NAVIGATION:

Song Introduction

Neon Genesis Evangelion Opening Theme:
Zankoku na Tenshi no Teeze
English: Cruel Angel's Thesis
Released: October 25, 1995
Performed by: Yoko Takahashi
Lyrics: Neko Oikawa
Music: Hidetoshi Sato
Length: 4 min 05 secs.

This song was sold as a single on October 25, 1995 during the airing of the anime series in Japan. It reached #27 out of 200 on the Oricon singles chart. (FYI: Oricon is the Billboard Charts of Japan). According to Wikipedia, the director, Hideaki Anno, originally wanted to use music from Borodin's Polovetsian Dances as the opening to this anime, but was discouraged to use it by the broadcaster, TV Tokyo. Tv Tokyo thought it would confuse the audience to have a classical music be an opening for an anime series and requested for the anime opening to be a J-pop song that was poppy and upbeat. Hideaki Anno succumbed to their wishes and produced Cruel Angel's Thesis, choosing Yoko Takahashi, a rising pop artist, to sing it. In the original version of Cruel Angel's Thesis, it included a male chorus, but the male chorus was cut to "emphasize maternal affection".

As a poppy song produced in the mid-90s, Cruel Angel's Thesis definitely has a 1990s feeling to it. The techno in it sounds quite out-dated and the style can be describe definitely as mid-90s "J-pop", which can be noticed in other anime songs produced in that era. For example, please listen to Moonlight Densetsu and Ai no Senshi from the anime, Sailor Moon, and Egao ni Aitai from Marmalade Boy to understand the similarities that the music used in those songs have to the music used in Cruel Angel's Thesis. However, although Cruel Angel's Thesis is a ten year old pop song, it is still quite popular today. With its pretty lyrics and its connections to the popular franchise, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cruel Angel's Thesis is a classic anime song that never gets old and still able to touch the hearts of its listeners.

Due its popularity, this song was covered by many different singers: (All links link to youtube)

Recently, in 2009 (last year), Yoko Takahashi, the original singer, updated and re-recorded this song in a new single album called Cruel Angel's Thesis 2009 Version. (A link to the song is below.) It was released on March 19, 2009 and sold for around 1,300 yen (approx. 13 dollars). I have listened to this new, "updated" version, and well, it definitely does sound "updated". The recording and techno is definitely better in quality. It is more relaxed in tempo and the vocals are softer. However, the techno parts are definitely its weakness. They are repetitive, and to me, lack creativity. Although I still prefer the old version, the new version is in its own way very good. I encourage you to check it out. By the way, there are rumors going around that this version of the song will be in the upcoming Neon Genesis Evangelion movie coming out this summer in Japan. If it's the truth, I can't wait to see the new opening title, and of course, the movie itself.

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Maternal Prophecy is a website created and run by Jenna. Brushes are from here. Cruel Angel's Thesis (c) Yoko Takahashi and Neko Oikawa. Neon Genesis Evangelion (c) Hideaki Anno and Gainax. No infringement intended.