Evangelion Korean Dub May 2026
Woo Jung-shin’s Asuka is aggressive. While the Japanese and English versions highlight Asuka's tsundere traits, the Korean dub emphasizes the dere (angry) side. Woo’s shouting matches (specifically the "stupid Shinji!" rants) are visceral. She voiced Asuka during the show’s initial run and reprised her role for the Rebuild movies, providing a direct link between the 90s dub and modern audiences.
For decades, Neon Genesis Evangelion has stood as a monolithic titan in the world of animation. Its complex deconstruction of the mecha genre, psychological horror, and religious symbolism has puzzled and fascinated fans globally. While English-speaking fans debate the merits of the ADV vs. Netflix dubs, and Japanese purists swear by Megumi Ogata’s Shinji, a fascinating third pillar of Eva localization exists that has remained relatively obscure to Western audiences: the Evangelion Korean dub.
To the uninitiated, a "dub" might simply be a translation tool. But for Korean anime fans—especially those who came of age in the late 1990s and early 2000s—the Korean dub of Evangelion (Korean title: 신세기 에반게리온, Shinsegi Evangelion) is a cultural artifact loaded with nostalgia, censorship controversies, vocal virtuosity, and a unique broadcast history that changed how a generation viewed animation.
This article explores the turbulent production, the legendary voice cast, the infamous censorship, and the lasting legacy of the Evangelion Korean dub.
Unlike modern dubs that rely on "anime voices," MBC hired seasoned stage and TV actors who treated Evangelion as a tragic play. evangelion korean dub
To understand the Korean dub, one must understand the state of Korean pop culture in the 1990s. Due to historical tensions, Japanese cultural imports—including films, music, and anime—were officially banned until October 1998. Despite this ban, Japanese media flowed in through underground routes, often via corrupted VHS tapes or satellite broadcasts from Japan.
When the ban was partially lifted, Korean distributors rushed to license the biggest hits of the 90s. Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, and Slam Dunk had already dominated the local "Tooniverse" channel. But Evangelion was different. It wasn't a show about winning tournaments or collecting Dragon Balls. It was a show about trauma, depression, and the apocalypse.
The Korean dub was first produced by Daewon Media (yes, the same company that makes the famous "PPOMO" slime videos, but originally a major animation distributor) and aired on Tooniverse (채널 투니버스) starting in the late 1990s. Unlike the slow, academic release in the West, Korea got a relatively rapid, broadcast-quality dub.
| English | Korean | |---------|--------| | Korean dub | 한글 더빙 / 한국어 더빙 | | MBC dub | MBC 더빙판 | | Daewon dub | 대원 더빙판 | | Voice actor | 성우 | | Shinji voice | 신지 성우 | | Rei voice | 레이 성우 | | Asuka voice | 아스카 성우 | Woo Jung-shin’s Asuka is aggressive
For younger Korean fans who grew up with Netflix, there is a frustrating mystery: Why doesn’t Netflix Korea use the 90s dub?
When Netflix acquired the global streaming rights for Neon Genesis Evangelion in 2019 (including the Japanese original and a new English dub), they also commissioned a brand new Korean dub. This decision infuriated the existing fanbase.
Reasons for the new dub include:
The 2020 Netflix Korean dub (featuring actors like Um Sang-hyun as Shinji) is technically superior in audio quality and is uncensored. However, older fans reject it, claiming it lacks the "soul" and dramatic weight of the Kim Seo-young/Woo Jung-shin era. For younger Korean fans who grew up with
In 2019, Netflix attempted to standardize Evangelion globally. They produced a new Korean dub for the streaming service. This new dub:
Logically, this new dub is "superior" in technical quality. However, it was met with a fierce backlash from older Korean millennials. They called it the "오덥" (O-Dub – Old Dub) movement. Fans argued that the new dub lacked the "soul" of the 1999 version. Kim Seul-ha’s Shinji was replaced with a more standard male teenager voice, losing the androgynous pain.
For Korean fans, the original Tooniverse dub is Evangelion. The flaws (the censorship, the name changes, the hissy audio tapes) are part of the show's history.