After the End

After the End (終曲の続き, shūkyoku no tsudzuki) is an audio drama performed by the Japanese voice cast of Evangelion. The drama features all of the main cast (excluding Kaji) and even includes a cameo of Hideaki Anno. The drama was also written and directed by Anno, the only confirmed case of him having direct involvement in any spin-off.

In After the End, the cast of the show returns after a vacation to discover that they have been scheduled to star in a new Evangelion series, that has no script, and is beginning later in the evening. The drama is overall light-hearted and takes a more comedic tone, as the familiar characters scramble to put together a show that will yield good ratings. The drama was first found on the "Neon Genesis Evangelion: Addition" CD released December 12, 1996 (King Records).

Popularity

After the End was one of the lesser-known official Evangelion media in the West - as noted in a previous version of this article. The drama was, fan-translated by Matthew Grimes, and this translation was later used in a picsub by Ian Roberts of Zettai Unmei Anime. The picsub uses the original audio, compiled with an image of the character who is speaking, in a similar manner to subtitles in some video games. Roberts' picsub can be found on his website and on YouTube. Years later, it became quite popular. It was also extremely successful in Japan at the time.