Anno initially began work on "Rebuild" films in the fall of 2002, spending nearly six months on pre-production before being delayed by various other projects (such as "Cutie Honey", the "" OVA, and even a few movie roles). This included watching the entire original series back-to-back. In the December 2006 issue of "Newtype", Anno revealed he was happy to finally recreate Eva "as he wanted it to be" in the beginning and that he was no longer constrained by technological and budget limitations.