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Stay connected with 21st century watches featuring images and designs from one of world’s most popular anime.

For most of us not living in Japan, when you hear the name Epson, all you think about are printers. So upon learning that Epson has a popular line of watches called Smart Canvas, you might think you are in some crazy alternate universe — but fear not, you’re just in this great place called Japan.

Epson’s line of “smart” watches won’t let you check any apps or sync with your phone, but they will allow you to look incredibly stylish with an assortment of instantly recognizable characters and brands.

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Their latest release is an Evangelion collaboration that features two watches, one for the organization that created the Evangelions, NERV, and the other for fan favorite Fifth Child, Kaworu Nagisa. These beautiful watches use Epson’s E-ink (the same technology used in Pebble watches) to display characters and scenes familiar to Evangalion fans.

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The thrill of these watches is that the images change as the day wears on. Almost every time you look at the watch you are going to see something different. The number of pictures stored in the watch is a closely guarded Epson secret, so you may never know if you’ve seen them all. Epson also promises unique scenes for special days of the year so you will have a good reason to keep checking your wrist.

Each Evangelion-themed watch comes with its own six modes, which are two more than most of Epson’s other Smart Canvas watches. Each mode displays the time along with a theme-appropriate image.

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Type: NERV

Active Time Mode – mimicking the display used when the Evangelion Units are running off battery power
Angel Mode – displays the angel number
EVA Unit Mode – displays the time with various Evangelion Units
Electric Tower Mode – for the power tower lovers out there
Synchro Mode – displays the time with the synchro graphic in low light and inverted display
Desktop Mode – shows the time, temperature, and date, displaying them in a different orientation so you can put the watch on your desk

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Type: Kaworu

Kaworu Mode – displays random shots of Kaworu with the time
Moon Mode – shows various pictures of the moon while displaying the date and time
Piano Mode – Kaworu’s instrument, along with the date and time
Hexagon Mode – displays the overlapping hexagons which are used during emergencies
DSS Choker Mode – displays the item that Kaworu puts on himself to get Shinji to trust him, though it may be a little difficult to read
Desktop Mode – same as the NERV desktop mode

For those who want to customize their watch a little more, the NERV version has two styles of bands, while the Kaworu version has a choice of three bands. Plus, like all Epson Smart Canvas’, these are limited editions, so each watch comes with a laser-etched production number on the back. The watches are also waterproof for “everyday life”, so you can probably expect them to survive a little rain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ3TcM7A8Eo

The watches are only available in Japan, so if you are a Neon Genesis Evangelion fan living overseas, you are going to have to import one on your own. Fortunately, you have time for planning since they don’t go on sale until January 28, 2016, which should be just enough time to decide which version to buy. But you better start saving up because one watch will cost you 25,000 yen (US $206) and the extra bands will run you 4,500 yen ($37.20) each.

Source & Images: Epson Japan (1, 2)