The twelve years since the original airing of Evangelion coincide with the period of eroge’s rise to prominence as a game genre in Japan, and several times over that span the venerable anime franchise has been drawn upon as a source of inspiration by the seamier side of PC gaming (perhaps most notably in Season of the Sakura / Sakura no Kisetsu). Thus it is refreshing to finally see the genre maturing to the point where anime references can be cast aside, and games brought forward on the merits of their own unique, original stories and designs. Maker Honki Jiru’s newest title Bokura no Ikinari Dousei Keikaku is a shining example of this progress, with a cast of original characters and a story not at all reminiscent of Shinji moving in with Misato. Seriously. Just because he’s moving to work in a “research lab” it doesn’t mean his estranged father is going to be there too, right? Right? Release of this entirely original and non-derivative game is expected on December 7th. (no more)