The End Credits Song Has Been Removed

The first change fans will notice is the omission of the anime’s distinctive end credits song, “Fly Me To The Moon.” A lounge hit classic popularized by Frank Sinatra, different covers of it were laid over the credits. Instrumental piano replaces it on the version on Netflix, and the currently believed explanation is that licensing fees are to blame. Still, that doesn’t account for the fact the version on Netflix Japan remains unchanged.

The English Dub Voices Have Been Recast

Many fans who grew up on the version of the show distributed by ADV Films cherished the sound of the English dub. Personally I found many of the voices shrill, but many are understandably upset and find Netflix’s new voice cast jarring. Some of the recast choices are pretty cool – like the fact that protagonist Shinji Ikari is now voiced by a trans woman, highlighting his psychological ambiguity – but for an entire generation it’s a shock.

The New Translation Is Very Different

In addition to the redub, Netflix had the original Japanese script translated again. That would be fine if the new translation recaptured the care and thought that went into previous translations both official and fan-made but instead it appears to be a more literal rendering of the script. That’s led to some controversial and awkward results like Shinji being referred to as “the third children” which makes no sense in conversational English.

Onscreen Text Remains Untranslated

Meticulous localization efforts usually go above and beyond to ensure a minimum context and subtext is not lost in translation, and that usually means providing subtitles for signs, documents and displays that appear in Japanese text. That’s not the case with Netflix’s Evangelion, which leaves all of them untranslated, leaving the meaning of most computer screens and city signs a mystery to those who can’t read Kanji.

One Pivotal Scene Feels Different Now

The omission of “Fly Me To The Moon” has another unfortunate side effect: it totally changes a pivotal scene where Misato listens to a heartbreaking voice mail message. Where the song used to be is just empty silence, which in the sarcastic parlance of this generation, “is a choice” but it totally changes the emotional tenor of the scene.

An Important Line Makes No Sense In New Translation

Countless changes to the script have been a source of dismay for fans. And while many seem relatively minor in the grand scheme of a twenty-six episode long work, others not so. There’s a line that goes “All is right with the world,” that’s been changed in the Netflix version to “All is very good.” Except the first version was a purposeful choice: it’s a quote from a poem by Robert Browning that is also the slogan for NERV. Lolwut.

A Change To An Important Line Removes Gay Subtext

In the original translation, a pivotal scene between Shinji and fellow pilot Kaworu Nagisa has the latter telling the former that he is “worthy of love,” saying outright, “I love you.” The new version says, “You’re worthy of my grace,” and, “I like you.” It’s an awkward phrasing that seems to downplay the romantic and sexual connotations of the relationship between the two. Simply put, the scene’s queer coding has been “straight-washed.”

It’s not an entirely malicious change as the original Japanese script goes for a culturally specific form of ambiguity, and as such the new version is more literal about that ambiguity. But given a society that tends to insist on the least gay reading possible, it’s a cringe-inducing change that relegates a two decades long interpretation to mere “fanon.”

Every Measure of Profanity Is Gone

Swear words aren’t really present in the Japanese language, at least not in the way we understand them in the English language. So while anime characters don’t really drop F-bombs or make obscene remarks about each other’s sexual configuration and parentage, translators often add a few profanities to better communicate the nuances of dialog for anime with the kind of adult themes that permit the language.

For example, “I’m the lowest of the low,” is a more literal take on a scene that once had Shinji saying, “I’m so fucked up” but it lacks some of that urgent desperation. Similarly, the line “So fucking what if I’m not you” was changed to “Fine, so I’m a stranger,” which undercuts some of the indignant rage in the first take. A literal rendering of the language might seem like a more faithful choice, but it obscures some of the emotion and meaning intrinsic to the series.

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