Neon Genesis Evangelion: the Iron Maiden 2nd

Neon Genesis Evangelion: the Iron Maiden 2nd (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン鋼鉄のガールフレンド 2nd) is a Gainax-produced adventure anime-style video game. It is the followup to Neon Genesis Evangelion: Iron Maiden, but has an unrelated plot and does not feature its original character Mana Kirishima. 2nd is set in the alternate universe seen in episode 26 of the show; the player controls Shinji Ikari as he navigates his home, school, and social life in a now-peaceful "Tokyo-3".

Each character from the original Evangelion makes an appearance but some of their circumstances and personalities have radically changed. Misato Katsuragi is now a popular homeroom teacher, and Ritsuko Akagi is the school nurse (however, these two still have their posts at NERV from the original storyline). Asuka Langley Soryu is Shinji's childhood friend and neighbor, Kaworu Nagisa is an enigmatic playboy type who has known Shinji for years, and Rei Ayanami is a hyperactive transfer student.

The game is available in Japanese for PlayStation 2, Windows, Mac OS and PlayStation Portable. There are also multiple fan-translations in different languages; the Windows version has been translated into English, Russian and Italian, while the PlayStation Portable version also has an English translation.

Gameplay
The game functions as a visual novel-style "additional episode". The artwork was done by a new team, but the voices were provided by the same seiyū from the original series cast. The game also has dating sim elements and includes three "dateable" characters: Rei, Asuka, and Kaworu, although Kaworu is eliminated as an option at one point during gameplay, not featuring an ending route. Instead, the player is forced to choose between Rei or Asuka. Reward CG for each character can be uncovered and collected in a CG gallery accessible from the game's main menu.

In spite of its "Alternate Universe" billing, elements of the original Evangelion make appearances: plugsuits, mentions of Gendo Ikari's research in creating an artificial human being, Ritsuko's past feelings for Gendo and visual and verbal references to Angels and Evangelions.

The game is available in Japanese for Mac OS, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 2.

Manga
A manga by Fumino Hayashi, following roughly the same storyline as the game, was serialized in the Monthly Asuka in November 2003 and is available in volumes from the same publisher. It was announced that the manga would be released in English in the magazine Newtype USA under a new title: Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days. It made its debut in the August 2005 issue of Newtype USA. It was later collected into graphic novel format, the entirety of which were released before and after the cancellation of Newtype USA.

Reception
The game sold 17,421 copies the week of its release.

Gallery
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