Studio Khara Cracks Down on Lewd 'Evangelion' Fanart With New Guidelines

Ahead of the official release of the fourth and final film in the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time, Studio Khara has released guidelines for Evangelion fan artist. The studio behind the iconic franchise encourages derivative works but notes nine rules to adhere to.

Evaluating the works created by its massive list of fan artists, Khara firstly notes that fan art should be generally done “without monetary compensation or for commercial purposes.” Getting into asking artists to “refrain from creating works that: are hurtful to the source material or to another person; are created to further a specific religious or political agenda; express hateful points of view; are overly violent, grotesque, pornographic, or otherwise offensive.” The studio focuses on fostering an all-ages friendly community tied to the franchise, targeting the realm of creators the release lewd content using Evangelion characters.

Finally, the guidelines states “copyright owners reserve the right to halt a fan’s activities” and that “guidelines are subject to change at any point, depending on public reception and changes in society.”

Following the release of the guidelines, famed doujinshi (a self-published work that caters to a specific group of people) artist, Mogudan, vowed to never draw Rei Ayanami again. The 20-year fan artist has made a name for himself with his sexually charged artwork releases centered around the demure “First Child.”

Check out an English translation of Studio Khara’s guidelines for Evangelion fan art posted on its website below.

1. Fan activities should generally be done without monetary compensation or for commercial purposes. This includes using it to promote another work or service. Evangelion rights management company Groundworks must be contacted for permission to use the IP for commercial purposes.
2. Fan works (video, images, novels, etc.) that follow the guidelines can be posted on social media services, illustration uploading services, novel submission services, and video uploading services, as long as these services mainly deal with all-ages content and have rules against profane content/behavior.
3. Please ensure that you and your fan community have respect for the source material.
4. Please refrain from creating works that: are hurtful to the source material or to another person; are created to further a specific religious or political agenda; express hateful points of view; are overly violent, grotesque, pornographic, or otherwise offensive; infringes on another creator’s ownership rights; or are works that could be mistaken for an official product.
5. Official images can be used for citation or referencing purposes, but this must be the only purpose for the usage, and you must please refrain from generally using video, music, and audio.
6. Fans can submit works to the following premium services, as long as they follow the guidelines of those sites and agree that their accounts will not be used primarily for Evangelion fan content or for excessive monetization purposes: YouTube Live, Twitch, pixivSketch Live, Nico Nico Doga, Patreon, PixivFanbox, Ko-Fi.
7. Do not release fan creations to announce something with a separate scope. Only release fan creations within the scope of the guidelines or under a similar license.
8. Regardless of the contents of the guideline, the copyright owners reserve the right to halt a fan’s activities in order to protect their personhood (honor, reputation, the attribution of their name, the identity of their work, etc.)
9. The guidelines are subject to change at any point, depending on public reception and changes in society.

In case you missed it, an aged Eren appeared in the new teaser for Attack on Titan Season 4.