A newly revealed collaboration is bringing Godzilla, Evangelion, Ultraman and Kamen Rider together.
As detailed by the new project's official website, Japanese film studios Toho, Toei and Tsuburaya Productions are teaming up with Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno's Khara studio for a new cross-promotional event that unites Japan's biggest pop-culture icons. The new collaboration was revealed alongside an image depicting the flagship characters of each studio: Toho's king of monsters, Godzilla, Toei and Tsuburaya's tokusatsu (masked hero) pioneers, Kamen Rider and Ultraman, and last but not least, the Evangelion Unit 01, the lead "mecha" from the highly celebrated and influential anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. The crossover between the four legendary franchises is being labeled the "Shin Japan Heroes Universe," and all four companies involved in the project are now planning special events and merchandise based around the team-up.
The new illustration of the four heroes was created by Mahiro Maeda, who previously worked as an animator and designer on the Evangelion franchise. The logo for the crossover was created by Yutaka Izubuchi, who also worked on Evangelion and multiple entries within the Mobile Suit Gundam series.
The four franchises are all linked by their connection to director Hideaki Anno. Anno is best known as the creator of the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise, but he has also been personally involved with each of the other three series in the collaboration: he directed the critically acclaimed 2017 reboot Shin Godzilla, is currently directing Shin Kamen Rider, and also wrote and produced Shin Ultraman, which is scheduled to be released in Japan on May 13. Shin Ultraman was directed by Anno's long-time collaborator, Shinji Higuchi, who previously worked as a special effects director on the Gamera series.
Anno's latest release, Evangelion 3.0 + 1.01: Thrice Upon A Time premiered in 2021 to rave reviews. The movie was Japan's second highest-grossing film of 2021 and was released internationally as an exclusive for Amazon's Prime Video streaming service. The film, which served as the conclusion to the story that begin with the original Neon Genesis Evangelion anime in 1995, also marked the end of Anno's time as the head of the Evangelion franchise and as an animation director. While he has hinted that the series may continue with someone else at the helm, he has announced that he plans to work exclusively on live-action movies for the time being. His current project, Shin Kamen Rider, is scheduled to be released in 2023 and stars Sousuke Ikematsu (The Last Samurai) and Minami Hamabe (Kakegurui).