Despite being over five years past Toho’s original projected release, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time is finally making its way to the public with a new story about the squad of children selected to either save the world or bring about its ruin by piloting massive, humanoid beings known as Evas.
Like each of the three films in the series that came before it, Thrice Upon a Time continues the tale first told in Hideaki Anno’s 1995 series, albeit slightly differently, as the plot points shift in order to take the young Evangelion pilots’ arcs into new territories.
Light as the new trailer is in the way of any easily-interpreted details about what will happen in Thrice Upon a Time, the brief flashes of a new Eva along with two new pilots in their fresh plug suits promises that when Anno’s latest project drops in the new year, it’ll usher in a new era of heated discussion within Evangelion’s fandom, even as it promises to bid farewell to the franchise. You also get to hear a preview of J-Pop legend Utada Hikaru’s new song for the film — a collaboration that’s persisted ever since the original Rebuild film — One Last Kiss, to boot:
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time premieres January 23.
For more, make sure you’re following us on our new Instagram @io9dotcom.