Neon Genesis Evangelion (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン, Shin Seiki Evangerion) is a Japanese multi-media anime franchise created by Japanese animator and filmmaker Hideaki Anno in 1994. Since 1997, there have been 7 theatrical film based on the franchise including the original trilogy produced by Gainax, directly following the original TV series, and later the Rebuild of Evangelion, a four-movie series made as a retelling of the Neon Genesis Evangelion series, made by Anno's own studio, Khara. Original theatrical films Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth, is a 1997 Japanese animated science fiction psychological drama film and the first installment of the Neon Genesis Evangelion feature film project and consists of two parts. The project, whose overarching title translates literally to New Century Gospel: The Movie, was released in response to the success of the TV series and a strong demand by fans for an alternate ending. Its components have since been re-edited and re-released several times. The first section, Evangelion:Death, is a 're-cap' editing together scenes from the first 24 episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion in the form of a clip show, along with additional animation created after the show's original broadcast. This includes scenes from the original show re-drawn shot-for-shot, entirely new shots augmenting existing sequences, and linking segments based around the premise of the four main characters playing Pachelbel's Canon as a string quartet. Some of the additional shots and re-drawn animation would later be re-edited into the extended, 'Home Video Versions' of episodes 21–24 included on the Japanese VHS/Laserdisc and American and European Platinum Collection releases of the TV series, commonly known in the west as the "Director's Cut" versions though there is no clear substantiation of director Hideaki Anno's role in these. Death ends with credits accompanied by a double string quartet arrangement of Pachelbel's Canon. Evangelion:Death(True) screened on the Japanese satellite TV channel WOWOW; this second cut of Evangelion:Death was re-edited by Masayuki, who held multiple creative roles throughout the franchise's production, removing some of the extra footage new to the feature. This was released on home video for the first time as part of the Archives of Evangelion DVD box set on August 26, 2015. The second section, Evangelion: Rebirth, consists of approximately 24 minutes of entirely new animation that would eventually form the first third of the alternate ending film The End of Evangelion, released four months later as the