One of the most influential anime ever made is about to get a fittingly prestigious streaming spot. Hideaki Anno’s Neon Genesis Evangelion debuted on the Criterion Channel on September 1, delivered to North American subscribers by distributor GKIDS. For a service that launched a dedicated anime collection back in late 2025, adding Eva is less a lineup expansion and more a statement of intent.
The package covers three cornerstones of the original franchise. First is the full 26-episode 1995 television series, presented with both the Japanese track and — crucially — the original English dub, which is streaming for the very first time. That last detail matters to longtime fans: the version currently available on Netflix uses a newer English-language dub, so Criterion’s release is the one that finally puts the classic voice cast back in circulation.
Rounding out the set are two feature films. Evangelion: Death (True)², the 1998 release, works mostly as a recap of the series, while The End of Evangelion from 1997 delivers the acclaimed, famously divisive finale to the original story.
For anyone who has somehow avoided the show for three decades, the premise is deceptively simple and then anything but. Criterion sums it up neatly:
- Teenagers pilot giant Multipurpose Humanoid Decisive Weapons — artificial humans called Evangelions — to defend a postapocalyptic world from mysterious beings known as Angels.
- What begins as high-stakes mecha spectacle spirals into a deeply introspective study of identity, trauma, loneliness, and human connection.
A few caveats worth flagging. The Criterion release does not include any of the Rebuild of Evangelion films, the reboot-slash-retelling-slash-pseudo-sequel quartet directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki. Those films live on Amazon Prime Video, though they left that service in mid-August. So if you were hoping to marathon everything Eva in one place, you’ll still be juggling platforms.
Criterion’s anime shelf is quietly becoming one of the best-curated corners of streaming. The collection’s opening slate included heavyweights like Ghost in the Shell, Paprika, Redline, and Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space. There’s even a neat piece of Eva prehistory already available: the film version of Gunbuster, Anno’s pre-Evangelion directorial debut.
The timing feels intentional. Evangelion is set to return with a brand-new anime series penned by Yoko Taro, the mind behind Nier, and directed by Tsurumaki, whose recent credits include Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX. Whether you’re prepping for that revival or revisiting a formative obsession, Criterion’s edition — original dub and all — is arguably the definitive way to stream the show right now.
