, also known as "A Cruel Angel's Thesis", is a

J-pop J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in trad ...

song performed by Japanese singer

Yoko Takahashi is a Japanese singer, who is best known for her work throughout the 1990s, most particularly for her singles which were performed for and featured in anime, most notably the ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' franchise. Early life Takahashi began le ...

. Toshiyuki Ōmori and Hidetoshi Satō composed the song, while

Neko Oikawa is a Japanese lyricist who has written J-pop and anime theme songs over her career. Biography Neko Oikawa was born in Wakayama (city), Wakayama, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama. She made her songwriting debut in 1985 with Kanako Wada's "Passing T ...

wrote the lyrics. It was written for the opening theme of the

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series ''

Neon Genesis Evangelion , also known as ''Evangelion'' or ''Eva'', is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and Tatsunoko Production, and directed by Hideaki Anno. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo and its affiliates from October 1995 to March 1 ...

'', and was released as a double-A-sided single with "

Fly Me to the Moon "Fly Me to the Moon", originally titled "In Other Words", is a song written in 1954 by Bart Howard. The first recording of the song was made in 1954 by Kaye Ballard. Frank Sinatra, Frank Sinatra's 1964 version was closely associated with the Apo ...

", the show's closing theme, on October 25, 1995. "The Cruel Angel's Thesis" was also included in the series' soundtrack releases and Takahashi's albums. The song had a positive reception from music critics and audiences; it later became one of the most famous Japanese

anisong is a genre of music originating from Japanese pop music. Anime songs consist of theme, insert, and image songs for anime, manga, video game, and audio drama CD series, as well as any other song released primarily for the anime market, includin ...

s, songs specially created for anime series. Years after the show's first airing, "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" has remained a popular Japanese

karaoke is a type of interactive entertainment system usually offered in nightclubs and bars, where people sing along to pre-recorded accompaniment using a microphone. Its musical content is an instrumental rendition of a well-known popular song. I ...

song, winning popularity polls and awards. On the Internet, along with its official video, the song gained further fame through covers and parodies, becoming one of the most famous theme songs in the history of animation.

Background and recording

During the production of ''

'', the show's director

Hideaki Anno is a Anime, Japanese animator, filmmaker, Film producer, producer, and voice actor. His most celebrated creation, the Neon Genesis Evangelion (franchise), ''Evangelion'' franchise, has had a significant influence on the anime television industr ...

suggested using an existing piece of

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

as the series' opening theme. He first chose the

Polovtsian Dances The Polovtsian Dances, or Polovetsian Dances (), form an exotic scene at the end of act 2 of Alexander Borodin's opera '' Prince Igor''. The opera remained unfinished when the composer died in 1887, although he had worked on it for more than a d ...

from the opera ''

Prince Igor ''Prince Igor'' (, ) is an opera in four acts with a prologue, written and composed by Alexander Borodin. The composer adapted the libretto from the early Russian epic '' The Lay of Igor's Host'', which recounts the campaign of the 12th-centur ...

'' by

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n composer

Aleksander Borodin Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (12 November 183327 February 1887) was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was one of the prominent 19th-century composers known as " The Five", a group dedicated to prod ...

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network. ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' production studio

Gainax Gainax Co., Ltd. (stylized as GAINAX; , Hepburn: ) was a Japanese anime studio famous for original productions such as '' Neon Genesis Evangelion'', '' Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise'', '' Gunbuster'', '' Nadia: The Secret of Blue ...

then contacted Hidetoshi Satō and Toshiyuki Ōmori to write an original piece in place of the soundtrack's main composer

Shiro Sagisu Shiro, Shirō, Shirow or Shirou may refer to: People *, leader of the Shimabara Rebellion *, Japanese boxer *, Japanese football player 1923–1925 *, Japanese composer *, Japanese weightlifter *, Japanese microbiologist and lieutenant general * ...

. Although not officially credited, Toshimichi Ōtsuki, a member of King Records and the official producer of the animated series, coordinated production. During the demo stage Ōtsuki requested a melody with a "crispy notching style". Singer

, who was already known for singing Japanese television themes, was contacted for the recording; at the time of the recording of "A Cruel Angel's Thesis", Takahashi had not seen the anime and was not given any information about it. Ōmori finished the arrangement, albeit roughly, and Takahashi established a temporary track by singing the melody with only the syllable "la". Once the final lyrics were ready, Takahashi, then almost thirty years old, was asked to adopt a childlike tone of voice. When she received a demo of the base to rehearse with, Takahashi found the song difficult because of both Oikawa's chosen language register and the song's fast

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

. A male backing choir was originally planned but was later deleted by Anno to emphasize the concept of "motherhood" on the recording.

Composition and lyrics

1831 Schlesinger Philosoph Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Hegel anagoria

was given the task of writing the lyrics; Ōtsuki instructed her to write something "philosophical" and to use complicated language. She focused on the key concepts of "mother", "boys and girls of fourteen" and "an adult woman". Oikawa, following the directives, completed the song in two hours, after having received few details of the anime and without having met Hidetoshi Satō. Oikawa and her manager watched the show's first two extant episodes and a document presenting the project. The author had in mind the figure of a mother who does not want her son to become an adult, and wrote ambiguous lyrics with an abundance of stylistic devices. The song begins with the voice of a woman who advises a young man to behave like an

angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

without mercy, encouraging him with the cry of . For the woman, the boy is still innocent and naïve; he looks at her, smiles and says nothing, and she gently invites him to rest. The woman, reassuring him their meeting was chosen by

fate Destiny, sometimes also called fate (), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predeterminism, predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often used interchangeably, the words wiktionary ...

, says; "On your back you have feathers that will carry you into the future". For the title, Oikawa used the German word .

Yahoo! Japan is a Japanese web portal. It was the most-visited website in Japan, nearing monopolistic status. According to ''The Japan Times'', as of 2012, Yahoo! Japan had a footprint on the internet market in Japan. In terms of use as a search engine, ...

has noted the concept of ''

These These may refer to: *the plural proximal demonstrative in English *These, a variation of the Greek Theseus in Etruscan mythology *Thèse, French word for the academic dissertation or thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated ...

'' has been used, among others, by

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political philosophy and t ...

, philosopher and exponent of

German idealism German idealism is a philosophical movement that emerged in Germany in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It developed out of the work of Immanuel Kant in the 1780s and 1790s, and was closely linked both with Romanticism and the revolutionary ...

. Oikawa also took inspiration from the manga , which was written by

Moto Hagio is a Japanese manga artist. Regarded for her contributions to ''shōjo'' manga (manga aimed at young and adolescent women), Hagio is considered the most significant artist in the demographic and among the most influential manga artists of al ...

and was being published at the time, and inserted the term , which usually refers to the angels of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

. An additional religious reference, the verse ("This is the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

with which you will learn what freedom is"), was added to the lyrics. At first, she thought of ending the song with the motto , which can also be translated as "become crazy" if written with

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

, but the proposal was shelved under the advice of TV Tokyo, which requested a change to "''shin wa ni nare''" ("become a myth"). The ending with an imperative remained, keeping the idea of an adult addressing a young boy. According to

Comic Book Resources ''CBR'', formerly ''Comic Book Resources'', is a news website primarily covering comic book news, comic book reviews, and comic book–related topics involving movies, television, anime, and video games. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publicat ...

's Devin Meenan, the lyrics could refer to Yui Ikari, mother of protagonist Shinji who protects him during the events of the series, or

Misato Katsuragi is a fictional character from the Gainax-created media franchise ''Neon Genesis Evangelion''. In the eponymous anime television series, Misato is head of the operations department of the special agency Nerv, and is in charge of directing an ...

, his superior who encourages him "to come out of his shell".

Kotono Mitsuishi is a Japanese actress and narrator. She was affiliated with Arts Vision and Lasley Arrow, but is now freelance. Mitsuishi lived in Nagareyama, Chiba. She graduated from high school and entered the Katsuta Voice Actor's Academy in 1986. She is ...

, Misato's Japanese voice actress, gave a similar interpretation; in an interview, Mitsuishi stated that the lyric "pierced" her heart, believing "that was Misato’s voice". An interlude chorus with the words and was also included in the song; the interlude's lyrics are not from an existing language and were created by arranger Toshiyuki Ōmori. The chorus was sung by Ōmori, Takahashi, and her brother Gō Takahashi. When asked about their meaning, Ōmori stated that "the words suddenly came down from the sky" during the writing.

Release

On October 25, 1995, "The Cruel Angel's Thesis" was released as a single in two versions: in the first one, with a cover price of , it was accompanied by a song by Takahashi entitled ; the second version, with a cover price of yen, includes "

" performed by Claire Littley, the show's closing theme song. The second version was reissued on March 26, 2003, for the release of the Renewal Edition of ''Neon Genesis Evangelion''. "The Cruel Angel's Thesis" was also included on albums dedicated to the anime soundtracks, starting with '' Neon Genesis Evangelion I'', released on November 22, 1995; in the following '' Neon Genesis Evangelion II'', released on February 16, 1996, the shorter "TV Size Version", which was used for broadcast by TV Tokyo, was also included. The song was included in other releases, such as the special box set '' The Day of Second Impact'' (September 13, 2000), '' Neon Genesis Evangelion: S² Works'' (December 4, 1998), '' Refrain of Evangelion'' (May 23, 2003), '' Neon Genesis Evangelion Decade'' (November 26, 2005), ''A. T. EVA01 Reference'' CD (December 21, 2007), '' Shin Godzilla vs Evangelion Symphony'' (December 27, 2017), '' Evangelion Finally'' (October 2020), and '' Neon Genesis Evangelion Soundtrack 25th Anniversary Box'', a box containing several versions of the theme song. The track was later included on unrelated compilations, such as the ''Star Child Selection'' (28 January 2000), various ''Super Robot Tamashii'' anthologies in various mixes, ''pop'n music 12 Iroha AC CS pop'n music 10'' (13 April 2005), ''Kids Song★Hit Paradise!'' (26 September 2008), ''Brass Band Koushien 3'' (27 February 2008), and ''Nekoism 〜 Neko Oikawa Sakuhin-shū'' (21 February 2018).

Reception

"The Cruel Angel's Thesis" enjoyed long-lasting success and frequently appeared in popularity polls even decades after the first airing of ''Evangelion''. It is considered one of the best and most iconic theme songs of the ''

otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, such as anime, manga, video games, computers or other highly enthusiastic hobbies. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in '' Manga Burikko''. ...

'' subculture, finding renewed popularity with the release of the ''

Rebuild of Evangelion ''Rebuild of Evangelion'', known in Japan and on Amazon Prime Video as , is a Japanese animated film series and a reboot of the original ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' anime television series, produced by Studio Khara. Hideaki Anno serves as the ...

'' theatrical tetralogy. In 1996 and 1997, after the first broadcast of ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'', "The Cruel Angel's Thesis" was elected best theme song of the moment in the

Anime Grand Prix The is an annual Japanese anime awards giving to recognize the best in anime of the previous year, decided by the votes of readers of entertainment magazine ''Animage'', published by Tokuma Shoten since July 1978. The Anime Grand Prix started i ...

, an annual poll conducted by the magazine ''

Animage is a Japanese anime and entertainment magazine published by Tokuma Shoten since July 1978. Notable works serialized in the magazine include Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli a ...

''; in the second year, it got more than twice as many votes as the second-placed song, ''Give a Reason'' by

Megumi Hayashibara is a Japanese voice actress, singer, lyricist and radio personality from Kita ward in Tokyo and is affiliated with self-founded Woodpark Office. One of the most prominent Japanese voice actresses since the 1990s, Hayashibara is best known for ...

. In a 2002 poll on the most-unforgettable songs in the history of Japanese animation, conducted by

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...

, the song was placed 55th; it later reached 18th place in the same channel's ranking of best anime songs produced during and after the 1990s. In 2016, the song was ranked top in a poll of the favorite anisongs of the 1990s by

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

users and one of the best-ever anisongs in a poll of almost 7,000 people by ''CD & DL Data'' magazine. In 2018, Japanese website Anime Anime asked its users which cartoon soundtracks they would like as their national anthem; "The Cruel Angel's Thesis" took third place. The following year, it came second in a survey of the most-sung titles by the female audience on the website Merumo.

Critical reception

Critics positively received "The Cruel Angel's Thesis". Casey Baseel of Sora News and Ederlyn Peralta of

described it as one of the most iconic anime songs. Comic Book Resources' Eduardo Luquin praised its tone, writing, "'Cruel Angel's Thesis' is a hype train that starts the trippy trip to the destinations known as philosophy, religion, and teenage angst. Like a starting shot at the start of the race, it implores the watcher to go headlong into the show and try to take in everything ''Evangelion'' has to offer." For Lauren Orsini of ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'', the song is "instantly catchy". Matt Fagaly of

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...

and Tom Pinchuk of

Geek & Sundry Geek & Sundry, Inc. is a commercial YouTube and Twitch (service), Twitch channel and multimedia production company. It was launched on April 2, 2012, by actress Felicia Day with Kim Evey and Sheri Bryant as part of YouTube's YouTube Original Chan ...

praised the contrast between the dark, pessimistic themes of its parent series and the song's lighthearted tone. This view was echoed by the Anime-Planet website, which said, "It's a great piece of music, which is quite rare for anime openings these days". Upon the anime's release on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

, the theme song was again analyzed and reviewed. David Levesley of ''

Gentlemen's Quarterly ''GQ'' (short for ''Gentlemen's Quarterly'' and previously known as ''Apparel Arts'') is an international monthly List of men's magazines, men's magazine based in New York City and founded in 1931. The publication focuses on fashion, style, an ...

'' described it as an "exceptional" song while Junichi Tsukagoshi of Animate Times called it "a holy chant that everyone knows". Italian writer Laura Mucci of Everyeye.it called it "a curious element of cultural folklore", "a kind of Japanese counterpart to

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Nel blu, dipinto di blu". Comic Book Resources similarly ranked "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" as the best theme song of the 1990s and the third-most beautiful of all time.

Legacy

"The Cruel Angel's Thesis" has been described by the website Sora News as an "unqualified hit" that transcended anime fandom, and by Crunchyroll's Kara Dennison as "one of the most recognizable hemesin anime history". Throughout the years, the song spawned memes and parody edits. Music anime douga (MAD) began to circulate on websites, with tribute video clips aimed at recreating the song's music and video; according to Comic Book Resources's Angelo Delos Trinos, it has been "endlessly covered and edited more so than anything from the actual anime. Even anime newcomers who have yet to watch anything from ''Evangelion'' are already familiar with its opening because of its undying online presence". Through the years, these parodies spread on the web and the music video continued to be homaged by Internet users through remixes, mash-ups, and covers. In 2018, a

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

user combined the song with a video clip of

LMFAO LMFAO (an initialism for Laughing My Freaking Ass Off) was an American electronic dance music duo consisting of Redfoo and Sky Blu (rapper), Sky Blu. Redfoo is the youngest son of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and Nancy Leiviska. Sky Blu ...

's "

Party Rock Anthem "Party Rock Anthem" is a song by American electronic dance music duo LMFAO. The song features British singer Lauren Bennett and American producer GoonRock. It was released as the first single from their second and final studio album '' Sorry fo ...

"; the parody video went viral and "Party Rock Anthem" also became a meme with dozens of variations on several social media platforms. In 2022 Japanese voice actress and singer Aina Aiba named the ''Evangelion'' opening as one of the anime songs that "changed her life" and introduced her to singing.

Merchandise and other uses

JRW-500 V2 20160320 TYPE EVA 521-7002 inside Evangelion cockpit

"A Cruel Angel's Thesis" was used in ''Evangelion''-inspired video games and ''

pachinko is a mechanical game originating in Japan that is used as an arcade game, and much more frequently for gambling. Pachinko fills a niche in Gambling in Japan, Japanese gambling comparable to that of the slot machine in the West as a form of l ...

'' machines. In August 1997, the Japanese magazine ''

June June is the sixth and current month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars—the latter the most widely used calendar in the world. Its length is 30 days. June succeeds May and precedes July. This month marks the start of su ...

'', specialized in ''

shonen-ai , also known by its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that depicts homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typically created by women for a female audience, distinguishing it from the equivalen ...

'' homoerotic manga and anime, issued a volume entitled , the title of which is taken from the first verse of the theme song. In 2014,

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

released a special DAT

walkman is a brand of Personal stereo, portable audio players manufactured by Sony since 1979. It was originally introduced as a portable Compact Cassette, cassette player and later expanded to include a range of portable audio products. Since 2011, ...

about the series in homage to the one used by Shinji's character; included in the package was a card from the Japanese music store Mora that allowed customers to download the original version of "The Cruel Angel's Thesis" in Sony Stores in

Ginza Ginza ( ; ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, Tokyo, Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo ...

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

, and

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

. The following year, to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the first airing of the anime, a

musical road A musical road is a road, or section of a road, which when driven over causes a Somatosensory system, tactile vibration and Hearing, audible rumbling that can be felt through the wheels and body of the vehicle. This rumbling is heard within the ...

playing the song was built in

Hakone is a List of towns in Japan, town in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had a population of 10,965, and total area of . Hakone is a notable spa town and a popular tourist destination due to its many onsen, hot springs being within view of ...

, near which the series' fictional city Tokyo-3 is located; through jolts caused by grooves in the asphalt, a person driving at an optimal speed of could hear the song along a scenic route at

Lake Ashi , also referred to as Hakone Lake or Ashinoko Lake, is a scenic lake in the Hakone area of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshū, Japan. It is a crater lake that lies along the southwest wall of the caldera of Mount Hakone, a complex volcano that last ...

. In 2018, Evastore, an official store entirely dedicated to the series, advertised the release of the single in a restored digital format and produced new ''Evangelion''-related merchandise, such as t-shirts, posters, and metallic postcards. On May 5 of the same year, the piece was included in an official cross-over episode between ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' and the animated series ''

Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion is a Japanese toy franchise created by Takara Tomy, in association with the Japan Railways Group. It is a spin-off of the long-running Plarail model train franchise, with the toys first launched back at March 16, 2015. An anime adaptatio ...

''. On December 26, Takahashi performed "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" at the opening of an ''

izakaya An () is a type of informal Japanese Bar (establishment), bar that serves alcoholic drinks and snacks. are casual places for after-work drinking, similar to a pub, a Spanish tapas bar, or an American saloon or tavern. Etymology The word e ...

'' club dedicated to the series; a drink named "Zankoku na tenshi no these" was also released. In 2019, in conjunction with the anime's launch on Netflix, Japanese singer Toshi performed the song during a performance of the ice-skating show ''

Fantasy on Ice is an annual touring ice show in Japan produced by CIC Co., Ltd. The show emerged from the "Philippe Candeloro Japan Tour 2001", named after retired French figure skater Philippe Candeloro, and was held under the name "Fantasy on Ice" the followi ...

''. American wrestler

Dio Maddin Brennan Marcel Williams (born February 5, 1991) is an American professional wrestler and former football player. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Mason Madden as one-half of the tag team MxM Collection alongside Man ...

, a fan of ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'', named one of his final moves "Cruel Angel's Thesis" after the song. In 2018, "The Cruel Angel's Thesis" was used in the opening of '' The Nagano Tapes'', an

Olympic Channel Olympic Channel is an over-the-top Internet television service operated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was launched on August 21, 2016, alongside the closing of the 2016 Summer Olympics. The service aims to maintain year-round ...

documentary on the Czech hockey team at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

in Nagano, Japan; the introduction is also structured as an homage to the ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' opening itself. Director Ondřej Hudeček stated that he had originally been introduced to the series at around the same time as the Nagano Olympics, and that he chose to use "The Cruel Angel's Thesis" and an ''Evangelion''-themed opening because he wanted to incorporate references synonymous with his experiences of the late-1990s. In 2020, an ''Evangelion''-themed event was held at the

Tokyo Sky Tree , also written as Tokyo Sky Tree, is a broadcasting and observation tower, located in Sumida, Tokyo, Japan. It has been the tallest tower in Japan since opening in 2012,

, during which the video of the song was shown at the tower's observatory; the event ran until May of the following year. "The Cruel Angel's Thesis" was also used in an episode of ''

Seiyu's Life! is a Japanese yonkoma, four-panel dōjin manga series. The manga is written by voice actress Masumi Asano, with art by Kenjiro Hata, and is released under the circle name Hajimemashite. The manga launched at Comiket 81 in December 2011, with f ...

'' and homaged in other animated series, such as ''

Hayate the Combat Butler is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kenjiro Hata. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' magazine from October 2004 to April 2017. Shogakukan released 52 volumes in Japan from February 2005 to ...

'', and ''

Regular Show ''Regular Show'' (known as ''Regular Show in Space'' during its Regular Show season 8, eighth season) is an American animated sitcom created by J. G. Quintel for Cartoon Network. It ran from September 6, 2010, to January 16, 2017, over the cours ...

''.

Commercial performance

In Japan, "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" gained popularity, remaining for years in the

Oricon Karaoke Chart Oricon Karaoke Chart is issued weekly and yearly by Oricon. It is one of the main charts of Oricon with Oricon Singles Chart and Oricon Albums Chart. Single and Album Chart both are based on sales, while this chart rankings are based on the plays i ...

. The original version of the song was released as a single on October 25, 1995, and charted twenty-two times on the weekly

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

charts, peaking at number twenty-seven. It was later re-released together with Claire's cover of "Fly Me to the Moon" and stayed on the chart for sixty-one weeks. In 1997, shortly after the end of the anime's first airing and the release of the movie '' Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth'', "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" was awarded the gold and diamond record (named "Million" in Japan), while the edition with "Fly Me to the Moon" was certified platinum. The 2003 version stayed on the chart for nine weeks. A remix done in 2009 was also successful; in June and July of that year, "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" became the most popular anisong of the period, appeared for fourteen weeks on the Oricon charts, and reached number twenty-two. Sales of the various versions collectively sold more than one million copies. In 2011, fifteen years after its debut, the

Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers The , often referred to as JASRAC, is a Japanese copyright collection society. It was founded in 1939 as a nonprofit organization, and is the largest musical copyright administration society in Japan. Overview JASRAC's main business activity ...

honored the song by placing it first in the JASRAC Awards, a special ranking of the most-profitable royalty pieces in Japanese music, calculated among other things through digital sales, ''pachinko'', and

. The song had already appeared on the charts in previous years: in 2008 it peaked at number seven, number eight in 2009, and number three in 2007. In May 2012, "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" was certified three-times platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include pro ...

. Its popularity in karaoke and ''pachinko'' machines enriched writer Neko Oikawa, who in 2015 said she had earned more than in royalties from "A Cruel Angel's Thesis"; ''pachinko'' machines proved particularly lucrative, grossing at least per year. "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" remains one of the most popular songs in Japanese karaoke. In 2013, it placed third in a Koebu.com poll about the favorite karaoke songs by voice actors. In 2014, the company Joysound placed it at number one on its list of the year's most-popular anime theme songs. The song reappeared among the twenty most-sung songs of the first half of that same year, and also appeared on previous charts; in 2007, it peaked at number twenty, in 2009 at number two, and in the first week of June 2013 at number six. A similar result was recorded in 2015, when it took first place in a Charapedia's poll of about 10,000 fans' favorite karaoke songs. In March of that year, the website Nico Nico News asked more than 300 adults which animated theme song was the most annoying and whose songs they were most sick of hearing, and "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" won 40.6% of the votes. In 2017, 2019, and 2020, it again listed among the ten most-popular songs on Joysound's Japanese karaoke popularity polls and in Karatetsu's charts. On February 18, 2017,

NHK BS Premium , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

broadcast a live program entitled "Countdown Live Anisong Best 100!", in which the single was ranked eighth. Joysound listed it as the most-played song in karaoke in the

Heisei period The was the Japanese era name, period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Akihito from 8 January 1989 until his 2019 Japanese imperial transition, abdication on 30 April 2019. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the ...

, the previous thirty years of Japanese history, and the second-most-sung anisong of the first half of 2020, after

LiSA Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA" * Lisa, stagename of Japanese singer Lisa Komine (born 1978) * Lisa (South Korean singer) (born 1980) * Lisa (Japanese musician, b ...

's "

Gurenge is a song by Japanese pop singer Lisa from her fifth studio album '' Leo-Nine''. It was released as her fifteenth single digitally on April 22, 2019, and received a physical release on July 3, 2019. Commercially, the single peaked at number thre ...

Music video

Development and release

For "The Cruel Angel's Thesis",

made a ninety-second opening video that was animated by

Takeshi Honda is a former Japanese competitive figure skater. He is a two-time World bronze medalist (2002, 2003), two-time Four Continents champion (1999, 2003), and six-time Japanese national champion. Personal life Takeshi Honda was born on 23 March 1 ...

and

Shinya Hasegawa is a Japanese animator and art director. He co-created the 1997 television anime series ''Revolutionary Girl Utena'' and its 1999 film sequel '' Adolescence of Utena'' as a member of the production group Be-Papas. He also worked as an animation d ...

. The production took some time; it was still unfinished in July 1995, when the first two episodes were premiered at the company's second festival. The music video was completed in September of the same year, shortly before the anime premiered on TV Tokyo. The video consists of approximately 2,160 frames divided into eighty-four scenes, averaging one sequence per second. Gainax staff attempted to create a

retro Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from the past, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. It has been argued that there is a nostalgia cycle in popular culture. Definition The term ...

effect, paying homage to and imitating theme songs from previous works. Hideaki Anno's name appears in large letters in the video's last few seconds, and is seemingly cut off by Eva-01's arms, emphasizing the director's strong imprint on every aspect of the series. A second video for the song's full version was released for the 2003 home video edition of the series named ''Renewal of Evangelion''. The new video was directed by animator and ''Evangelion'' assistant director Masayuki. The full video is different from the one for the television broadcast and includes images from the director's cut of the episodes and scenes from the film ''

The End of Evangelion is a 1997 Japanese anime Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, apocalyptic science fiction film written by Hideaki Anno, directed by Anno and Kazuya Tsurumaki, and animated by Gainax and Production I.G. It serves as an alternate ending to ...

'' (1997). It also includes captions with white characters on a black background, written and coordinated by Hideaki Anno. The video was released in

high definition High definition or HD may refer to: Visual technologies *Blu-ray Disc, the universal optical High Definition disc format *HD Photo, former name for the JPEG XR image file format *HDV, format for recording high-definition video onto magnetic tap ...

on King Records' official

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel on June 20, 2018. According to writer Virginie Nebbia, for the "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" video Anno probably took inspiration from the opening credits of the series ''UFO'', the Japanese series ''

Key Hunter is a prime-time Japanese television detective series. It aired on Saturday nights in the 9:00–9:56 p.m. time slot on the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) and its affiliates from April 6, 1968 to April 7, 1973. There were a total of 262 ep ...

'' and the directional style of

Akio Jissoji was a Japanese television and film director best known outside Japan for the 1960s tokusatsu TV series '' Ultraman'' and '' Ultraseven'', as well as for his auteur erotic ATG-produced Buddhist trilogy , , and . He was also known for his film ...

, which made a frenetic editing of the ''

Ultraman The , also known as ''Ultraman'', is a Japanese science fiction media franchise owned and produced by Tsuburaya Productions, which began with the television series '' Ultra Q'' in 1966. The franchise has expanded into many television shows, fi ...

'' episodes he directed for the ''Ultraman'' movie (1979).

Synopsis and cultural references

The video of the television version of "A Cruel Angel's thesis" contains several cultural references, most notably to

and

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

. In the opening frames, a bright blue dot appears and expands like a drop of water surrounded by a circle of the same color. The image, according to the script, represents the beginning of the universe; according to critic Mario Pasqualini, the symbol could refer to the relationship between God and Creation, which some philosophers compared to the relationship between a point and a circumference. After the point of light, a figure with twelve wings on a red background, similar to some representations of

cherub A cherub (; : cherubim; ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'') is one type of supernatural being in the Abrahamic religions. The numerous depictions of cherubim assign to them many different roles, such as protecting the entrance of the Garden of ...

ic angels, appears. This is followed by a celestial flame, which refers to the concept of the

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

or "life breath" and which plays an important role in the series. The image also depicts the first light seen by a newborn child. Further religious symbolism consists of a dual depiction of the

Kabbalistic Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal (). Jewi ...

tree of life The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythology, mythological, religion, religious, and philosophy, philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The ...

, in reference to the series' Human Instrumentality Project, a plan for the evolution of humanity pursued by the character of

Gendo Ikari is a fictional character from the ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' franchise, created by Gainax. In the original anime series with the same name, Gendo is the supreme commander of the special agency Nerv, which is dedicated to the study and annihi ...

. Academic Fabio Bartoli noticed that the Tree of Life crosses Misato Katsuragi's body in the video, suggesting that Misato herself was the guinea pig in

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

's contact experiment that caused the Second Impact in the series. According to writers Sellées and Hernàndez-Péres, the ten ''

sephirot Sefirot (; , plural of ), meaning '' emanations'', are the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah, through which Ein Sof ("infinite space") reveals itself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the seder hishtalshelut (the chained ...

'' represent "types of human behavior"; consequently, the Tree suggests both religion and psychology, "thus bringing together the two main thematic readings of the series". They compared the Angel with twelve eyes to the traditional depiction of

Ezekiel Ezekiel, also spelled Ezechiel (; ; ), was an Israelite priest. The Book of Ezekiel, relating his visions and acts, is named after him. The Abrahamic religions acknowledge Ezekiel as a prophet. According to the narrative, Ezekiel prophesied ...

tetramorph A tetramorph is a symbolic arrangement of four differing elements, or the combination of four disparate elements in one unit. The term is derived from the Greek ''tetra'', meaning four, and ''morph'', shape. The word comes from the Greek for "fou ...

. Sellées and Hernàndez-Péres also noted that the figure has "bird-like features" and resembles the Angel

Sachiel In kabbalistic and Christian angelology, Sachiel (Ge'ez ሳቁኤል) is an archangel of the order of cherubim. The name 'Sachiel' originally occurs in the late 1500s grimoire called ''The Heptameron''. Name In the early mentions of that ange ...

. In the latter part, a frame of

Rei Ayanami is a fictional character from the ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' franchise created by Gainax. In the anime series of the same name, Rei is an introverted girl chosen as the enigmatic pilot of a giant mecha named Evangelion Unit 00. At the begi ...

touching a window is glimpsed, with a close-up of her eye as she blinks. Writer Dennis Redmond compared Rei's eye to a similar image used by director

Krzysztof Kieślowski Krzysztof Kieślowski (, 27 June 1941 – 14 March 1996) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He is known internationally for ''Dekalog'' (1989), ''The Double Life of Veronique'' (1991), and the Three Colours trilogy, ''Three Colours'' ...

in the film ''

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

'' (1993). Alternating on the screen are images of Eva-01's hand covered in blood and 01 unleashing twelve wings of light, along with white captions on a black background and ''vice versa'', maps, pencil sketches, a drawing depicting

Kaworu Nagisa , real name , is a fictional character from the '' Neon Genesis Evangelion'' franchise created by Gainax. In the original television series, he is the pilot of a giant mecha named Evangelion Unit 02 for the special agency Nerv, as well as the ...

, portraits of Misato Katsuragi,

Ryōji Kaji The Japanese anime television series ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' has an extensive cast of characters that were created by Gainax. The show's protagonist is Shinji Ikari, a teenage boy whose father Gendo Ikari, Gendo recruits to the shadowy org ...

and

Ritsuko Akagi The Japanese anime television series ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' has an extensive cast of characters that were created by Gainax. The show's protagonist is Shinji Ikari, a teenage boy whose father Gendo Ikari, Gendo recruits to the shadowy org ...

, the first Angel Adam, and a luminous red sphere. For Eva-01's light wings, the authors took inspiration from the Christian figure of

Lucifer The most common meaning for Lucifer in English is as a name for the Devil in Christian theology. He appeared in the King James Version of the Bible in Isaiah and before that in the Vulgate (the late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bib ...

, a fallen angel who is said to have twelve wings. The twelve wings also represent a reference to Ryo Asuka from

Go Nagai , better known by the pen name , is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of Japanese science fiction, science fiction, fantasy, Japanese horror, horror, and erotica. He made his professional debut in 1967 with ''Meakashi Polikichi'', b ...

's manga ''

Devilman is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai. The manga focuses on a high school student named Akira Fudo who absorbs the powers of the demon called "Amon" with help of his friend Ryo Asuka in order to batt ...

''. The video ends with a text written, according to the official storyboards, in ; according to Anno, it represents the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls, also called the Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a set of List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts, ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). They were discovered over a period of ten years, between ...

. According to the by Yahata Shoten the writing is similar to the angel writings of existing Kabbalistic texts. Víctor Sellés de Lucas and Manuel Hernández-Pérez similarly noticed that the first glyph closely resembles the

for , which is also the first kanji in . According to them, this probably alludes to the various angelic languages developed within the occult Western tradition, as the set of glyphs employed resembles the language that

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (; ; 14 September 1486 – 18 February 1535) was a German Renaissance polymath, physician, legal scholar, soldier, knight, theologian, and occult writer. Agrippa's ''Three Books of Occult Philosophy'' pub ...

consigned in his '' De Occulta Philosophia''. ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' manga English editor Carl Gustav Horn also compared the calligraphy of the characters to the ''

Sefer Raziel HaMalakh ''Sefer Raziel HaMalakh'' (, "the book of Raziel the angel") is a grimoire of Practical Kabbalah from the Middle Ages written primarily in Hebrew and Aramaic. ''Liber Razielis Archangeli'', its 13th-century Latin translation produced under Alf ...

'', a

grimoire A grimoire () (also known as a book of spells, magic book, or a spellbook) is a textbook of magic, typically including instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms, and divin ...

Practical Kabbalah Practical Kabbalah ( ''Kabbalah Ma'asit'') in historical Judaism, is a branch of Jewish mysticism that concerns the use of magic. It was considered permitted white magic by its practitioners, reserved for the elite, who could separate its spiri ...

Reception

The video clip for "The Cruel Angel's Thesis" received praise from audiences and critics. According to ''Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Unofficial Guide'', written by Martin Foster and Kazuhisa Fujie, some viewers were at first confused by seeing the theme song, but after the series' conclusion they noticed that "everything that appeared in the story had been highlighted, flagged or hinted at in the opening sequence". ''Newtype'' magazine praised the video, calling it "excellent" and appreciating the large amount of sequences. For Nick Valdez of

ComicBook.com ''ComicBook.com'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of comic books, television, films, video games, and anime. The site came online in 1996 serving as a holding page for sales links and press releases related to comic b ...

, the video is "chock full of memorable imagery" and "one of the coolest trips down memory lane".

Live performances

Yoko Takahashi performing at Japan Expo 2019 Paris2

In 2015, Takahashi sang "The Cruel Angel's Thesis" at the

Anime Expo Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). The convention is traditionally held annually on the first we ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and in 2017 she performed it during Billboard Live in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, receiving a warm reception from the audience. On June 20, 2018, she performed the song during the Evangelion World Tour, which was organized to promote the song's re-release with restored and remastered audio along with "Tamashii no rufuran", on stages in Japan, France, and Hong Kong. In June 2019, Takahashi performed at the

Japan Expo Japan Expo is a convention on Japanese popular culture – the largest of its kind outside Japan – taking place in Paris, France, although it has branched out into a partnership festival – Comic-Con Paris, Kultima – and expanded to inclu ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, singing songs from the ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' soundtrack just before an official preview of the film ''Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.0'' and in conjunction with the anime's release on Netflix. To mark the occasion, all of ''Neon Genesis Evangelion I'', including "Zankoku na tenshi no these", was added to Spotify on June 21. In 2020, an event dedicated to ''Evangelion'' Operation Yashima was announced in

, a city where the show's fictional city Tokyo-3 is located. During the event, held on March 28 and May 23, a live performance of Takahashi's "The Cruel Angel's Thesis" was planned, but the dates were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On October 3 of the same year, Takahashi took part in the unveiling of a reproduction of Eva-01 at Toei Kyoto Studio Park in Ukyō-ku, singing "Zankoku na tenshi no these" on the palm of the humanoid's hand.

Remixes and other versions

For "Take Care of Yourself (Neon Genesis Evangelion), Take Care of Yourself", the anime's last episode, Sagisu rearranged the song's accompaniment into the instrumentals "The Heady Feeling of Freedom" and "Good, or Don't Be", arranged for piano, electric piano, acoustic guitar, violins, and cellos. Remixes of the single were added to ''Dancemania'' compilations. The Shihori version was included in the albums ''Dancemania Summer Story 2008'' (25 June 2008), ''Wa-euro Best'' (5 August 2009), ''Dancemania Summer Story 2009'' (10 June 2009), ''Best of Wa-euro Best'' (21 July 2010), the Mint version in ''Himetra Best'' (14 May 2008), and ''Himetra Anime*Mix'' (21 January 2009), while a version by Diana Gross was included in the compilation ''Him Trace 3''. Other remixes were later included in the ''Dancemania Speed compilations ''Anime Speed'' (25 May 2005), ''Anime Speed Newtype Edition'' (19 July 2006), ''Happy Speed'' (18 April 2007), and ''Himetra Speed'' (30 July 2008). Other versions were included in Takahashi's albums; the arrangement of the original single was copyrighted by King Records, so for legal reasons the record companies that released Takahashi's works had to rely on other arrangements. A "Version '96" was added to the album ''Best Pieces'', released on February 10, 1999, and then included in ''Super Value Yoko Takahashi'', released on February 19, 2001, by Universal Music. In ''～refrain～The songs were inspired by Evangelion'' (November 6, 1997), a remix named "Ambivalence Mix" and an instrumental version titled ''Epilogue de these'' edited by Tony Orly were added. A new version of "The Cruel Angel's Thesis" titled "Remix for Peace" was also produced in 1999 and included on Takahashi's album ''Best Pieces II'', which was released on February 10 of that year; as well as Takahashi's hit collections such as ''Yoko Takahashi Best 10'' (January 17, 2007), ''Yoko Takahashi Essential Best'' (December 19, 2007) and ''Golden☆Best Yoko Takahashi'', multiple versions of which were released on February 25, 2004, December 5, 2012, and December 5, 2018. An additional remix, "Harmonia Version", was added to ''LI-La'', another album by the performer, that was later reissued in ''Li-La +3'', which was released on October 2, 2013, along with the "Remix for Peace". EitetsuHayashi2001-05

In 2005, a new version of the song, again with Takahashi on vocals and forty-seven seconds longer than the original, was recorded for the tenth anniversary of the series. The new version, named "10th Anniversary Edition", was included as the twelfth track in ''Neon Genesis Evangelion Decade''. In 2009, Takahashi recorded new versions of "Zankoku na tenshi no these" and "Fly Me to the Moon", which were included in a single released on May 13. The songs were produced in conjunction with the presentation of a ''pachinko'' series on ''Evangelion'' named ; a cover designed by Takeshi Honda was used for the album. The 2009 version was included in Takahashi's ''20th century Boys & Girls'' collection, released on June 23 of the following year, and, ten years later, in the mini-album ''Evangelion Extreme'', which was released by King Amusement Creative and includes the tracks used in the pachislots dedicated to the series. In 2015, Takahashi recorded a new version of the composition named "2015 Version" in a single live session with acoustic guitar accompaniment for her thirteenth studio album ''20th century Boys & Girls II'', which was released on April 22, 2015, by King Records. Two years later, a new arrangement titled "2017 Version" was included in the anthology ''Yoko Sings Forever'' (March 22, 2017); the recording was done live with piano by Marashii and organ by Satoshi Takebe. At first, a single titled "Zankoku na tenshi no these ~ Tamashii no rufuran" was planned but not included in the final version. In July 2019, "Zankoku na tenshi no these" was also used in the strategy video game ''The Battle Cats''; Takahashi sang only the word , a Japanese onomatopoeia of meow. The version was later uploaded to Oricon and MaiDiGiTV YouTube channels, and both videos gained more than one million views. In the same year, Eitetsu Hayashi produced a new arrangement of "The Cruel Angel's Thesis" stylistically close to Japanese traditional music and mainly made with taiko instruments; it was premiered on King Amusement Creative's official YouTube channel as "Zankoku na tenshi no these: Matsuri Spirit" and was fully released on July 24 of the same year. The Chinese broadcaster Shenzhen TV acquired ''Evangelion'' for a Chinese language, Chinese-language dubbing; the first translation was not approved by the National Radio and Television Administration, a ministerial agency under the State Council of the People's Republic of China, so the series was translated and dubbed again, removing the contents that were considered inappropriate for a young audience and the theme song was renamed ''Měilì tiānshǐ de xíngdòng gānglǐng'' (美丽天使的行动纲领, "The beautiful angel's plan of action"), also known as ''Yǒnggǎn de shàonián'' (勇敢的少年, "The brave boy"). The anime was then broadcast between 1999 and 2001.

Cover versions

In 1996, the fourth album of the soundtracks of the series, ''Music of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Neon Genesis Evangelion Addition'', was released; the album included a track named "Zankoku na tenshi no these (Director's Edit. Version II)", lasting 4:04 minutes and sung by

, and Yūko Miyamura, voice actresses of the three major female characters of the show, respectively:

and Asuka Langley Soryu, Asuka Sōryū Langley. On 30 March 2001, the album ''The Birthday of Rei Ayanami'' was released; among the tracks was a cover of "The Cruel Angel's Thesis" performed by Hayashibara. The song was added to ''bertemu'', the artist's seventh album, released on November 1, 1996, and as a bonus track on ''Center Color'', her eleventh, released on January 7, 2004. Hayashibara stated while singing "The Cruel Angel's Thesis" she thought of the scene in which Rei smiles for the first time at Shinji Ikari in the film version of ''Eva''. Megumi Ogata, Shinji's voice actress, performed the song during her concerts. Junko Iwao, the Japanese voice actress of List of Neon Genesis Evangelion characters, Hikari Horaki, also recorded her bossa nova version of the song for her album ''Anime On Bossa'', which was released on January 30, 2008. Other artists have recorded covers of "A Cruel Angel's Thesis", including Shoko Nakagawa, Shōko Nakagawa, MIQ (vocalist), MIQ, Yoko Ishida, Yōko Ishida, Masami Okui, Shizuka Itō, Mikuni Shimokawa, Toshi, Aya Hirano, Arlie Ray, Ryō Horikawa, Chihiro Yonekura, Akina Nakamori, Maya Sakura, Konomi Suzuki, Kikuko Inoue, and Natsuki Katō. Music groups, both Japanese and foreign, also performed the song, including Animetal, Anipunk, Globe (band), Globe, Move (Japanese band), Move, Flow (Japanese band), Flow, Glay, Glory Gospel Singers, Anime That Jazz!, MAX (band), Max, and Roselia, a band from the media franchise ''BanG Dream!''.

Track listings

Original version: ; All tracks performed by

. ;"Zankoku na Tenshi no Tēze/Fly Me to the Moon": ;"''Zankoku na Tenshi no Tēze''/Fly Me to the Moon" (10th Anniversary Renewal): . All tracks performed by Yoko Takahashi, except where noted. ;"''Zankoku na Tenshi no Tēze'' 2009 version": ; All tracks performed by Yoko Takahashi. ;"Zankoku na Tenshi no Tēze/Tamashī no Rufuran": ;"Zankoku na Tenshi no Tēze Matsuri Spirit":

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruel Angel's Thesis 1995 singles 1995 songs Animated series theme songs King Records (Japan) singles Neon Genesis Evangelion songs Songs with lyrics by Neko Oikawa Songs written for animated films