Evangelion is one of the most influential and revered anime series ever created, with a fan base that continues to grow with each passing year. If you’re someone looking to jump in for the very first time, things can become rather daunting quickly, especially once you start looking at all of the titles.
With an original series, a reboot, and a recap, there's plenty to discover in the iconic sci-fi anime. To help you get started, I put together my recommended watch order for the full franchise. Prepare to get in the robot and experience the world of Evangelion.
At a Glance: How to Watch Evangelion in Order
Neon Genesis Evangelion (series)
The End of Evangelion
Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone
Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance
Evangelion: 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo
Evangelion: 3.0+1.11 Thrice Upon a Time
If you have all of Eva lined out in front of you, here's a quick look at our recommended watch order. For more information on the series and its development, scroll on.
What Is Evangelion?
Neon Genesis Evangelion first began as a manga series in December 1994. The anime premiered in October 1995 and aired on TV until March 1996. The series was both created and written by Hideaki Anno, with production occurring at Studio Gainax. Following the TV anime, Evangelion became incredibly popular, resulting in the development of The End of Evangelion to provide an alternate ending to the series.
Things would end here for most anime series, but Evangelion is anything but that. Hideaki Anno established Studio Khara in 2006 to retell the story of Neon Genesis Evangelion through four films referred to as the Rebuild of Evangelion. This retelling spanned 14 years in total, with the final film releasing in March 2021.
Beyond anime, Evangelion has expanded into numerous areas around Japan, including pachinko machines, exclusive merchandise lines, and much more. If you’re aiming to immerse yourself in Eva for the first time, the anime is the best place to do so.
Which Evangelion Anime Should You Watch First?
While there are three different places you can realistically start from, the only anime you should consider starting with is the original: Neon Genesis Evangelion. This was the first entry in the series, and as such, it’s the best place to start overall. The 26-episode anime serves as the basis for both Evangelion: Death(True)² and a large portion of the Rebuild, and is a necessary watch before The End of Evangelion.
Where to Watch the Evangelion Anime
The original Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series, the Evangelion: Death(True)² recap film, and The End of Evangelion are all available on Netflix to watch in the United States. The Rebuild of Evangelion, however, is streaming on Amazon Prime.
If you’re someone who enjoys purchasing anime on Blu-ray, the Crunchyroll Store has the original series and films, plus the Rebuild available for purchase. Distributor GKIDS is currently rereleasing the first two films in the Rebuild series, so those are available for pre-order right now.
The Best Evangelion Series Watch Order
1. Neon Genesis Evangelion
As outlined, Neon Genesis Evangelion is the best entry point for Eva. The 26-episode anime marked a bold and impactful take on the prominent mecha genre, exploring deep themes of depression, individuality, religion, and even the concept of evolution.
Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of the most influential anime ever created. Famously, the anime faced huge production issues that led to Anno and the staff behind the series abandoning some aspects of the narrative to ensure episodes came out on time.
2. The End of Evangelion
The End of Evangelion is the ultimate conclusion that wraps up the original TV anime in a new way. Originally released in Japan in 1997, this film replaces the last two episodes of the anime with entirely new material that reimagines the climax of the series in a new way. The cinematic approach to film allowed for bigger fights, bolder ideas, and a larger impact to the viewer. To this day, The End of Evangelion is highly revered as one of the best anime films ever created.
3. Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone
Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone marked the beginning of a new project, the Rebuild of Evangelion. This first film is quite faithful to the original series, bringing better animation and a more streamlined narrative to offer new viewers a chance to enter the world of Evangelion for the first time. Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone specifically follows the events of the first six episodes of the series.
4. Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance
The Third Impact looms, and it's up to Shinji and the others to stop it. The second film in the Rebuild of Evangelion was much bolder than the first, bringing signficant changes across the board compared to the original series. New 3DCG technology previously not available was also implemented in this film. One major change was the introduction of Mari Illustrious Makinami, who while only appearing briefly in this film, would play a key role in the latter two Rebuild projects.
5. Evangelion: 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo
Evangelion: 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo is the beginning of a completely new ending for Evangelion, offering a narrative that is almost entirely detached from the original series. The beginning of the film is set a whole 14 years after the end of Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance, and there are numerous new characters and fights that occur throughout. While the first two Rebuild films set the stage, Evangelion: 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo is where this project began to stand as a complete reimagining.
6. Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon a Time
Finally, Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon a Time acts as the ultimate conclusion to the Rebuild of Evangelion. It may have taken 9 years to release, but the wait was more than worth it. The film sits at 154 minutes, acting as one of the longest animated films ever produced. Thrice Upon a Time puts a fitting bow on the franchise as a whole, featuring incredible fights, satisfying character progression, and a hopeful message that will stay with viewers long after the credits roll.
The Future of Evangelion
With the Rebuild of Evangelion complete, it’s unlikely that Hideaki Anno will create any further entries in the series. The release of Evangelion: 3.0+1.11 Thrice Upon a Time was promoted with the slogan "Bye-bye, all of Evangelion" on posters, indicating that this is the end for the franchise. Instead, the future of Evangelion will likely consist of more collaborations, merchandise, and releases of the existing anime. As such, there’s no reason to wait around to watch the anime for the first time; get started and experience one of the industry’s best!
Noah Hunter is a freelance writer and reviewer with a passion for games and technology. He co-founded Final Weapon, an outlet focused on nonsense-free Japanese gaming (in 2019) and has contributed to various publishers writing about the medium.
Last week, Leenzee released Patch 1.5 for WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers, which fixed the game’s DLAA/TSR issues, improved knockout recovery, and healing speed. However, that patch also censored the game. Thankfully, though, PC gamers can use a mod to roll back the game to the uncensored 1.4 version. So, what exactly did Leenzee change? After some … Continue reading WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers Mod Restores Uncensored Version→
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In fact, in putting together this top 10, every entry was Final Fantasy themed, from characters to Surge Foils worth hundreds.
With that in mind, we’ve put together the top 10 below, covering Final Fantasy, Edge of Eternities, Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Aetherdrift, and Innistrad Remastered.
Here’s the top 10 for each, thanks to data from TCGPlayer.
Final Fantasy
According to TCGPlayer, the top-selling Final Fantasy cards are as follows:
Many of those Borderless Surge Foil variants have been commanding a fair amount of value on the secondary market, but Starting Town popping up near the top is a nice surprise.
Edge of Eternities
The next most popular set at the time of writing (and the most recent), Edge of Eternities shows there’s plenty of appetite for Magic’s own characters and stories.
The set before Final Fantasy might feel as though it’s been swept under the rug, but anyone looking for dragons will find a lot to like. And yet, the top 10 most popular cards include multiple versions of the same four cards.
Magic’s power-sliding set is still proving pretty popular, with the top 10 cards according to TCGPlayer data including lands, sorceries, and that all-important Aetherspark.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He's a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife's dismay.
Magic: The Gathering has been running for literal decades, and while reprints will always keep making harder-to-find cards a little easier to collect, there are some cards so rare that they become almost like urban legend.
There are cards worth thousands, for example, but there are also cards worth millions, from wild serialized, one-of-a-kind prints like The One Ring (famously purchased by Post Malone) to cards like Time Walk, which were so powerful they’ve been banned.
Below, you’ll find some of the priciest cards around, marking some of the rarest in the game’s history.
Magic: The Gathering’s Rarest Cards Of All Time
10 - Time Walk (Alpha)
A card from the game’s Alpha Edition, Time Walk has sold for around $25,000 and offered an extra turn for a measly two mana, meaning it was banned pretty swiftly.
It’s not legal in any format, but for collectors it’s a piece of Magic history regardless, forming part of the ‘Power 9’ (more on those shortly).
9 - Euroakus
A card so rare that TCGPlayer doesn’t have it, Euroakus was a Heroes of the Realm card awarded to Wizards’ European Team in 2020.
Heroes of the Realm cards are given to Wizards employees, with their name printed. As Wargamer explains, one of these Euroakus cards was sold for $25,200 in 2022, but the name was blurred out.
8 - Phoenix Heart
Phoenix Heart might not be legal (it doesn’t actually have an effect), but it’s very sweet. Richard Garfield, creator of Magic: The Gathering, has the card printed to celebrate his wedding to Koni Kim and send it out among the wedding invites.
It’s previously sold for $27,500, which is even better than an open bar at a wedding if you ask us.
7 - Splendid Genesis
Richard Garfield commemorated the birth of his first child with this neat card. Splendid Genesis reads, “Shuffle all cards in the game together and deal them into three decks. The game continues with a new player.”
Naturally, it serves no gameplay purpose, but it’s a wholesome card that still fetched around $72,000 at auction in 2022. Only 110 were printed.
6 - Timetwister
Remember when we mentioned the ‘Power 9’ earlier? Here’s another, and yes, it’s banned.
Timetwister puts your hand, library, and graveyard together and lets you draw another hand of seven cards. Essentially resetting your deck (and your opponents) while leaving the board state as it is - a neat trick, and one that someone paid $84,000 for.
5 - Lord of the Pit
Demon decks are all the rage these days, but Lord of the Pit was one of the first. It’s a 7/7 with Flying and Trample that does damage to its owner unless they sacrifice a creature.
There are five ‘Moxes’ included in the ‘Power 9’ (scroll down for the full list), and while the effect of adding a single mana may seem a little tame, it’s a powerful ramp in the early turns.
It’s been sold for $108,000 in the past, but we can’t find it on TCGPlayer. Instead, a newer version (which taps for any color but requires multiple artifacts be in play) is available instead. It’ll cost you $160, mind.
3 - Autographed Black Lotus
The iconic Black Lotus pops up on this list twice, with an autographed version signed by its illustrator, Christopher Rush, going for around $511k.
And yet, Post Malone claims to have bought a similarly signed one for $800k, and that brings us nicely to…
2 - One of One Ring
While some purists felt the chase of a single ‘one of one’ version of The One Ring made the game of Magic more of a sideshow to a Willy Wonka-esque spectacle, it’s become legendary.
The card was found and sold to Post Malone for around $2 million, although there have been suggestions it was higher than $2.5 million. You can buy one of the more commonly available ones for your collection for around $70 if you’re keen.
1 - Black Lotus
The only card that’s sold for more than the ‘One of One Ring’ is a Black Lotus card in pristine condition, sans autograph.
A private buyer snapped up a Pristine 10 graded version of the iconic card for $3 million in 2024, making this the most expensive Magic: The Gathering card. You can buy a ‘moderately played’ version right now for $79k.
Can You Still Pack The Rarest Magic: The Gathering Cards?
Sure, you could, but your chances are astronomically low. Many of the cards on this list haven't been printed for years, and while there are still valuable cards to find in packs (we've got a rundown of the most valuable ones in Edge of Eternities), you'd have to find a super dusty old pack to get some of the cards on this page.
That makes the secondary market the only option for collectors.
Magic: The Gathering's Power 9 Explained
We’ve referred to the ‘Power 9’ in this list a few times, so here’s every entry, and their effects.
Black Lotus
Adds 3 mana of any single color of your choice to your mana pool, then is discarded. Tapping this artifact can be played as an interrupt.
The Mox: Emerald, Jet, Pearl, Ruby, Sapphire
Add 1 [color] mana to your mana pool. Tapping this artifact can be played as an interrupt.
Ancestral Recall
Draw 3 cards or force opponent to draw 3 cards.
Timetwister
Set Timetwister aside in a new graveyard pile. Shuffle your hand, library, and graveyard together into a new library and draw a new hand of seven cards, leaving all cards in play where they are; opponent must do the same.
Time Walk
Take an extra turn after this one.
The Power 9 were found in the Alpha, Beta, and Unlimited sets of Magic: The Gathering.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He's a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife's dismay.
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