a cruel angel's thesis ost

Zankoku na Tenshi no These

• View history

" 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 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) the catalog number KIDA-116 and it also reached a peak 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 show's 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 show. Oikama simply skimmed through a proposal of the show (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 show 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, 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. 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]

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 didn't know much about Neon Genesis Evangelion when she first wrote the song, and she still hasn't watched the series. "It's a finished job, so [I'm] not really [interested]," she said. When she wrote the song, the anime hadn't 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 manage 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
• 2 Rei Ayanami
• 3 Kaworu Nagisa

A Cruel Angel's Thesis Lyrics

A Cruel Angel's Thesis

A Cruel Angel's Thesis is the opening theme song for the series Neon Genesis Evangelion , composed by Hidetoshi Sato and sung by Yoko Takahashi . The lyrics are by Neko Oikawa while the arrangement is by Toshiyuki Omori. The song also has the distinction of taking first place in the JASRAC Awards. [1]

This song was written with relatively limited involvement from Hideaki Anno and the production staff, being handled by producer Toshimichi Otsuki . [2] 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 this song by Neko Oikawa.

Oikawa apparently had very little knowledge of the show, which was under production at the time with the episodes not having been colored. According to tweets and interviews, Oikawa went through a proposal of the show (possibly Neon Genesis Evangelion Proposal ) and watched two unfinished episodes on fast-forward, only serving to broadly "fit" the anime after the fact [3] [4] The writing process for Episode 01 took as long as six months, [5] and the opening sequence was not yet finished. [6] [7] The original song included a male chorus, which was cut at director Hideaki Anno's request in order to "emphasize maternal affection". [8]

Oikawa states that she took inspiration for the title from the manga A Cruel God Reigns . [9] Among other statements, Oikawa said the lyrics "become a legend" were originally "become a weapon" and that she decided to make the song about the perspective of a mother when her child "leaves the nest." [10] Singer Yoko Takahashi was also brought in relatively haphazardly and had no knowledge of the series, 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]

Original Japanese Lyrics: Neko Oikawa

Translation Notes

1 This was translated by Takayama Miyuki and these are the translator's notes:

• young boy, become the legend! : The word "shinwa" actually means "myth" ("legend" would be "densetsu"), but I think it sounds better as "legend."
• with surging, hot pathos : "Atsui" (hot) can also mean "intense, passionate." "Pathos" is "the quality or power in life or art of evoking a feeling of pity or compassion; pity; suffering; sorrow."
• Embracing this sky [universe] and shining : "Sora" (sky) is the reading given for the kanji for "uchuu" (universe).
• has any meaning : The kanji used for the "a" in "aeta" is not the normal kanji used in "au" (to meet). It's the first kanji in "ouse" (encounter, tryst) and has more of a connotation of meeting by fate or being brought together by fate, not just meeting. (Interestingly, a dictionary I have gives the meaning of "au," when written with this kanji, as "to meet (with drama or pathos)")
• for learning freedom : The "watashi wa sou" is probably "watashi wa sou omou." And "bible" in this case isn't referring to *the* Bible. "Bible" can also mean "guide book, how-to book, a book valued for its use as a reference," like in "a handyman's bible," or "a bird-watcher's bible."

2 This is the translation found on the U.S. release of Evangelion by ADV.

3 The instrumental section contains chanted non-Japanese lyrics in Yoko Takahashi 's version and a few others, while other versions of the song have a purely instrumental section. The January 1996 issue of Newtype magazine transcribed Takahashi's lyrics in this section as "Fariya. Seta(or sepa) messo. Fariya. Tuse." which they speculate is from the fictional language of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Alternatively, an EvaGeeks forum discussion suggests that the lyrics may be "Faria? Será mesmo? Faria? Eu sei!" which is in the Portuguese language. Since the word "Faria" is usually used in a similar way as the English word "would", those lines could be interpreted as someone doubting something or someone else. There has never been any official information on the actual lyrics or their meaning, if any.

• ↑ http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-05-25/songs-from-evangelion-other-anime-win-jasrac-awards
• ↑ From the animania blog report on the March 28, 2005 NHK Anime Yawa talk show (translation by animania) - Otsuki said he allowed Anno to do whatever he wanted in the anime except for the theme music. Otsuki was particular about the theme and handled the music staff by himself, going as far as to claim that no anime staff, even Anno, met the music staff (apparently contradicted by Oikawa's statements). - 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!” http://soranews24.com/2015/01/08/a-cruel-angels-thesis-took-just-two-hours-to-write-says-evangelion-lyricist-neko-oikawa
• ↑ "It wasn't even colored. I wrote the song, and my job was done. I wrote it in about two hours." Anime News Network interview with Neko Oikawa
• ↑ 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 manage to go along with the opening animation."
• ↑ Refrain of Evangelion OST Booklet, 2003.
• ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160830224921/http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/11939169
• ↑ https://www.sankei.com/west/news/161228/wst1612280011-n1.html
• ↑ 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)
• Translations
• Theme Songs
• This page was last edited on 3 May 2024, at 12:11.
• Content is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License unless otherwise noted.
• Privacy policy
• About EvaWiki
• Disclaimers

Navigation menu

Personal tools.

• View source
• View history
• Image Requests
• Flagged Pages
• Random page
• Recent changes
• What links here
• Related changes
• Special pages
• Printable version
• Permanent link
• Page information

Anime Lyrics . Com

• Japanese Tests
• J-Pop / J-Rock
• Dance CD List
• # , A , B , C , D , E , F , G , H , I , J , K , L , M , N , O , P , Q , R , S , T , U , V , W , X , Y , Z
• Search: All Show Title Performer Song Lyrics in All Categories Anime Game J-pop / J-Rock Dancemania Dance CD List Doujin
• Neon Genesis Evangelion
• Zankoku na Tenshi no TE-ZE - Cruel Angel's Thesis

Contributed by Takayama Miyuki [email protected] >

See an error in these lyrics? Let us know here!

• Privacy Policy
• Advertise on AnimeLyrics

We will keep fighting for all libraries - stand with us!

Internet Archive Audio

• This Just In
• Grateful Dead
• Old Time Radio
• 78 RPMs and Cylinder Recordings
• Audio Books & Poetry
• Computers, Technology and Science
• Music, Arts & Culture
• News & Public Affairs
• Spirituality & Religion
• Radio News Archive

• Flickr Commons
• Occupy Wall Street Flickr
• NASA Images
• Solar System Collection
• Ames Research Center

• All Software
• Old School Emulation
• MS-DOS Games
• Historical Software
• Classic PC Games
• Software Library
• Kodi Archive and Support File
• Vintage Software
• CD-ROM Software
• CD-ROM Software Library
• Software Sites
• Tucows Software Library
• Shareware CD-ROMs
• Software Capsules Compilation
• CD-ROM Images
• ZX Spectrum
• DOOM Level CD

• Smithsonian Libraries
• FEDLINK (US)
• Lincoln Collection
• American Libraries
• Canadian Libraries
• Universal Library
• Project Gutenberg
• Children's Library
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• Books by Language
• Additional Collections

• Prelinger Archives
• Democracy Now!
• Occupy Wall Street
• TV NSA Clip Library
• Animation & Cartoons
• Arts & Music
• Computers & Technology
• Cultural & Academic Films
• Ephemeral Films
• Sports Videos
• Videogame Videos
• Youth Media

Search the history of over 866 billion web pages on the Internet.

Mobile Apps

• Wayback Machine (iOS)
• Wayback Machine (Android)

Browser Extensions

Archive-it subscription.

• Explore the Collections
• Build Collections

Save Page Now

Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future.

Please enter a valid web address

• Donate Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape

「Cruel Angel's Thesis」- OP Album

Audio with external links item preview.

Share or Embed This Item

Flag this item for.

• Graphic Violence
• Explicit Sexual Content
• Hate Speech
• Misinformation/Disinformation
• Marketing/Phishing/Advertising
• Misleading/Inaccurate/Missing Metadata

plus-circle Add Review comment Reviews

5,011 Views

30 Favorites

DOWNLOAD OPTIONS

In collections.

Uploaded by THJohn on July 19, 2022

SIMILAR ITEMS (based on metadata)

Spotify is currently not available in your country.

Follow us online to find out when we launch., spotify gives you instant access to millions of songs – from old favorites to the latest hits. just hit play to stream anything you like..

Listen everywhere

Spotify works on your computer, mobile, tablet and TV.

Unlimited, ad-free music

No ads. No interruptions. Just music.

Download music & listen offline

Keep playing, even when you don't have a connection.

Premium sounds better

Get ready for incredible sound quality.

iconiQ The Soundtrack Orchestra

anime, cartoon, and video game chamber orchestra

A Cruel Angel’s Thesis

• A Cruel Angel's Thesis

Pop orchestra version of “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis” 「残酷な天使のテーゼ」from Neon Genesis Evangelion .

Artist: Yoko Takahashi Lyrics: Neko Oikawa Music: Hidetoshi Sato

Sign In To Proceed

Don't have an account.