) is a series of works helmed by Hideaki Anno. The franchise overall isn't connected by a true Shared Universe; instead, it is a Thematic Series connected by the shared Deconstruction of the Kaiju and Toku genres while also Revisiting the Roots of their respective franchises.Though it's unclear what form this collaboration will take, all four involved companies have promised more to come.
Installments
- Rebuild of Evangelion note (2007-2021), a four part theatrical re-imagining of Anno’s 1995-1996 anime Neon Genesis Evangelion.
- Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone. (2007)
- Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance. (2009)
- Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo. (2012)
- Evangelion 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon a Time (2021)
- Shin Godzilla (2016), a re-imagining of the original Godzilla film from 1954.
- Godzilla vs. Evangelion: The Real 4-D (2019), a temporary simulator ride at Universal Studios Japan that crossed over Shin Godzilla and Rebuild of Evangelion, before the official establishment of the Shin series.
- Shin Ultraman (2022), a re-imagining of the original Ultraman TV series from 1966.
- Shin Kamen Rider (2023), a re-imagining of the original Kamen Rider TV series from 1971-73.
- Nulla in mundo pax sincera: Shin Kamen Rider SHOCKER SIDE, a prequel manga set in the world of Shin Kamen Rider.
- SD Shin Kamen Rider Rumble, a Chibi-style side-scrolling Beat 'em Up game based on the film.
Shin Tropes:
- Deconstruction: The Shin series consists of...
- A Super Robot show-turned-movie-tetralogy where the young pilots are mentally scarred because of repeated Kaiju attacks and other mental trauma they go through on a daily basis.
- The Japanese Government repeatedly struggling to respond to a Kaiju attack in an attempt to show what would really happen if Godzilla suddenly showed up out of nowhere and started wrecking havoc in the real life Japan. Shin Ultraman follows up on this theme by showing what is likely to happen when such events have become common-place, but the government's institutions and people's attitudes seem to have yet to catch up.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Neon Genesis Evangelion, the first installment in the franchise, is not an official adaptation of any existing piece of fiction, with no preexisting characters in it outside of Religious and Mythological Theme Naming.
- As of the Shin Japan Heroes Universe, the Rebuild of Evangelion films (themselves a remake of the original Evangelion anime) are now considered part of the Thematic Series, based on the use of the Rebuild version in promotional and crossover material. However, while the others are Darker and Edgier Deconstructions of their source material, most of Rebuild and especially 3.0+1.0 (which is called Shin Evangelion in Japan) are Lighter and Softer Reconstructions of what Evangelion took apart decades earlier.
- Era-Specific Personality: This thematic series explores facets of the main live action Toku heroes in ways that seem more grounded to what kind of characters they are. Creating more plausible interpretations of what kinds of people they would be if they were real:
- Shin Godzilla deals with a monster that was a product of misuse of radioactivity, but it is more blatant in how he looks; He is theorized by Goro Maki to be some sort of descendant of prehistoric marine reptiles of old that fed on submerged radioactive waste cannisters. Which is a spin on the fact that Godzilla wasn't really a dinosaur in the original, but a marine beast mutated by nuclear tests. The actual movie shows Godzilla in a physically disturbing light. With a mutilated body resembling various types of burns, in an almost zombie like demeanor. Godzilla is so full of radioactivity, he practically bleeds hot venom (as shown in one of the deleted scenes) and his very body is a nuclear reactor. Godzilla is also somewhat unable to emote facially unlike his previous counterparts, as his face is basically a burned mess with teeth jutting out of his mouth. His iconic anger is also reframed in a more horrifying light, as he evolves his atomic breath alongside spinal lasers after being successfully hit with a Massive Ordnance Penetrator. More comparable to a deadly temper tantrum done out of pain than a epic display of righteous fury like in Heisei and Showa era Godzillas.
- Shin Ultraman shows how an alien superhero may actually be like: Thanks to Ultraman's nature, he's seen with aprehension at best and distrust and fear at worst. His abilities are rightfully considered so great he could potentially destroy the human race and he is seen as basically a deity. Ultraman himself is a stoic, understated figure that seems socially awkward and overall odd to people. Perhaps as a way to highlight his alien nature and the fact that his species is unable to truly form facial expressions. Nevertheless, despite his puzzlement at the nature of humanity, he studies them to the point he grows to care for their safety, despite the hurdles they throw at him. To the point he is willing to give his life for all of mankind, including the life of the man he accidentally killed, even beforehand, wanting to become human to fully experience how it is to be like them firsthand.
- Shin Kamen Rider, on the other hand, shows what would a real person would feel if given great power made by an evil underground organization. Unlike the previous two iterations of the titular character, Takeshi Hongo is hesitant to do violence and is overall forced to take the mantle of Kamen Rider. This trauma compounded by the fact that he basically was given this power without his consent. When he enters combat, His new body basically drives him to commit lethal force, whatever wants it or not. This also makes him a more socially awkward/distant character, compared to his more easygoing main counterpart. He still fights for what is right and is willing to stop Shocker from creating more misery to the world.
- Kaiju: All works in this series besides Shin Kamen Rider are about humongous monsters and how fighting them off would actually be like.
- Retraux: The movies regularly alternate between some of the best special effects modern Japanese cinema can muster, and deliberate attempts to emulate low-budget filming from the mid-20th century. Ultraman still flies in the stiffest way possible even as a Serkis Folk character, Kamen Rider still features those awkward Jump Cut-into-flip shots that were endemic in the original series, and so on.
- Revisiting the Roots: A major theme in the series. All the current live-action entries directly lift ideas and sometimes whole story beats from their inspirations while adapting them into a modern context. To whit:
- Shin Godzilla returns the Godzilla franchise from its later status quo of rock-'em-sock-'em kaiju brawls (like in the concurrently-released MonsterVerse films) to its beginnings as a somber, tragic and political film with only one kaiju about an allegory for an event with a massive bodycount that was Ripped from the Headlines (in Shin's case, the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake). Similarly to the original, Godzilla is introduced with the mysterious disappearance of a ship's crew, comes ashore and causes destruction on the mainland twice, and is ultimately defeated by a scientific breakthrough.
- Though the Ultra Series is a Series Franchise with each production featuring their own Ultra hero in a new tale ever since the third series Ultraseven in 1967, Shin Ultraman is a modern adaptation of the original 1966 Ultraman series starring an Alternate Universe incarnation of the character known in the franchise as just "Ultraman" rather than a distinct new Ultra hero. The plot of the movie is episodic, loosely adapting five episodes of the original series while also developing its own unique storyline. By filming the aliens and monsters as Serkis Folk instead of People in Rubber Suits, the film also uses Tohl Narita’s original design for Ultraman with none of the compromises made for a rubber suit, lacking the Color Timer on the chest, the eye holes and the dorsal fin.
- Shin Kamen Rider follows the trend by also adapting the plot of several different episodes of the original series, albeit even more broadly than Shin Ultraman. Unlike any of the others, however, this movie follows re-imagined versions of the classic cast instead of new characters in similar situations - a major rarity in Kamen Rider media which generally features a new cast every production as early as 1973's Kamen Rider V3. The bleak ambiance of the film harkens back to the darker, more violent original manga. It also eschews the more colorful Merchandise-Driven trappings the franchise gained during its Heisei and Reiwa eras (like in the concurrently-broadcast Kamen Rider Geats) - Kamen Rider himself sports the darker colors he had for the first half of the original series, since abandoned in the mainline franchise; the Transformation Trinket has no voiceovers and functions on its own with no Gotta Catch Them All collectibles; no Multiform Balance, no Super Mode, the Riders fight using only fisticuffs with nary a toyetic weapon in sight, and an extremely conservative number of Riders for a modern production.
- Thematic Series: There’s no official continuity between the series, but their nature as Toku and Kaiju Deconstructor Fleets that revisit the roots links the series together. However, Shin Ultraman and Shin Kamen Rider have some implications that the connections could be more than just thematic, with some dialogue and visuals hinting at a shared universe of sorts. Specifically, several actors from Shin Godzilla appear in unnamed but functionally identical roles in Ultraman, and in Rider they return, joined by some familiar faces from Ultraman. Mentions are also made in dialogue of a 'frozen monster' being moved to Antartica after attacking Tokyo, and SHOCKER's plan for uplifting humanity via merging their consciousnesses together in an alternate dimension sounds an awful lot like a prototype of SEELE's Instrumentality.
