Neon Genesis Evangelion is among the most critically acclaimed anime ever produced. Every facet of its writing and animation has been broken down and cataloged by fans, as has every interview and commentary surrounding the series. On top of that, fans hungry for more content are eager to experience anything even tangentially connected to Evangelion, be it manga, art books, parodies or theme park rides.

So, when ADV released a box set of the Evangelion anime with commentary, fans were quick to latch onto a bit of trivia teased by Shinji Ikari voice actor Spike Spencer and head of ADV Matt Greenfield. Apparently, Spencer and fellow Evangelion voice actor Tiffany Grant (the original voice of Asuka) had both recorded an AIDS Public Service Announcement shortly after finishing on Evangelion. The rumored "Evangelion AIDS PSA" was never aired and was considered lost...until now.

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The Story Behind It

The AIDS PSA was commissioned by the city of Houston in order to spread awareness of safe sex. Spencer was commissioned to work on the project, asked Grant to join him and then the two recorded their lines together. Grant and Spencer were supposed to grunt and make "sex noises" in order to sound like two teenagers having unprotected sex, all while a narrator narrated over them. However, because the sex noises were "too realistic," the PSA never aired. The only copy was given to Grant on tape, which she lost somewhere in her house.

Year later, Youtuber Red Bard was investigating the PSA for a video and reached out to Grant. Grant had by this time found the tape during a move, went to digitize the audio, and then gave the audio to Bard to post online. Which she did.

Does This Have Anything to Do With Evangelion?

After listening to the audio, where two teens that sound identical to Shinji and Asuka have sex, one might wonder what any of this has to do with Evangelion. The short answer is absolutely nothing. The PSA was made independent of Studio Gainax, ADV and any other bodies that, at the time, had a hand in Evangelion's creation or distribution.

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But, the reason its been nicknamed the "Lost Evangelion AIDS PSA" is because of how fans first learned about it: on an Evangelion DVD. Fans have asked both Spencer and Grant at conventions about the tape for years. At midnight panels, Spencer even teased the tape. Both have clarified, however, that the PSA has nothing to do with Evangelion canonically. It's just a project the two worked on.

The PSA only gained any attention because of the people associated with its creation. The city of Houston probably has many PSAs they didn't use, but this one is a particular standout because of the two iconic characters it recalls...having sex. Lost media often gains a legendary reputation not due to the inherent quality of the media but because of the fact that it just isn't available to see. Similarly, it seems like half of the fun with this AIDS PSA was not knowing whether it'd ever be found. Now that it is available, however, fans can chortle at what sounds like two characters from an iconic anime having sex.

Now that this legendary piece of lost media has been found, it remains to be seen if this piece of Evangelion-associated trivia will fade into obscurity or become a fandom joke more popular than ever.

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