review

angel's thesis opening

Zankoku na Tenshi no These

Anime

" Zankoku na Tenshi no These "  (残酷な天使のテーゼ, Zankoku na Tenshi no Tēze ? , " A Cruel Angel's Thesis ") is the theme song of the popular anime TV series Neon Genesis Evangelion performed by Yoko Takahashi . It is used as the opening to the series, and two instrumental versions of it are played in the final episode, " Take care of yourself. " These are "The Heady Feeling of Freedom" and "Good, or Don't Be", scored for violin, piano, and guitar. "The Heady Feeling of Freedom" is a somber and reflective piece for bowed strings and guitar, while "Good, or Don't Be" is played to a light piano and guitar tone. A similar version can also be heard during the intermission between the two parts of Evangelion: Death and Rebirth .

The single was released on 25 October 1995 within the "Zankoku na Tenshi no These" (Single) with the catalog number KIDA-116 and it also reached a peak at rank 17 in the Oricon album database, appearing in the ranks 61 times.

Unlike what is commonly assumed, this song was written without any involvement from the series' creators. [1] Anno originally wanted to use an excerpt from Borodin's Polovtsian Dances in the opening, but the producers did not approve of this and instead decided to use a J-Pop song, which eventually resulted in the creation of "A Cruel Angel's Thesis". The lyricist, Neko Oikama, had next to no knowledge of the series. Oikama simply skimmed through a proposal of it (possibly Neon Genesis Evangelion Proposal ) and watched unfinished versions of two episodes on fast forward, only serving to broadly "fit" the anime after the fact. [2] [3] [4] Oikama took inspiration for the title from the manga A Cruel God Reigns . [5] She said the lyrics "become a legend" were originally "become a weapon". She was orientated that the series was "difficult and philosphical". Oikama described it as: "older women", "mothers" and "14-year-old boys and girls", and decided to make it about the perspective of a mother when her child "leaves the nest". [6] The original song included a male chorus, which was cut at director Hideaki Anno 's request in order to "emphasize maternal affection". [7] The writing process for Episode:01 took as long as six months, [8] and the opening sequence was not yet finished. [9] [10] Singer Yoko Takahashi was also brought in relatively haphazardly and had no knowledge of the series either, and would only see the opening featuring her voice when it aired on TV. [11] She had also first met Anno on the day of recording. [12]

  • 1.1 TV Size
  • 1.2 Full Size
  • 4 External Links
  • 5 References

TV Size [ ]

Full size [ ].

[13]

  • During the instrumental break in the middle of the song, a chorus can be heard singing. The lyrics to the chorus are not in Japanese, nor in any other recognizable language. According to the January 1996 issue of Newtype magazine, the lyrics can be phonetically transliterated into Japanese as 「ファリィア。セタ(or セパ）メッソ。ファリィア。トゥスェ」 "Fariya. Seta (or sepa) messo. Fariya. Tuse" , and they are supposedly written in an untranslated language passed down from ancient times. One could entertain the possibility that they are written in the same language as that of the Dead Sea Scrolls . [14]
  • American rapper Kanye West WP sampled this song in his unreleased song "Evangelica". Fellow rapper Albe Back later released the song on 13 October 2022. [15]

See Also [ ]

  • " Zankoku na Tenshi no These 2009 VERSION "
  • " Zankoku na Tenshi no These MATSURI SPIRIT "

External Links [ ]

  • 「残酷な天使のテーゼ」MUSIC VIDEO（HDver.）/Zankoku na Tenshi no Te-ze“The Cruel Angel's Thesis” at King Records' YouTube channel

References [ ]

  • ↑ "Producer Ootsuki said he allowed Anno to do whatever he wanted in the anime except for the theme music. Ootsuki was particular about the theme and handled the music staff by himself. No anime staff, even Anno, met the music staff, he said." - Yuko Miyamura, BS AnimeYAWA
  • ↑ “My manager got the job, we had a quick meeting lasting about 30 minutes, skim-read the proposal and watched two episodes on fast-forward. And with that I was told ‘so, yeah, just write whatever you want!’, and finished the song [lyrics] in about two hours. Sorry to burst your bubble, guys!” https://soranews24.com/2015/01/08/a-cruel-angels-thesis-took-just-two-hours-to-write-says-evangelion-lyricist-neko-oikawa
  • ↑ "I hadn't watch Eva and wrote it in 2 hours. I don't even know what the story is or who is fighting who." https://twitter.com/otakucalendarjp/status/1356542049751687171
  • ↑ She also professed that she did not know much about Neon Genesis Evangelion when she first wrote the song, and she still has not watched the series. "It's a finished job, so [I'm] not really [interested]," she said. When she wrote the song, the anime had not been finished yet and she only had the proposal and the first two or three minutes to go by. "It wasn't even colored. I wrote the song, and my job was done. I wrote it in about two hours." - https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2021-02-03/lyricist-neko-oikawa-shares-how-she-was-scammed-out-of-her-evangelion-royalty-money/.169084
  • ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160830224921/http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/11939169
  • ↑ https://www.sankei.com/west/news/161228/wst1612280011-n1.html
  • ↑ Refrain of Evangelion OST Booklet , 2003
  • ↑ 2nd JUNE interview
  • ↑ Notenki Memoirs
  • ↑ According to Hidenori Matsubara during the Animazement 2015 convention, "the song was created before they even got done with animation for the opening theme. Strangely enough, the song managed to go along with the opening animation."
  • ↑ Yoko Takahashi Performs Neon Genesis Evangelion Theme, “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis,” to Excited Crowd at Anime Expo 2015 in LA
  • ↑ —When was your first meeting with Mr. Anno? "It was on the day of recording. As I said earlier, when I entered the studio before anyone else to get ready, even while I couldn't afford, a man dressed in black and wearing sandals suddenly appeared. I didn't know who it was, but I just said hi, and he was actually Mr. Anno (Hideaki). It was a shocking encounter (laughs)." - Yoko Takahashi: EVANGELION FINALLY (2020)
  • ↑ https://www.animelyrics.com/anime/eva/ngetnshi.jis
  • ↑ http://www.mars.dti.ne.jp/~yato/eva/ura.htm
  • ↑ https://genius.com/Al-be-back-evangelica-lyrics
  • 2 Kaworu Nagisa
  • 3 Rei Ayanami