Evangelion
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"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]

Lyrics[]

TV Size[]

Romaji English Original

Zankoku na tenshi no you ni
Shounen yo, shinwa ni nare...

Aoi kaze ga ima mune no doa wo tataitemo,
Watashi dake wo tada mitsumete
Hohoenderu Anata
Sotto Fureru mono
Motomeru koto ni muchuu de,
Unmei sae mada shiranai itaike na hitomi

Dakedo itsuka kizuku deshou
Sono senaka ni wa
Haruka mirai mezasu tame no
Hane ga aru koto...

Zankoku na tenshi no tēze
Madobe kara yagate tobitatsu
Hotobashiru atsui patosu de
Omoide wo uragiru nara
Kono sora wo daite kagayaku
Shounen yo, shinwa ni nare

Like an angel who has forsaken empathy,
Rise up young boy and make yourself a legend...

Even though clear blue winds
Beat on the door of my heart,
You just smile, looking straight at me
Too involved in yearning for
Something to hold on
The innocent eyes still know nothing of fate yet.

But someday you will notice
On those shoulders of your
There are strong wings
To guide you to the far future.

A cruel angel's thesis
Will someday fly high from the window
If memories are betrayed by
The overflowing, burning pathos (emotions).
Holding the sky in your arms,
Rise up young boy and make yourself a legend.

Full Size[]

Romaji English Original

Zankoku na tenshi no you ni
Shounen yo, shinwa ni nare...

Aoi kaze ga ima mune no doa wo tataitemo,
Watashi dake wo tada mitsumete
Hohoenderu Anata
Sotto Fureru mono
Motomeru koto ni muchuu de,
Unmei sae mada shiranai itaike na hitomi

Dakedo itsuka kizuku deshou
Sono senaka ni wa
Haruka mirai mezasu tame no
Hane ga aru koto...

Zankoku na tenshi no tēze
Madobe kara yagate tobitatsu
Hotobashiru atsui patosu de
Omoide wo uragiru nara
Kono sora wo daite kagayaku
Shounen yo, shinwa ni nare
End of the anime TV series' opening

Zutto nemutteru watashi no ai no yurikago
Anata dake ga yume no shisha ni
Yobareru asa ga kuru
Hosoi kubisuji wo tsukiakari ga utsushiteru
Sekai jū no toki wo tomete
Tojikometai kedo...

Moshi mo futari aeta koto ni imi ga aru nara,
Watashi wa, sou, jiyū wo shiru
Tame no Baiburu

Zankoku na tenshi no tēze
Kanashimi ga soshite hajimaru
Dakishimeta inochi no katachi
Sono yume ni mezameta toki
Dare yori mo hikari wo hanatsu
Shounen yo, shinwa ni nare

Hito wa ai wo tsumugi nagara rekishi wo tsukuru
Megami nante narenai mama
Watashi wa ikiru...

Zankoku na tenshi no tēze
Madobe kara yagate tobitatsu
Hotobashiru atsui patosu de
Omoide wo uragiru nara
Kono sora wo daite kagayaku
Shounen yo, shinwa ni nare

Young boy, like a cruel angel,
Live up to be a legend...

Even though clear blue winds
Beat on the door of my heart,
You just smile, looking straight at me
Too involved in yearning for
Something to hold on
The innocent eyes still know nothing of fate yet.

But someday you will notice
On those shoulders of your
There are strong wings
To guide you to the far future.

A cruel angel's thesis
Will someday fly high from the window
If memories are betrayed by
The overflowing, burning pathos (emotions).
Holding the sky in your arms,
Young boy, shine like a legend.
End of the anime TV series' opening

The cradle of love that sleeps within me
There will be a morning that
A servant of dreams will come for you.
The moonlight shines on your thin neckline.
I'd stop time in this world
And lock it away for myself, but...

If there is any meaning
In the fate that pulled us together,
Then I am, yes, the Bible
That teaches you of freedom.

A cruel angel's thesis
And then sorrow comes forth
When the shapes of the dreams you hold in your arms
Come to life within you.
Young boy, who shines brighter than anyone else,
Rise to become a legend.

People weave together love to create history
And so I live on,
Unable to become a goddess...

A cruel angel's thesis
Will someday fly high from the window
If memories are betrayed by
The overflowing, burning pathos (feelings).
Young boy, shine like a legend,
Holding the sky in your arms.

残酷な天使のように
少年よ 神話になれ
蒼い風がいま 胸のドアを叩いても
私だけをただ見つめて
微笑んでるあなた
そっとふれるもの もとめることに夢中で
運命さえまだ知らない いたいけな瞳
だけどいつか気付くでしょう その背中には
遥か未来 めざすための羽根があること
残酷な天使のテーゼ
窓辺からやがて飛び立つ
ほとばしる熱いパトスで
思い出を裏切るなら
この宇宙を抱いて輝く
少年よ 神話になれ
ずっと眠ってる 私の愛の揺りかご
あなただけが 夢の使者に呼ばれる朝がくる
細い首筋を 月あかりが映してる
世界中の時を止めて 閉じこめたいけど
もしもふたり逢えたことに意味があるなら
私はそう 自由を知るためのバイブル
残酷な天使のテーゼ
悲しみがそしてはじまる
抱きしめた命のかたち
その夢に目覚めたとき
誰よりも光を放つ
少年よ 神話になれ
人は愛をつむぎながら歴史をつくる
女神なんてなれないまま 私は生きる
残酷な天使のテーゼ
窓辺からやがて飛び立つ
ほとばしる熱いパトスで
思い出を裏切るなら
この宇宙を抱いて輝く
少年よ 神話になれ

[13]

Trivia[]

  • 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 WestWP sampled this song in his unreleased song "Evangelica". Fellow rapper Albe Back later released the song on 13 October 2022.[15]

See Also[]

External Links[]

References[]

  1. "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
  2. “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
  3. "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
  4. 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
  5. https://web.archive.org/web/20160830224921/http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/11939169
  6. https://www.sankei.com/west/news/161228/wst1612280011-n1.html
  7. Refrain of Evangelion OST Booklet, 2003
  8. 2nd JUNE interview
  9. Notenki Memoirs
  10. 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."
  11. Yoko Takahashi Performs Neon Genesis Evangelion Theme, “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis,” to Excited Crowd at Anime Expo 2015 in LA
  12. —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)
  13. https://www.animelyrics.com/anime/eva/ngetnshi.jis
  14. http://www.mars.dti.ne.jp/~yato/eva/ura.htm
  15. https://genius.com/Al-be-back-evangelica-lyrics
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