“Hideaki Anno Releases Statement About New Evangelion Movies”, 2007-02-20 (; backlinks; similar):
Many different desires are motivating us to create the new “Evangelion” film.
The desire to portray my sincere feelings on film.
The desire to share, with an audience, the embodiment of image, the diversity of expressions, and the detailed portrayal of emotions that animation offers.
The desire to connect today’s exhausted Japanese animation [industry] to the future.
The desire to fight the continuing trend of stagnation in anime.
The desire to support the strength of heart that exists in the world.
Finally, the desire to have these wishes be realized.
For these purposes, we used the best methods available to us to make another Evangelion film.
Many times we wondered, “It’s a title that’s more than 10 years old. Why now?”
“Eva is too old”, we felt.
However, over the past 12 years, there has been no anime newer than Eva.
…As the creator of this project, [I assure you that] a very new-feeling Evangelion world has been constructed.
…Although it seems obvious, we aim to create a form of entertainment that anyone can look forward to; one that people who have never seen Evangelion can easily adjust to, one that can engage audiences as a movie for theatres, and one that produces a new understanding of the world.