Watch Order
0 / 7 watchedSeries, then the 1997 film ending, then the Rebuild films in order. There is no separate chronological cut that makes sense, since Rebuild is its own continuity.
Original story
Rebuild of Evangelion
About Neon Genesis Evangelion
The TV series ran 26 episodes from October 1995 to March 1996 and ends on a famously interior note, two episodes of talk and drawings that skip the plot climax. The End of Evangelion, released July 1997, retells those last two episodes as a feature with the budget the finale never had. Both endings are Anno's, and most fans watch the series first and the film after.
Death and Rebirth, four months earlier, is a recap of episodes 1 to 24 plus the first third of End of Evangelion, listed as optional here. Death(True)2 is the revised recap version.
The Rebuild of Evangelion is four films from 2007 to 2021 that begin as a slicker retelling. 1.0 covers roughly the first six episodes, 2.0 starts changing the story, and 3.0 jumps fourteen years ahead into something the series never told.
Good to know
The advice genuinely splits here. Purists say stop at episode 26 and treat End of Evangelion as a rival ending rather than a continuation, others say the film is the real conclusion, and plenty of fans do both in one sitting. Episodes 21 to 24 have director's cut versions with extra scenes, watch those if your release offers them. A new Evangelion series was announced February 23, 2026 from Khara and CloverWorks with Yoko Taro writing, no release date.
