{"rewrite":{"id":"r_eb4fe76d37ae9564360e280c","clusterId":"c_07888c7431c96a0f767447de","slug":"evangelion-anima-side-novel-gets-audiobook-adaptation","model":"deepseek-v4-flash","headline":"Evangelion Anima Side Novel Gets Audiobook Adaptation","summary":"The official Evangelion side novel Evangelion ANIMA, written by mechanical designer Ikuto Yamashita, is being adapted into an audiobook. Volume 1 is available on Audible, with subsequent volumes releasing from around August 2026. Narrator Sasaki Aitani voices multiple characters.","whyItMatters":"The audiobook brings a long-running text-only Evangelion side story to a new medium, with the original writer and a single narrator tackling a dense, technical novel that Yamashita himself worried might not work read aloud.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eIkuto Yamashita, the mechanical designer of the TV series Neon Genesis Evangelion, wrote Evangelion ANIMA as an if-story set three years after a divergence from episode 24, \u0026#39;The Final Messenger.\u0026#39; The novel was serialized in Dengeki Hobby Magazine from 2008 to 2013, with all five volumes published from November 2017 to March 2019. Volume 1 of the audiobook is already on Audible, and volumes 2 and beyond are scheduled to release sequentially from around August 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYamashita said he initially worried whether the text, which he described as having long clauses and pseudo-technical terms, could withstand being read aloud. After hearing narrator Sasaki Aitani\u0026#39;s performance, he said his feelings shifted to wanting to hear the rest himself. Aitani said she repeatedly watched the TV series to study each character\u0026#39;s personality and way of speaking, adjusting pitch and atmosphere to stay close to the original voices without imitating them directly.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Evangelion ANIMA, the official side novel by mecha designer Ikuto Yamashita, is getting an audiobook. Volume 1 is out on Audible now; more volumes start August 2026. Narrator Sasaki Aitani voices the cast.","twitterPost":"Evangelion ANIMA, the official side novel by mecha designer Ikuto Yamashita, is getting an audiobook. Volume 1 is out now on Audible. Volumes 2+ start August 2026. Narrator Sasaki Aitani voices the cast.","threadsPost":null,"newsletterBlurb":"The Evangelion side novel Evangelion ANIMA, written by series mechanical designer Ikuto Yamashita, is being adapted into an audiobook. Volume 1 is available now on Audible, with further volumes releasing from August 2026. Narrator Sasaki Aitani performs multiple characters.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Dengeki Hobby Web\",\"url\":\"https://hobby.dengeki.com/news/3047208/\",\"title\":\"Evangelion Official Side Novel 'Evangelion ANIMA' Begins Audiobook Adaptation! Comments from Planner/Writer Ikuto Yamashita and Narrator Sasaki Aitani Arrive!\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":4281,"outputTokens":648,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1783481803,"createdAt":"2026-07-08T03:26:37.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-07-08T03:28:32.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-08T03:26:37.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_07888c7431c96a0f767447de","canonicalTitle":"『エヴァンゲリオン』公式外伝小説『エヴァンゲリオンANIMA』がオーディオブック化始動――！企画・執筆の山下いくと氏、朗読・藍谷早咲さんからのコメントも到着！","representativeArticleId":"a_e7d352597b6a08645c22186d","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[\"Neon Genesis Evangelion\"],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"Evangelion ANIMA\"],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[\"Ikuto Yamashita\",\"Saki Aitani\"],\"type\":\"release\",\"domain\":\"anime\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-07-08T02:00:00.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-07-08T02:00:00.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-08T03:28:33.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Dengeki Hobby Web","url":"https://hobby.dengeki.com/news/3047208/","title":"『エヴァンゲリオン』公式外伝小説『エヴァンゲリオンANIMA』がオーディオブック化始動――！企画・執筆の山下いくと氏、朗読・藍谷早咲さんからのコメントも到着！"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":["Neon Genesis Evangelion"],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["Evangelion ANIMA"],"studios":[],"people":["Ikuto Yamashita","Saki Aitani"],"type":"release","domain":"anime","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}