Writing and inspiration ,
Neon Genesis Evangelion director The original soundtrack of
Neon Genesis Evangelion was composed by
Shiro Sagisu and distributed by
King Records, which was also directly involved in the conception and production of the series. The music was produced by the director and main scriptwriter of the series,
Hideaki Anno, who gave several instructions to the composer and was personally responsible for choosing the titles of the pieces. Toshimichi Ōtsuki, a representative of King Records, first approached Anno about making
Evangelion and gave him the opportunity to launch the project, taking on the role of one of the series' producers. Ōtsuki gave Anno artistic freedom over the entire series' production, except for the series' opening theme song, "
A Cruel Angel's Thesis". Working on Anno's direction, Sagisu sought to capture a "retro" feel in the soundtrack and tie it to the psychological themes of the series. For example, to give the
Eva's cockpit the feel of a mother's womb, Anno asked him to compose a melody that would accentuate a feeling of nostalgia. Sagisu and Anno also attempted to differentiate the soundtrack from the soundtracks of other mecha anime series. According to writer Masaki Miyakawa, the nostalgic touch of Sagisu's compositions was due to the production process of Japanese animated series of the time; the designs were often not finished until after the production of the soundtrack, so director Anno would have given Sagisu directions by referring to existing products. The first recording sessions were held at King Records studios from 12 March 1995. Philip Brophy of
Real Time compared Sagisu's soundtrack to the soundtrack of
Thunderbirds, and the works of
Steve Reich and
Ken Ishii. Miyakawa compared "Angel Attack" and "Decisive Battle" to the compositions of Japanese special effects
tokusatsu films, such as
Godzilla; "Angel Attack", in particular, has been compared to the soundtrack of
Ryūichi Sakamoto's
The Last Emperor (1987) and the song from
Mobile Suit Gundam. According to Matthew Magnus Lundeen of
Game Rant, the song "Angel Attack", which he likened to the theme of
Jaws, was based on the compositions of old
tokusatsu series, such as
Ultraman or
Kamen Rider, while "Decisive Battle" and "Angel Attack II" were compared to the music of
James Bond films, specifically to the main theme of
From Russia with Love (1963). Miyakawa compared "Rei I" to Sakamoto's compositions and the opening theme of
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), "Background Music" to "
My Sharona" by
The Knack, "She said, 'Don't make others suffer for your personal hatred'" to the music of
the Ventures, "Nerv" to the music of
super sentai series and "Asuka Strikes!" to
American country music and "
Octopus's Garden" by
the Beatles. Miyakawa and several fans have also noted similarities between Sagisu's work and the music of the anime
Space Battleship Yamato, According to Heike Hoffer, the music reflects the psychology of the characters in the series; Misato's theme has a jazzy, laid-back sound, Asuka's has a Western sound, and Rei's has a
Debussy-like harmonic piano. The track "Borderline Case", used during the introspective scenes featuring Shinji, has been noted for its metaphysical tone, and ambient or minimalist influence. According to a file on the album
Refrain of Evangelion, Misato's theme also has an unusual tune compared to the other soundtracks in the series; however, since Sagisu also participated in the composition of the music for the variety show
Waratte iitomo!, "this type of music is also his cup of tea". The original composition, characterised by sounds similar to music of the second half of the 1980s, has also been remixed into various genres, such as techno, jungle and traditional Japanese music.
Classical music In addition to Sagisu's original compositions, the soundtrack also includes classical music, such as
Johann Sebastian Bach's
Suite for Cello Solo No.1 in G Major,
Violin Partita No.3,
Suite No. 3 in D Major and
Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben,
Johann Pachelbel's
Canon,
Georg Friedrich Händel's
Messiah,
Giuseppe Verdi's
Requiem and
Ludwig van Beethoven's
Ode to Joy. Hideaki Anno, himself a fan of classical music, initially requested that the Polovician Dances, from
Aleksandr Borodin's opera
Prince Igor, be used as the opening theme song for the series, but that request was rejected by
TV Tokyo. The Cello Suite, played by Shinji in the fifteenth episode of the series, was selected by screenwriter Akio Satsukawa, who is known for using classical music pieces, such as
Manon Lescaut and
Madama Butterfly, in his works.
Ode to Joy is used as the soundtrack for the series' twenty-fourth episode, The song was used to echo the theme of the episode and for the line "We enter intoxicated and quivering, O Heavenly One, into Thy temple". The piece was used in both the original series, in the scene in which
Kaworu Nagisa attempts to break into the deepest part of Nerv Headquarters, as well as in the film
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth and in the third installment of the
Rebuild of Evangelion saga. Haiku Hoffer has noted how
Ode to Joy, unlike other pieces such as Bach's Cello Suite, is well known in Japan, as it is played during end-of-year concerts called
Daiku; the fact that Kaworu hums the piece in front of Shinji, seen in Japan as a song to be sung as a group symbol of cooperation and a sense of community, would immediately suggest to the Japanese viewer how the two characters are destined to become friends over the course of the series. Also audible in the piece is the phrase "
der Cherub steht vor Gott", "the
cherub stands before God", which Hoffer associates with the fact that Kaworu stands before the Angel
Lilith, a figure resembling a deity. Bach's ''Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
has also been used in Rebuild'' promotional videos.
Other songs The soundtrack also features contemporary songs that were not composed for the series. Tracks by
Kotono Mitsuishi and
Masami Okui are used in several scenes of the series, usually as background music or on Shinji's
Digital Audio Tape player. The soundtrack features songs by Mitsuishi,
Misato Katsuragi's original voice actress, including "You are the only one", "Aoi legend", and "Fall in a Star", all from
Lilia 〜from Ys〜, a 1992 album dedicated to the music of the
Ys video game series. Mitsuishi's songs were also reused in
Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone and later released in the related soundtrack albums. Okui's songs "Bay side love story -from Tokyo-", "Face", and , rom
Gyuu, the singer's first album, were used. The fifteenth episode also features , a 1973 song popular at Japanese weddings, recorded for the series during dubbing by
Junko Iwao,
Miki Nagasawa,
Yuko Miyamura and
Megumi Ogata.
"Fly Me to the Moon" in London For the closing theme song, staff decided to use an existing song, "
Fly Me to the Moon" by
Bart Howard, with original arrangement and interpretation. The animations for the end theme song were designed and created by
Masayuki, one of the assistant directors of the series. The song was later included in the various soundtrack albums and reused for some promotional videos of the feature films
Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone and
Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, the first and second chapters of the
Rebuild. The song is performed by British singer Claire Littley and the anime's female voice actors,
Megumi Hayashibara, Kotono Mitsuishi and Yuko Miyamura, in different versions from episode to episode. In one of the initial proposals, it was instead the opening theme song of the series that would change from episode to episode, imitating the opening song of
Silver kamen. A remastered version of "Fly Me to the Moon," without credits, was also added to the bonus disc. This extra was later added to subsequent Japanese editions, such as the Blu-ray box set of the series released in 2015. New versions of the piece were also added to the Renewal edition. The various versions of "Fly Me to the Moon" are: ==Theme songs==