Neon Genesis Evangelion began with a television series which aired in Japan from October 3, 1995 to March 27, 1996. Like most television series, it consisted of 26 episodes. However, the last two episodes were not well received by those who were fans of Evangelion. In response to this, a movie was released, entitled "Evangelion: Death and Rebirth", on March 15,1997. This first half of this movie, called "Death", basically summed up the television series through episode #24. Some scenes were redone, and some were added(total new footage accumulating to about 30 mins.) and in ths whole of the televison series as presented in such a manner that anyone who hadn't seen it originally, would have difficulty understanding it. The credits then roll(with Pachebel's "Canon" playing in the background), the screen goes blank and "Rebirth" comes up. Rebirth consists of entirely new footage, and ends with a cliffhanger.

In July of 1997 another movie was released to Japan entitled "End of Evangelion" and, like its predecessor, consisted of two parts (both about 35 mins.): Episode #25: "Air/Love is Destructive"; and Episode #26: "A Pure Heart For You". The first 2/3 of "Air/ Love is Destructive" is the same as all of "Rebirth", but then it continues. The credits roll(with Loren Mash's "Thanatos- If I Can't Be Yours" playing in the background) and the second part of "End of Evangelion" begins, with more entirely new footage.

In the U.S. the television series was dubbed and subtitled into English and released by A.D. Vision beginning in...seems like around August or September of 1996 (but I'm not sure), and concluded in July or August of 1998. The Evangelion movies were released by Manga Entertainment in the summer of 2002.