What started out as a routine case of copyright infringement soon turned out to be one of the most bizarre mishaps in the world of anime in recent times. Studio Khara accidentally leaked the high-definition version of the master file of the Neon Genesis Evangelion 30th anniversary short film on March 6, 2026. To recall, the film was originally intended to be screened exclusively to fans who attended the EVANGELION:30+ festival event.
Studio Khara confirms accidental leak
From what the studio revealed later on, the incident reportedly began with the studio’s legal team sending out copyright infringement notices to individuals on X who had uploaded the low-quality version of the film from the screening at the festival event. However, due to the internal error on the part of the studio, the complete high-definition version of the film ended up being sent along with the infringement notice.
As the situation got out of hand, Studio Khara stated that they are sorry to inform that an unintended disclosure of official data during the copyright infringement process occurred. The leak must have been a disappointment to the fans who had paid to see the film at the screening event. Rather than trying to prevent the leak from spreading further, Studio Khara instead chose to focus on the damage control part of the equation and announced on the same day that the 15-minute-long short film would be available for free on the studio’s official YouTube channel on March 8, which also happens to be the fifth anniversary of the Japanese theatrical release of Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time.
As it turned out, the short film has already managed to spark a great deal of discussion among anime fans due to the bizarre premise of the story, which includes the surreal encounter between the two different versions of the character Asuka, namely Asuka Langley Soryu and Asuka Shikinami Langley, who end up having a funny exchange before helping the original character achieve closure with the events of the film, The End of Evangelion.