While Neon Genesis Evangelion is experiencing a resurgence of sorts over in Japan due to the release of the final Rebuild of Evangelion film, 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, Western audiences are left wondering when they’ll be hearing from an official release. However, that won’t stop cosplayers from having a go at some of anime’s most recognizable characters like EVA-02 pilot Asuka Langley.
Hideki Anno endured a particularly tough time putting together 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, with the final Rebuild film premiering almost nine years after its predecessor with the entire remake series taking nearly two decades since it first went into pre-production. Despite not being met with nearly the same level of critical acclaim of his original masterpiece, one area where they certainly excel are the film's beautiful visuals, which are just perfect to inspire crafty cosplayers to pose as their favorite EVA pilot.
With that in mind, cosplayer Purin set out to recreate one of Asuka’s lesser-known looks, not from the original anime from the 90s or the Rebuild of Evangelion film saga, but instead a redesign taken from the mobile RPG Honkai Impact 3rd (from Genshin Impact developer miHoYo) which features Asuka donning something that looks like a cross between the pilots’ high school uniform and a NERV officer’s attire, all with the added bonus of Asuka taking matters into her own hands and getting a hold of the Holy Lance of Longinus.
Overall, Purin’s stunning cosplay is pretty much on point down to her sporting Asuka’s signature pigtail hairstyle, though the model credits UWOWO Cosplay for the highly detailed outfit. It bears saying that Asuka Langley is supposed to be German in the Neon Genesis Evangelion, so Purin being Polish is as close as it gets to Germany short of her actually being from there.
Asuka takes on a very different role in Anno’s reimagining of Evangelion, even sporting an entirely different look since 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance due to presumably losing her left eye in battle. Of course, that’s only a small part of Rebuild of Evangelion’s somewhat confusing and very different plot when compared to the anime, where the characters’ lack of aging is in itself an endless topic for die-hard Eva fans.
So far early reviews coming from Japan are universally calling Evangelion 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time a definite improvement over the third, something that has not gone unnoticed among Japanese moviegoers who have been flocking to theaters in record numbers for an Evangelion feature film for the past five weeks with no signs of stopping.
Source: @aka_purin|Instagram