Have you ever dreamed of sitting in the cockpit of a massive mech as you take on giant aliens that are invading your city? If so, you are probably a fan of one of the most famous mech animes to ever exist, and now you have the chance to feel like a member of the Nerv team. A new line of Neon Genesis Evangelion wireless earphones are now available for pre-order, and truly look like they could be communicators used by the Nerv pilots while inside the mechs.
First airing from October 1995 to March 1996 on TV Tokyo, the series exploded into a cultural phenomenon which has since taken the entire world by storm. The show centers around a teenage boy named Shinji who is recruited by his father to be the pilot of an Evangelion, a giant bio-mech used to protect the city from alien invaders. The series was praised for flipping many of the at-the-time standard anime tropes on its head, such as having a severely introverted protagonist rather than the typical overly enthusiastic hero that is so prevalent in anime.
With its release in the U.S. on Netflix not too long ago, the show has once again been thrust into the spotlight, bringing new found popularity to the show, and with new found popularity usually comes something all fans are happy about; new merch. With the recent release of Official Evangelion Emergency Rations, fans are more than lucky to be receiving even more awesome merch, and this time it's not something you will eat once and never be able to enjoy again; these absolutely stellar looking wireless earbuds. Made by the earphone and headphone company S’NEXT, the earbuds come in a variety of options, each matching a respective Evangelion from the show. The buds feature three different color variations to choose from; purple and green to match EVA Unit 01 (Shinji), red and orange to match EVA Unit 02 (Asuka), and dark blue and yellow-orange to match the Mark 06 (Kaworu; not seen in the original series).
Like most wireless earbuds, each pair comes with a matching charging case to keep the buds primed and ready. Fully charged in two hours, the earbuds provide four hours of continuous talk time, or six hours of music playback in aptX mode/nine hours hours on regular mode. The charging case is able to hold a good amount of juice itself, allowing the user to keep their headphones full of up to sixty three hours of play time. If wireless earbuds aren't your style, S’NEXT is also releasing a pair of much cheaper wired earbuds still tied to the shows license, however these are pretty basic black earphones with its main association with the show simply being the letters EVA on the side.
Unfortunately, as is the case with tons of the coolest of anime merch, these earbuds are only available in Japan, although that won't stop the most avid of collectors from importing a pair or two. Coming in at 19,800 yen, including tax, the price converts to be a little under $188 in U.S. dollars, which puts them on the pricier end of wireless sound, but with the company's solid hi-fi reputation, the quality is sure to match the price. The only real question left for any super fan is, which of the Neon Genesis Evangelion wireless earbuds do you want most?