The Square Enix game's famous story is "Almost just a retelling of Evangelion"

An upcoming video game heavily inspired by many sources, including the modern classic action game Square Enix JRPG. Conversely, its other biggest influences include anime – specifically one of the most iconic and subversive mecha series of all time: Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Stellar Blade is a long-awaited game that is finally released on Sony PlayStation 5. Wearing its anime inspiration on its sleeve, the main character wields a sword and other elements that bear many similarities to NieR: Automata. According to an interview with staff via IGN, the story is also inspired by several classic anime, most notably Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Evangelion creator helms new Space Battleship Yamato anime project

The Space Battleship Yamato's 50th anniversary project will be led by Hideaki Anno, who is best known as the creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Square Enix's latest game is inspired by Evangelion

Developed by Korean studio Shift Up, Stellar Blade is the creative brainchild of Hyung-Tae Kim. In an interview with IGN, Kim discussed what inspired the game with Yoko Taro, who is best known for directing NieR: Automata. A spin-off of the Drakengard series, the second game in the NieR series, along with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, had a major influence on the action in Stellar Blade. Taro praised the upcoming game, which he said was even better than NieR. Ironically, both are inspired by the same mecha anime. In the interview, Yoko Taro noted: “The work I was most inspired by was Neon Genesis Evangelion. I thank you for praising NieR: Automata's story, but really it's pretty much just a retelling of Evangelion, so it's not all that unique. I don't really watch recent movies so I'm mainly inspired by memories of works I've seen in the past.”

Kim then mentioned that he was also heavily influenced by Evangelion's esoteric plot and found it difficult to escape its inspiration. Similarities between the works can be seen in plot, characters and themes. For example, NieR: Automata involves robots and androids in the same way that Evangelion uses humans and angels, both in a post-apocalyptic setting. Those two works, along with Stellar Blade, also have loose religious elements, including characters named Adam and Eve. Machines and technology also play an important role in all three of these elements, showing Evangelion's influence in popular culture. Other inspirations mentioned are cyberpunk classics Blade Runner and Battle Angel Alita, the latter a legendary cyberpunk anime featuring a female robot.

Evangelion and Toyota Cross Over for the evil angel's Prius

Neon Genesis Evangelion fans and Toyota Prius drivers can get in on Third Impact with the latest collaboration involving the venerable anime series.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of the most iconic Mecha anime of all time

Released in the late 1990s, Evangelion took the anime (and especially mecha) world by storm. Subversive, psychological, and darkly introspective, the series has been both acclaimed and controversial. Breaking boundaries within the anime genre, it is also considered a series that began to change attitudes towards animation in the West. Since then, it has gone on to inspire many retellings and remakes of the original story, including the film Rebuild of Evangelion and the novel Neon Genesis Evangelion Anima. Additionally, there are countless model kits, action figures, and other forms of collectibles available for the franchise.

NieR: Automata was released in 2017, the game was praised for its storytelling and tone. Along with the Atlus turn-based title Persona 5, the game helped rekindle interest in Japanese role-playing games, with some comparing it to the Western game Horizon: Zero Dawn. In 2023, A-1 Pictures released NieR: Automata Ver1.1a, an anime adaptation of the game. The series has been praised for making the story in the source material more accessible, and it is largely considered one of the best video game-to-anime adaptations.