Anime

Evangelion : Final - What's Happening on Twitter? How to Avoid Spoilers?

What's happening with the release of the final Evangelion movie in Japan?

By Iyane Agossah

March 7, 2021

The final Rebuild of Evangelion movie, Shin Evangelion Gekijoban :|| (Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time in English), is finally out this March 8, 2021 in Japanese theaters, and there’s a huge uproar about it on Twitter about spoilers, what’s happening?

The hype around the Evangelion : Final movie

First off, it’s important to note fans have been waiting for the final Eva movie for years. The first Rebuild of Evangelion movie was first released on September 1, 2007. The second one on June 27, 2009, and the third movie on November 17, 2012. In other words, the latest movie was almost nine years ago, and all three already appeared multiple times in Super Robot Wars.

Studio Khara and Evangelion director Hideaki Anno have been working on the final movie for years. Hideaki Anno most notably stated in 2015 he was again battling depression. Moreover, this isn’t the sole project he was dedicated to. Since the third Rebuild of Eva movie’s release, Hideaki Anno was also working on several other projects. Including Shin Godzilla which released in 2016, and Shin Ultraman, planned for 2021.

The various delays the final Evangelion movie suffered

The final Eva movie was first planned to release in Japanese theaters on June 27, 2020. However, it was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the state of emergency in Japan. After that, a new preview video on October 16, 2020, announced a new release date of January 23, 2021.

However, this release date too was canceled after the second state of emergency in Japan in early 2021. Still due to Coronavirus. At that point, the movie’s key visual and promotional materials also started including words of encouragement “Let’s overcome this together”. Lastly, on February 26, the release date of the movie was set for March 8, 2021.

What’s happening with the Evangelion : Final movie on Twitter and spoilers?

Several trolls have been spoiling the movie, to the point many Japanese twitter users have announced they will stop using Twitter completely. Citing they will “seal twitter”.

Seeing the first three movies got streamed for free on YouTube, with the third movie’s stream on March 7 including the first 12 minutes of the final movie, everyone has been chatting about Eva. Starting the night of March 7 and into March 8, several topics related to the Evangelion : Final movie have been trending, including シンジくん ( Shinji kun), ネタバレ (Spoilers), and Twitter封印 (sealing Twitter).

In reaction, Twitter Japan, scared of loosing users, jokingly tweeted “you’ll be lonely without Twitter!”.

The “sealing Twitter” thing is becoming a meme too as several official twitters have been jokingly saying they’ll stop using Twitter. It’s the best promotional stunt you can do right now. If you’re a Japanese community manager in charge of an official Twitter account. Below is Japanese candy Oyatsu Calpas (Japanese candy brand) and Molly Fantasy (Arcade and Amusement machines for kids in shopping malls).

Japanese Eva fans are also warning each other against possible ways trolls could post spoilers. Such as starting a thread with an appealing title on anonymous message boards, only to post spoilers instead.

Another way trolls have been using is to share spoilers through replies of popular tweets. Such as the tweets of various seiyuu – Japanese voice actresses and actors.

Megumi Ogata, the seiyuu of Shinji, also reacted on Twitter:

Megumi Ogata: “I’ve already dealt with some cases. This following week, anyone who maliciously tweets spoilers in my replies, will be muted and blocked on sight after confirmation. For everyone’s sake.”

How do you avoid spoilers for the final Evangelion movie?

As more and more people in Japan see the movie, there will be more and more spoilers on the Japanese side of Twitter. And on the internet in general as these spoilers get translated. This is one of the most anticipated anime releases of all time. You’ll see spoilers on Twitter. On Faecbook. On Reddit and Discord. On YouTube via video titles and comments. Your best bet is to simply avoid all of these places. If you can’t do that, at least mute all the names and terms related to Eva you can think of on social media: Shinji, Kaworu, Rei, Asuka, etc. Get add-ons such as Distraction Free YouTube to remove comments and suggested videos.

Moreover, this might be obvious, but don’t make yourself a target. Don’t tweet something like “I’m happy I managed to avoid spoilers for now”. Some trolls, with nothing better to do even during a pandemic, will specifically target you with spoilers. The best advice I can give you is to just spend less time on social media in general. Your brain cells will thank you.

When is the Evangelion : Final movie releasing in the west?

For now, it has no release date, so fans outside Japan can only live with the fear of spoilers. Usually, the movie would have definitely got screenings at anime conventions and special events. But that’s not happening with the pandemic. We can only wait.

The theme song of the final movie One Last Kiss, is handled by Utada Hikaru, who’s mainly known in the west for Kingdom Hearts. What do you think about Evangelion, are you hyped for the movie, scared of spoilers? Tell us in the comments, or reach out to me directly on Twitter @A_iyane07.

Fans have also been sharing their hype by retelling their history with the Eva franchise, tweeting goods, cosplay and fanart, contributing to Evangelion trending. Theaters are also sharing photos of their decorated halls through Japanese news outlets. Studio Khara shared some too. You can find some of those tweets below.

Iyane Agossah

Living near Paris, Iyane is the head of Japanese content at DualShockers. You can reach him on Twitter at @A_iyane07

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