at once, and then try to organise them so that they don't overlap with themselves, you end up with something strangely plausible.

The above is outdated, for current, see this post: https://forum.evageeks.org/post/916427/TV-Production-Timeline/#p916427
Last edited by Szmitten on Thu Mar 18, 2021 7:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: TV Production Timeline

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Postby Blockio » Fri May 08, 2020 9:34 pm

Great work putting all that together!
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Re: TV Production Timeline

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Postby TMBounty_Hunter » Sat May 09, 2020 3:42 pm

The settei collections have a whole bunch of dates on when designs were finalized/approved. A lot of the initial designs are dated H6.11.29 - Heisei 6 - 29 November 1994. That includes cockpit monitor design for Eva-01. Eva-02 and 00 versions are dated 3 July 1995. Lots more dates in there.
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Re: TV Production Timeline

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Postby Szmitten » Sat May 09, 2020 5:07 pm

The main puzzle for me at the moment is actually the PR and announcements related to Death and Rebirth. Specifically:
-When did they announce the movie projects instead of the casual talk of OVAs? edit: 25'/26' OVAs and original movie announced May96, October announces recap+25'/26' movie for spring97 in addition to original movie.
-When did Death and Rebirth get announced as the title? edit: October-December
-When was Death and Rebirth’s release date confirmed?
-When was it announced that Rebirth was incomplete and that there’d be another movie with the real ending in the summer?

I have the announcements for EoE, but anything related to "We're going to make a movie, it'll be like this, it'll be called this, it'll be out on this date, actually forget all that there'll be another one later" is gone. I notice D+R trailers don't have release dates but have 26' audio and visuals that date shots from 25' to December and shots from 26' to January. Anything along these lines would fill in some big blanks.

View Original PostTMBounty_Hunter wrote:The settei collections have a whole bunch of dates on when designs were finalized/approved. A lot of the initial designs are dated H6.11.29 - Heisei 6 - 29 November 1994. That includes cockpit monitor design for Eva-01. Eva-02 and 00 versions are dated 3 July 1995. Lots more dates in there.

That seems pretty useful and means some things are both earlier and later than I anticipated. It means episode 8 started way later and therefore shunts episode 16 closer to the deadline. I don't wanna make you go through the whole book since that's unreasonable but I'd be very interested to know if there's anything dated after October 1995. Or anything dated for the movies.

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Re: TV Production Timeline

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Postby FelipeFritschF » Sat Oct 03, 2020 5:55 am

This is a very nice compilation. Do you mind if I put this on the wiki?

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Re: TV Production Timeline

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Postby Szmitten » Tue Oct 06, 2020 8:32 am

View Original PostFelipeFritschF wrote:This is a very nice compilation. Do you mind if I put this on the wiki?

I've made some discoveries since the original post so both it and my current document are both kinda incomplete or wrong about things still.

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Re: TV Production Timeline

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Postby FelipeFritschF » Tue Oct 06, 2020 11:06 pm

It's fine, feel free to update it when you see fit.

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Re: TV Production Timeline

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Postby UrsusArctos » Sun Mar 14, 2021 9:58 am

Szmitten wrote:27 September - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles airs it's final episode in its 18:30 timeslot and advertises Evangelion's debut next week. Features footage from episodes #01, #05, and #08. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhIRBgEoOb0


From Ninja Turtles to Eva?!? :rofl:

Missed this thread, by the way, and it's awesome that you have this going on!
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Re: TV Production Timeline

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Postby Szmitten » Sun Mar 14, 2021 12:01 pm

My current timetable and theoretical schedules are pretty dense now and probably unreadable and not fit for public consumption. The only real mysteries left are: when was each script (iteration) written*, general production timelines would be fun and useful, the definitive reasons for altering episode 25 (I have a theory), and what was Anno/everyone doing from March-September 1996 since I'm not convinced they were working.

Generally speaking this project has given me an interesting and probably unique insight into Eva and kinda filters out a lot of misinformation.

*This is the big one, Reichu doesn't have anything, suggested asking Khara directly which seems like an insurmountable long shot.

e: Also, I don't know if anyone wans my current timeline, or if this is the best place for it, or the heoretical schedule. It's original TV/movie centric, but I should consider looking into NTE stuff despite it being daunting (but inevitably kept more private and harder to find).

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Re: TV Production Timeline

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Postby TomsonPRD » Thu Mar 18, 2021 6:52 pm

Szmitten wrote:e: Also, I don't know if anyone wans my current timeline, or if this is the best place for it, or the heoretical schedule. It's original TV/movie centric, but I should consider looking into NTE stuff despite it being daunting (but inevitably kept more private and harder to find).


Current timetable, theoretical schedule?! Please, give us all you can! Who cares about the format when the thread is filled with such juicy and revealing infos :D

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Re: TV Production Timeline

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Postby Szmitten » Thu Mar 18, 2021 7:36 pm

The following is still rough and is primarily my notes for a potential book, hence the other details and TV ratings. Some stuff is speculative. I have/had sources for everything but may not be able to track them down again, but everything here is from a source.

SPOILER: Show
July 1993 – Uru in Blue is shelved.
July-September 1993 – Anno drinks with Toshimichi Otsuki, King Records representative, who decides to collaborate with Anno on a project, “anything.” Meetings regarding Alcion, battle between gods and humans, Devilman, Gunbuster, A10 nerve, dead mother in robot, Ideon. TV, movie, or OVA.
20 September 1993 – Anno submits a first draft proposal of Evangelion.
5 January 1994 – A second draft series plan featuring synopses of all 26 episodes submitted.
4 February 1994 – Internal draft fixed.
April 1994 – Planning Draft for external distribution completed.
14 May 1994 – Sadamoto Angel concept art.
29 November 1994 – Most final designs approved.
8 December 1994 – Proto Eva-00 designed.
19 December 1994 – Eva-00 face design finalised. #05.
26 December 1994 – Manga adaptation of Evangelion begins in Monthly Shonen Ace by Sadamoto using existing materials, scripts, and storyboards. Chapter 1 covers first third of episode #01. Evangelion final colours and cockpit design not finalised.
28-29 December 1994 – Character designs for episode #05 finalised.
January 1995 – Work on the first few episodes in active production.
January 1995 – Manga chapter 2 covers middle third of episode #01.
22 January 1995 – Rei’s room finalised.
25 January 1995 – Episode #05-#06’s (5th A) Ramiel design finalised.
February 1995 – Manga chapter 3 covers last third of episode #01.
March 1995 – Manga chapter 4 covers first quarter of episode #02.
Spring 1995 – Speculative original premiere aborted to the fall.
Spring 1995 – Oikawa Neko writes A Cruel Angel’s Thesis in 2 hours to the incomplete #01/#02.
25 March 1995 – The future VA’s for Misato and Rei confirm that they’ll start recording for a new mecha called Evangelion in a radio show.
April 1995 – Production for Episode #01 completed.
April 1995 – Manga chapter 5 covers final quarter of episode #02.
16 April 1995 – Kaji episode #08 appearance finalised.
28 April 1995 – Eva-02 face design finalised. #8 angel designed. #11 angel designed.
May 1995 – Production for Episode #02 completed.
May 1995 – Manga chapter 6 covers second quarter of episode #02.
1 May 1995 – Episode #11 Angel design finalised. Prog knife release mechanisms for Eva-01 (#03) and Eva-02 (#08) finalised. Eva-01 spear for #09.
2 May 1995 – Episode #09 Misato design.
7 May 1995 – Episode #03 (4th A) angel designed.
11 May 1995 – Shinji episode #09 designs.
12 May 1995 – Asuka’s episode #09 design finalised.
18 May 1995 - #11 onward design of Eva-00.
June 1995 – Manga chapter 7 covers third quarter of episode #02 and half of episode #03.
16-23 June 1995 – Misato’s episode #07 designs.
3 July 1995 – Eva-02 and 00 cockpit designs finalised. Magma diver suit finalised. Sandalphon finalised. #10.
July 1995 – Manga chapter 8 covers an extended original sequence set within episode #03.
17 July 1995 – In a letter for later publication, “What are we trying to make here?” Hideaki Anno states that he doesn’t know what will happen to Shinji, Misato, or Rei.
22-23 July 1995 – Gainamatsuri Gainax Festival at Itako, Ibaraki, screens the first two episodes. OP and ED sequences neither animated nor storyboarded yet.
August 1995 – Manga chapter 9 covers third quarter of episode #03.
September 1995 – OP and ED sequences finished.
September 1995 – Manga chapter 10 covers the climax of episode #03.
27 September 1995 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles airs its final episode and promotes Evangelion with shots from episodes 1, 5, and 8.
October 1995 – Manga chapter 11 covers end of episode #03 and an extended half of episode #04. Up to episode 8 is completed, and only half were in the drawing stage.
4 October 1995 – Airing of Episode #01: Shito Attack/Angel Attack. 6.8%
11 October 1995 – Airing of Episode #02: Unfamiliar Ceiling/The Beast. 5.3%
17 October 1995 – Episode #19 (14th A) angel designed.
18 October 1995 – Airing of Episode #03: The Phone That Won’t Ring/A Transfer. 7.1%
25 October 1995 – Airing of Episode #04: Rain, After Running Away/Hedgehog’s Dilemma. 5.8%
November 1995 – Manga chapter 12 covers second half of episode #04.
1 November 1995 – Airing of Episode #05: Rei, Beyond the Heart/Rei I. 7.2%
8 November 1995 – Airing of Episode #06: Decisive Battle in New Tokyo-3/Rei II. 7.7%
15 November 1995 – Airing of Episode #07: Human Creation/A Human Work. 5.9%
22 November 1995 – Airing of Episode #08: Asuka Arrives in Japan/Asuka Strikes. 7.6%
29 November 1995 – Airing of Episode #09: Moment, Heart, Together/Both of You, Dance Like You Want to Win! 7.1%
December 1995 – Manga chapter 13 covers first third of episode #05 and is outpaced by the anime.
6 December 1995 – Airing of Episode #10: Magma Diver/Magma Diver. 9.5%
13 December 1995 – Airing of Episode #11: In the Still Darkness/The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still. 9.0%
20 December 1995 – Airing of Episode #12: The Value of a Miracle/”She said, ‘Don’t make others suffer for your personal hatred.’” 7.4%
21 December 1995 – VHS release of Genesis 0:0 In The Beginning, a promotional video for the series.
27 December 1995 – Airing of Episode #13: Shito Invasion/Lilliputian Hitcher. 3.4%
End of December 1995 – Anno finally decides on an ending, putting aside the written #25.
3 January 1996 – Airing of Episode #14: SEELE, Seat of the Soul/Weaving a Story. 0.9%
10 January 1996 – Airing of Episode #15: Lies and Silence/Those women longed for the touch of other’s lips, and thus invited their kisses. 6.0%
17 January 1996 – Airing of Episode #16: Sickness unto Death, and…/Splitting of the Breast (16mm film lost, post-Renewal releases use 35mm). 9.1%
24 January 1996 – Airing of Episode #17: The Fourth Qualified Person/Fourth Children. 7.3%
31 January 1996 – Airing of Episode #18: Choosing a Life/Ambivalence. 9.6%
3 February 1996 – VHS/Laserdisc release of Genesis 0:1, episodes 01-02.
7 February 1996 – Airing of Episode #19: A Man’s Fight/Introjection. 8.0%
14 February 1996 – Airing of Episode #20: Shape of the Heart, Shape of the Person/Weaving a Story 2: oral stage. 7.4%
21 February 1996 – Airing of Episode #21: The Birth of NERV/He was aware that he was still a child. 7.7%
28 February 1996 – Airing of Episode #22: At Least, Be Human/Don’t Be. 7.9%
4 March 1996 – After recording #25, the voice actors invite the animation team (working on #26) to a party.
6 March 1996 – VHS/Laserdisc release of Genesis 0:2, episodes 03-04.
6 March 1996 – Airing of Episode #23: Tears/Rei III. 6.9%
13 March 1996 – Airing of Episode #24: The Final Messenger/The Beginning and the End, or “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”. 6.0%
20 March 1996 – Airing of Episode #25: End of the World/Do you love me? Ironically, also the one year anniversary of Aum’s sarin gas attack. 7.7%
27 March 1996 – Airing of Episode #26: The Beat that Shouted Ai at the Heart of the World/Take Care of Yourself. 10.3% Over 1/10th / 10 million of the country was watching.
5 April 1996 – VHS/Laserdisc release of Genesis 0:3, episodes 05-06.
26 April 1996 – Gainax/Anno announce that episodes 25 and 26 would be remade for the home release as a form of OVA, followed by an announcement of a completely new, original, unrelated, standalone Evangelion film in summer 1997.
2 May 1996 – VHS/Laserdisc release of Genesis 0:4, episodes 07-08.
5 June 1996 – VHS/Laserdisc release of Genesis 0:5, episodes 09-10.
July – Decision?
5 July 1996 – VHS/Laserdisc release of Genesis 0:6, episodes 11-12.
7 August 1996 – VHS/Laserdisc release of Genesis 0:7, episodes 13-14.
5 September 1996 – VHS/Laserdisc release of Genesis 0:8, episodes 15-16.
1 October 1996 – The Gainax website announces that the Evangelion movies will be a double feature omnibus of the TV series paired with the remade 25/26 to release in spring 1997, and that in addition there will be a completely new original movie to follow.
2 October 1996 – VHS/Laserdisc release of Genesis 0:9, episodes 17-18.
25 October 1996 – Titles of Evangelion Death and Rebirth announced.
1 November 1996 – Death and Rebirth press conference and first Death and Rebirth trailer.
23 November 1996 – Advance ticket sales begin, setting a new record at over 200,000.
5 December 1996 – VHS/Laserdisc release of Genesis 0:10, episodes 19-20.
9 December 1996 – Materials intended for Rebirth/25 are in production.
12 December 1996 – Release of After the End comedy drama CD.
21 December 1996 – An ad campaign encourages viewers to buy a poster on this date for Evangelion: Death and Rebirth.
9 January 1996 – Materials intended for Rebirth/25 are in production.
19-25 January 1997 – Shooting of abandoned live action sequences.
25 January 1997 – VHS release of Genesis 0:0’The Light From The Darkness, a Death and Rebirth preview.
February 1997 – A trailer for Death and Rebirth includes incomplete shots from episode 25’, and audio from 26’ that doesn’t appear Rebirth. The trailer has no release date.
2 February 1997 – 2:55am rebroadcast of episodes 1-4. 5-6%
9 February 1997 – 2:55am rebroadcast of episodes 5-8. 5-6%
9 February 1997 – 14 hour movie dubbing session from 10am to midnight.
14 February 1997 – Precisely a month before the premiere, an emergency press conference is held announcing that Rebirth will be incomplete. Anno apologises. A tentatively titled Rebirth 2 (while posters bearing the name The End of Evangelion are present) will be released in the summer. Unused tickets for Death and Rebirth will be valid for the summer film. The completed summer/Rebirth2 release is estimated to be 70 minutes long, 16 mins short of actual.
16 February 1997 – 2:55am rebroadcast of episodes 9-12. 5-6%
23 February 1997 – 2:55am rebroadcast of episodes 13-16. 5-6%
2 March 1997 – 2:55am rebroadcast of episodes 17-20. 5-6%
7 March 1997 – Evangelion: Death screening with series marathon.
9 March 1997 – 2:55am rebroadcast of episodes 21-23. 5-6%
14 March 1997 – Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth screening – live action shooting.
16 March 1997 – 2:55am rebroadcast of episodes 24-26. 5-6%
25 March 1997 – Theatrical release of Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth
24 April 1997 – Some late materials intended for EoE/26 are in production.
May 1997 – Announcement that Rebirth 2 is retitled to The End of Evangelion and given a release date of 19 July. Plans for the original Evangelion film are abandoned.
1 May 1997 – Some late materials intended for EoE/26 are in production.
8-10 May 1997 – Shooting of final live action sequences.
19 July 1997 – Theatrical release of The End of Evangelion
19 July 1997 – DVD release of episodes 1-4.
21 August 1997 – DVD release of episodes 5-8.
26 September 1997 – DVD release of episodes 9-12.
22 October 1997 – DVD release of episodes 13-16.
22 December 1997 – DVD release of episodes 17-20.
2 January 1998 – Airing of Evangelion: Death True on TV with NPC cuts removed.
4 February 1998 – VHS/Laserdisc release of Genesis 0:11, NPC episodes 21’-22’ only.
8 March 1998 – Theatrical release of Revival of Evangelion (Death True 2 (OG Death minus #23 Asuka scenes) and The End of Evangelion)
3 July 1998 – VHS/Laserdisc release of Genesis 0:12, NPC episodes 23’-24’ only.
12 August 1998 – VHS/Laserdisc release of Genesis 0:13, episode 25 and a unique version of 25’.
9 September 1998 – VHS/Laserdisc release of Genesis 0:14, episode 26 and a unique version of 26’.
27 November 1998 – DVD release of NPC episodes 21’-24’ only.
1999 – Laserdisc release of Genesis 0:X containing the broadcast versions of episodes 21-24. Limited run bonus disc for purchasing all 14 laserdisc releases.
22 January 1999 – DVD release of episodes 25-26 and the Genesis versions of 25’-26’.
22 September 1999 – DVD release of Death + Rebirth and The End of Evangelion.
2000-2001 – Limited edition DVD boxets containing the broadcast versions (only) of 1-26 and Death + Rebirth and The End of Evangelion. Limited to 5000.
2003 – Renewal DVD releases of all the broadcast versions of 1-26, all the NPC versions of 21’-24’, Death, and The End of Evangelion.
26 August 2015 – Release of Blu-Ray box, combined with Archives of Evangelion DVDs, everything has finally been released.

Additionally, my theoretical schedule. I don't know when most things were written, but the pink represents time I know something was written, yellow represents production time, blue represents a specific swapping of scenes between #15 and #24 and isn't accurate but it's information I need, orange represents airdates/releases. The final four columns acknowledge the changes in the ending OVA/movie projects as time progressed and they each split and stopped. Everything is vague but somewhat backed up by production art in the timeline above, anecdotal evidence, and a matter of logistics by not allowing episodes worked on by the same people overlap in the schedule.

SPOILER: Show
Image

It might surprise people to see the actual amount of time spent on episodes, even the speedier ones. But it's very clear that they spent far too much time on the early episodes, and as production continued it started colliding with the airdates.

I can answer questions on either of these since they're very unclear and unpresentable and in-progress. Due to their unpresentable nature, I would ask for none of it to be put onto the Wiki or allowed to spread beyond this forum.

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Re: TV Production Timeline

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Postby Zusuchan » Fri Mar 19, 2021 1:56 pm

Szmitten wrote:
Due to their unpresentable nature, I would ask for none of it to be put onto the Wiki or allowed to spread beyond this forum.


Understood. I'll do my best to adhere by that.

Also, thanks for the nice work! You did a good job here!

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Postby Szmitten » Sat Mar 20, 2021 5:11 pm

Worth stating that if anyone has any dates for things, it would be appreciated.

Many of the big mysteries were found on Japanese sites that had apparently never trickled down into the west, eg TV ratings were found on the JP Wikipedia page along with a date for the Rebirth-is-not-the-End announcement, I found media from the announcement in the hands of a Japanese collector, checking Wayback on the official Gainax website for OVA/movie announcements, etc. The recent release of the Groundworks was shocking because it basically revealed the movie had shorter production time than most episodes. Some things are loosely worked out and not on the timeline due to them being anecdotal and representative of prior Anno behaviour (eg finale production time).

In essence though I'll take any concept/production art dates if visible, especially in the latter half of the series where they seem to have been redacted in most books. Scripts are the major one I'm after and those are 100% elusive.

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Re: TV Production Timeline

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Postby eldomtom2 » Thu Jun 03, 2021 10:27 pm

View Original PostSzmitten wrote:End of December 1995 – Anno finally decides on an ending, putting aside the written #25.

What specifically is your source for this, especially the claim that the episode 26 we got necessitated scrapping the originally planned 25?
(16mm film lost, post-Renewal releases use 35mm)

This isn't really directly related to the schedule, but do we have an explicit source that there was a complete 16mm master of ep16 that was lost? The fact that Leliel was primarily a digital creation makes me suspect that there never was a completed edited reel...
Ironically, also the one year anniversary of Aum’s sarin gas attack.

Various matters concerning Aum undoubtedly affected the production of Eva, but that the sarin gas attack was one of them seems to be entirely a myth.

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Postby Blockio » Fri Jun 04, 2021 12:47 pm

Considering that half of your post is telling people that their claims are not believable without a source, I will ask you the same for the other half of it. What evidence points towards your claim that
-Ep 16 never had a finished edit reel?
-The sarin gas attack had no impact on Eva's production?

Especially the former has some not insignificant evidence pointing towards a different outcome, so I'm curious to hear the basis for your hypothesis
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Re: TV Production Timeline

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Postby eldomtom2 » Fri Jun 04, 2021 8:07 pm

I never definitely said episode 16 didn't have a finished reel, I said I suspect that it didn't. And of course I've looked at the restoration topics, but they never actually provide a source for their claim that episode 16's reel was lost rather than never existing.

As for the sarin gas attack, proving a negative is a difficult matter. Do you have any sources claiming that it did?

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Re: TV Production Timeline

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Postby Szmitten » Sat Jun 05, 2021 9:10 am

View Original Posteldomtom2 wrote:This isn't really directly related to the schedule, but do we have an explicit source that there was a complete 16mm master of ep16 that was lost? The fact that Leliel was primarily a digital creation makes me suspect that there never was a completed edited reel...

Per the official Renewal/Platinum booklets:
Now, concerning some of the scenes in Episode Sixteen and the previews, the original 16mm negatives had become lost from the development laboratory in the past.

Also, Leliel was 100% not digital, it's a painting.
View Original Posteldomtom2 wrote:
What specifically is your source for this, especially the claim that the episode 26 we got necessitated scrapping the originally planned 25?

Various matters concerning Aum undoubtedly affected the production of Eva, but that the sarin gas attack was one of them seems to be entirely a myth.

The following is still rough and is primarily my notes for a potential book, hence the other details and TV ratings. Some stuff is speculative. I have/had sources for everything but may not be able to track them down again, but everything here is from a source.

I don't know when or precisely why Anno made decisions, I can only speculate with what I have and the facts that I can observe and the various quotes. Between the original proposal episode summaries, quotes made during production about being unsure of the direction, and quotes after the fact, some things remained the same and some things changed. Back in the proposal days, episode 25 was intended to involve authority figures raiding HQ and attacking the heroes; but episode 26 remained vague as "the conclusion". Even in July 1995, after that 25 summary still exists and 26 still doesn't, Anno expressed a lack of conclusion. Towards the end of 1995, an episode 25 that reflects the original proposal was written, but 26 was still writers blocked. Per the scheduling and anecdotal evidence from future Revolutionary Girl Utena staffers, 26 as we know it was worked out by January 1996. And per quotes from Anno, Tsurumaki, and Sadamoto somewhere on Gwern's website, they stated that a previous episode 25 had been written, and once they decided to make 26 be introspective like the Leliel episode, they went back and dumped what they had of that 25 and rewrote it to be more like 26.

Adjacently, the sarin gas attack in one of those things people claim had an effect on Evangelion which I honestly don't believe or see having gone through all of this stuff. However, there is a possibility that the following is the only possible direct connection between the two and might be its sole contribution, but it is 100% speculative and shouldn't be repeated anywhere as anywhere vaguely factual:
SPOILER: Show
I suspect that around November/December when episode 25 would have entered drawing production, someone (channel, studio, Anno, who knows) realised that #25's airdate was the first anniversary of the sarin gas attack. What happens on anniversaries? News programs, documentaries, retrospectives, and, as part of the story, they'd inevitably show footage of this criminal pseudoreligious organisation's HQ getting raided by authorities. And what was the original concept of episode 25 from the very start and "as intended" per EoE and staff statements? The protagonists' pseudoreligious organisation's HQ getting raided by authorities. Whether by pressure (I doubt this since they never faced outside pressure before or after) or by fear of being misconstrued (absolutely this), I think the episode was changed and the OVA-movie idea was born (Anno verbally committed to the staff they'd remake the ending before they'd even finished it).

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Postby Archer » Sat Jun 05, 2021 10:06 am

That last bit about why Ep 25 was scrapped is interesting. If we assume that the original scrapped draft is basically EoE 25’-lite (so, NERV invasion + Asuka vs. MPE’s), my thought was that they simply didn’t have the time to do that fight justice, and decided well ahead of time that instead of wasting time half-assing it only to have to remake it after the show’s done anyways, they’d just do a lower-time-budget placeholder that DOESN’T require a bunch of choreography and animation.

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Re: TV Production Timeline

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Postby Szmitten » Sat Jun 05, 2021 10:27 am

Another thing I forgot is that Nadia didn't have an ending until 3 months before broadcast, and when you have this knowledge and you apply it to timetables for lots of Hideaki Anno projects you see this dreaded "3 months" far too often that I believe it's either a chronic problem or 3 months is the absolute deadline for productions. This is a stupid thing that I don't want to believe, but every time I see something and math it out, there's 3 months. I hate it, but 28th March 1996 minus 3 months is 28th December 1995 and it's around then that there had to be decisions and uncertainties became commitments.

View Original PostArcher wrote:That last bit about why Ep 25 was scrapped is interesting. If we assume that the original scrapped draft is basically EoE 25’-lite (so, NERV invasion + Asuka vs. MPE’s), my thought was that they simply didn’t have the time to do that fight justice, and decided well ahead of time that instead of wasting time half-assing it only to have to remake it after the show’s done anyways, they’d just do a lower-time-budget placeholder that DOESN’T require a bunch of choreography and animation.


I had a rewatch of Evangelion recently (broadcast/Archives version) partly with the intention of observing how vital various EoE elements were presented, if at all, with the idea of working out whether there'd be MPE's at all (or even mentally working out a 20 minute series-appropriate workprint for an approximate original 25). Because also keep in mind, 25' is twice the length of what the episode would be. The choreography for those sequences wouldn't have to be made because they would not exist in that version.

Another important thing that more people than you think legitimately don't realise or forget, especially people who have only seen the directors cuts or watched on Netflix, that the episode 25 preview in 24 featuring EoE cuts is a 1997 addition unique to those versions and are not contemporary.

The real answer is that they couldn't proceed with the original episode 25 because there was no episode 26 for it to lead into, and bailing out and changing both into an introspective thing was the solution. Evangelion has two throughlines: the plot and the characters. The plot was always meant to be apocalyptic with a Devilman-esque ending, but with the characterisation and Anno's own desire to fix Shinji (to prove something to himself?) he wanted the series to end with "Shinji smiling", and how can Shinji be happy and smile after the apocalypse? That's why you have a TV series ending that obscures the apocalypse and gives Shinji his smile, and a movie ending that gives Anno his apocalypse but also has room and time for a nuanced emotional end too.

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Re: TV Production Timeline

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Postby FelipeFritschF » Sun Jun 06, 2021 7:28 pm

This is all quite fascinating... at some point I'd still like to put this on the wiki, but I'll need all the sources. Production is probably the single most common area that, ahem, births misconceptions since it's shrouded in lots of myths, like the ever enduring death threats once. Then again, to a lot of people the truth can never get in the way of a good story...

Some time ago someone mentioned to me finding an interview mentioning, for isntance, that the Director's Cuts episodes consisted of stuff they had to cut due to the time issues, not anything they truly thought of ad hoc. This would shut down the argument that they consist a form of retcon and maybe that they aren't the "original intention" - I can already see a sourced mention to that on the Common Misconceptions and What is Canon page. Alas, that person never returned to me with that interview...

On the other hand, we have this old post by...

View Original PostCarl Horn wrote:Tsurumaki has also said that the extra footage in the Director's Cut isn't all that important, and was mainly put in to apologize to the fans who waited for the video release--yet there are still plenty of fans who use that footage to help them understand the series. Tsurumaki also said that fans shouldn't "drag the past around" and become fixated on Evangelion, and that we should "find the next thing that interests you." And yet, in 2011 here we are--and for that matter, here is Tsurumaki, still making new Evangelion.


I don't think he mentioned where Tsurumaki said this, but I trust him to be accurate.


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