Japan’s urban landscape is dotted with giant TV monitors mounted on the sides of skyscrapers. Despite what you might expect, though, from watching science fiction anime or young adult-literature-sourced movies depicting dystopian futures, they aren’t constantly broadcasting information about where citizens should evacuate to during the current alien invasion or directives from the Office of the Supreme Leader.

No, usually they’re just devoted to ad loops. But this weekend, public big screens across Japan will be showing something a little more exciting: The entire first episode of anime hit Evangelion.

October 4 marks exactly 20 years since the TV premiere of the industry-changing giant robot/psychological self-examination anime. So to celebrate, this Sunday Neon Genesis Evangelions’s opening episode, “Angel Attack,” will be played on giant monitors in Japan’s largest cities at 6:30 p.m., the same time as it aired on Japanese TV in 1995.

In Tokyo, the episode will be shown on the Alta Vision monitor in Shinjuku and Ikebukuro’s P’Parco TV-chan Vision.

▼ Alta Vision

EM 1

Fans in Osaka can catch the Eva action at Dotonbori Tombori Station S/N, while those in Nagoya can see it on the Kinei Intervision. Khara, the studio in charge of all things Evangleion, also states on its website that “Angel Attack” will be shown at unspecified monitors in Akihabara, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Sendai, and Sapporo, as well as other cities not yet announced.

As an event two decades in the making, we’re sure hard-core fans will be staking out spots on the sidewalk ahead of time, especially since October 4 falls on a Sunday this year instead of a Wednesday like it did in 1995. And even if you’ve seen Evangelion’s first episode on DVD or online enough times to know every line of dialogue by heart, this should be a special chance to share the experience with like-minded anime enthusiasts.

Related: Studio Alta (Alta Vision) website, map
Source: Khara via Hachma Kikou
Insert image: Studio Alta