Details have been announced for "Operation 0223," a project to promote the terrestrial television premiere of the popular anime "Evangelion" series' theatrical version, "Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time" (directed by Hideaki Anno). The film will be broadcast on TBS from 7:00 PM on February 23rd, with Ryota Yamazato of Nankai Candies, Atsuhiro Tsuda of Diane, and TBS announcer Erika Yamamoto serving as commentators for the special audio commentary project, "Operation 0223 by Yamazato, Tsuda, and Yamamoto."
Yamazato commented, "I was surprised and asked, 'Why us?' but it was a really good experience. I really enjoyed it as someone who saw it for the first time, so please listen to it with a kind heart and think of it as a commentary for beginners." Tsuda commented, "There's no greater honor than this. This is the biggest news of the year! The excitement of 'Evangelion' is going to be intense!"
It was also announced that a photo spot featuring the Spear of Longinus will be appearing at Akasaka Sacas (Minato Ward, Tokyo). The display panel on the back of the approximately 3-meter-long spear will feature a peel-off sticker that can be removed to reveal a memorable scene from "Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time." If you bring the peel-off sticker to the exchange corner (booth) near the Akasaka Sacas kitchen car, you can enter a limited lottery to win an "Operation 0223 T-shirt (not for sale)." The lottery will run from February 20th to 23rd.
Rappy, the popular character from TBS's popular morning show "Lavvit!", will be collaborating with Evangelion Unit-01, Unit-02, and Unit-00 to release merchandise such as tin badges, acrylic stands, T-shirts, and blankets. These will be sold in advance at a food truck in Akasaka Sacas from February 20th to 23rd, and will also be available online. They will be available for general sale from February 28th at the TBS Store Tokyo Station branch (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) and at all Tree Village branches of the TV station's official shops.
"Evangelion" is set in Tokyo-3, and follows the story of the protagonist, Shinji Ikari, and his friends as they fight against mysterious "Angels" in the Evangelion, a humanoid decisive weapon. An anime TV series and a movie version were produced, causing a social phenomenon. The TV series "Neon Genesis Evangelion" aired from 1995 to 1996, followed by the movie version.
"Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time" is the final installment of the new theatrical series, and was released in 2021. It was a huge hit, grossing approximately 10.28 billion yen and attracting an audience of approximately 6.73 million people.
