Ask John: Is Dual an Evangelion Rip-Off?

Question:
Is Dual a rip of Evagelion? I was wondering since the mecha in Dual looks almost identical to that of the Eva’s from Evagelion.

Answer:
Dual! Parallel Lun Lun Monogatari is not a “rip off” of Evangelion. It is creator Masaki Kajishima’s intentional parody/homage to Evangelion. A rip-off tries to directly imitate its predecessor without acknowledging the influence. Dual is slightly different because it doesn’t try to obscure or hide the fact that it’s intentionally recreating Evangelion with a slightly different “feel.”