EVA Secret Story: Anno Hideaki personally asked Ogata Emi to play the male lead because of her boyish voice

"Neon Genesis Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) End" was released on March 8th and it has only been two months since then. The box office has already exceeded 8.28 billion yen, making it the highest-grossing film in the history of the EVA series. The autobiography of Ogata Emi, who plays the leading actor Ikari Shinji, was recently published, in which she mentioned unknown secrets and anecdotes from the past. Let's take a look.

Shinji Ikari is the protagonist of the Japanese animation "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and its derivative works. He is the exclusive pilot of EVA Unit-01 and the third qualified person. He is introverted and not good at communicating with others. He is a boy who doubts the value of his existence. He was ordered by his father who had been away for more than 10 years to drive EVA Unit-01 to fight against the apostles. In the fierce battle with the apostles, he kept groping for his own destiny. He has the highest synchronization value with EVA Unit-01 and performed most outstandingly in the battle to annihilate the apostles.

Ogata Emi recalled that in the summer of 1994, when she was still participating in the "Sailor Moon S" program tour, she suddenly received a call from Anno Hideaki in the elevator of the hotel.

· Anno Hideaki's tone was unusually polite. He asked Ogata Emi that they were selecting the protagonist for a new animation. He heard that Ogata Emi refused the audition. Was it because the staff was rude? He hoped to accept the invitation again.

Ogata Emi was very surprised, because at that time voice actors had to go through an agency to get work. When Ogata Emi directly expressed her intention to participate in the performance, the agency was really furious, and even said that she would never let Ogata Emi participate. However, after Anno Hideaki's continuous efforts to mediate, everyone knows the result.