Netflix’s ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ Dub Is a Vast Improvement — But Has an Awful Backstory

Though it’s only been on Netflix for a short amount of time, Neon Genesis Evangelion has already made a big impact largely thanks to its new voice acting cast. Netflix’s addition of the beloved anime came with a brand new dub for English audiences. While that new dub is an improvement for the series, it comes at a steep and humiliating cost for the show’s legacy and fans are not happy.

Neon Genesis Evangelion‘s original English dub was hindered not by its performances but by the technology of its time. Spike Spencer’s take on Shinji was iconic, vocally capturing his young character’s evolving pain. However, when Neon Genesis Evangelion first came to the United States the industry was still in the early stages of dubbing. Especially in the show’s first couple of episodes the vocal performances are a bit rough. Over time the original Neon Genesis Evangelion English dub has transformed into something fans either love of despise.

While adding the beloved series to it library, Netflix sidestepped this fandom feud by adding its own new dub, composed primarily of voice actors its worked with before. The new version of Neon Genesis Evangelion is a lot more like modern anime dubs in terms of its vocal consistency. It’s a good and well-performed translation, one that likely won’t scare away new fans as the original English dub could. However the beloved original cast for this series wasn’t asked to reprise their roles.

In a now-deleted tweet, Amanda Winn Lee who originally voiced Rei Ayanami, revealed that not only were the original cast not offered their iconic roles. They were never intended to be auditioned in the first place. “FYI Not only were our roles recast in Evangelion, but they never had any intention of even auditioning us in the first place. So stop wondering. No, Spike, Tiffany, Allison, and I are not in it,” Lee’s tweet read.

Spike, Tiffany, and Allison refers to Spike Spencer, Tiffany Grant and Allison Keith. The three portrayed Shinji Ikari, Asuka Langley Sohryu, and Misato Katsuragi respectively in the original ADV dub of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

So yes. The new dub of Neon Genesis Evangelion is different, new, and in some ways better. It’s certainly less distancing for casual viewers who want to check out this incredible story. But not even offering these actors a chance to replay their iconic characters? That’s a misstep fans are justifiably upset about.

Watch Neon Genesis Evangelion on Netflix