User:Gwern/RETAKE

RE-TAKE is a six-volume Evangelion unauthorized doujinshi; it is generally considered to be one of the best Evangelion doujinshi, and is elaborately produced, with an official soundtrack (OST), a trailer (of a hypothetical animated version), and a re-release which omitted the hentai material for an all-ages RE-TAKE.

It has been praised by anime critic Hiroki Azuma.

Plot
RE-TAKE is an alternate universe version of the Evangelion story; the point of divergence from the TV series is episode 16, "Splitting of the Breast". While a captive in the Dirac Sea, Shinji Ikari has, rather than the fleeting contact with his mother's soul in the original series, a vision of the entirety of the remaining events from the TV series and End of Evangelion. After he recovers from his captivity, he is haunted by a spectral figure of Asuka Langley Soryu as she appeared at the end of End of Evangelion that only he can see. She constantly abuses and verbally torments him, believing that Shinji abandoned her to be attacked and killed by the mass-production Evas. Shinji retains his memories of the events from his vision, and strives to use his foreknowledge to change the outcomes of the coming battles, as well as redefine his relationships with Asuka and Rei Ayanami. The plot continues on in a complex multiverse, finally reconciling Shinji & Asuka.

Animated
Re-Take is being animated by a man named Zeak belonging to the EvaGeek's forums. He is hard at work at animating the second Re-Take currently and the first will be available on Youtube soon. The voice actors are also from the EvaGeeks forums.

Publication
In order of chronology, the volumes are 1, 2, 3, 0, 4, and After. Books 1 and 2 were released in 2004, books 3 and 0 in 2005, and the 4 and After in 2006. Kimigabuchi also released a minor hentai doujinshi, RE-TAKE 1.5, but it has minimal connection to the other volumes.

There have been no official English releases, only unofficial fan scanlations.

On August 18, 2006 Toranoana listed RE-TAKE in its top 10 counting both the sales online and in its stores.

Popularity
The official Japanese website of the author has received 41,900 visits in the previous 30 days. According to their own counter, they have received a total of 1,689,096 hits over the years.

The number of people having read it in English or other language is impossible to calculate, although it is found mentioned 51,600 times by the Google search engine. This includes mentions in blogs, forum post, and websites.

One group of dedicated fans went so far as to film a live action bit of the series.