Evangelion Kyoto Base — Attraction in Kyoto

The Evangelion Kyoto Base is a must-do if you're a fan of Neon Genesis Evangelion, or even just mech anime in general. You get to see EVA-01, and there are lots of photo opportunities.

Technically the Evangelion Kyoto Base is free, but you can only get to it by going into the Toei Kyoto Studio Park, which for an individual adult cost ¥2,800. You don't need to buy the Attraction Pass to access the Evangelion Kyoto Base; just the standard ticket.

When you visit the Evangelion Kyoto Base, the staff will take a picture of you in front of EVA-01. They will give you a ticket which you need to keep a hold of for the whole experience. Then you go around the back and enter the NERV base. You can do a psychological assessment, get a photo in the plug, and get a wide photo on the hand of EVA-01. You can then collect your free ID photo at the photo booth. You can also buy physical copies of your photos in fun folders and cases. Though you can also download all of the photos for free online.

The staff who ran this attraction were all very friendly and helpful. They showed me where the camera was, and they were asking about my JoJo wallet when I went to pay for my photos.

There is also a shop nearby in Toei Kyoto Studio Park that sells lots of other merch. I ended up buying a EVA-01 themed watch and a lanyard for my Suica.

I had such a great experience here. It's a bit far out, but if you're a fan of Neon Genesis Evangelion, you've got to...

Feels harsh giving it a low star rating as, it's not REALLY the staffs fault. Annoyingly though, it's hidden inside some edo movie studio thing that we had to pay 2400 Yen EACH to enter. I didn't quite understand where I was exactly or what I'd walked into. There seemed to be a bunch of activities for kids and families potentially but a lot of it was closed off anyway. It was just A strangely empty wild west ground that feels like a lot of missed opportunities tbh.

The evangelion part contained a tourist priced (as in inflated) gift shop and this really big (granted really cool looking) mech, Unit 01. You walk inside it, walk up some stairs with some bits of media and sfx from the show playing. Then at the top you get a chance to sit in a "cockpit" which is just a chair with a trigger handle. When you pull the trigger, a cut scene plays and the chair jolts up a little bit. When I say a little, I mean a TINY bit. Then it takes your picture and sends you on your way.

Because if how long the process takes here per person, we queued at the top for about 20-30 mins thinking it was a much cooler interaction (we heard people screaming and over selling the jolt).

Do not recommend coming just for this. Unless you want to spend 2400 yen for the picture. Which is a cool...

We laughed about how sad this place was. First of all it is not that easy to get there, once you are there you realize that is like a studio for some old movies and there is not much to see or do.

We arrived at the end of the studio to see this Base and that was it. There was this "activity" where you were supposed to pilot something, we didn't quite understand it, I sat on a chair for like 3 seconds and takes a picture of you. And that was it.

There was also a 20 minute "ninja" show which was in japanese and it was cute to watch, it was cool and had air conditioning which was the best part because it was A HOT DAY!.

We went to the inside of the building looking for interesting activities and there were just some mazes for kids which were kinda weird and boring. and not worth at all.

Really, honestly: Use your day in Kyoto wisely and don't go here. It's a waste of time. And they oversell this Base which is only a big sculpture.

But if you don't believe me, go try it yourself and have a laugh of how bad is...