Neon Genesis Evangelion

I'm no ornithologist, but I am a lunatic.

What I know of Eva seems to be quite melancholic...

Needs more bird songs.

@sickVisionz said:

Lol

While “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis” is certainly a catchy ditty, it always struck me as upbeat and… karaoke-appropriate in a way that didn’t quite fit the melancholic, Apocalyptic tone of EVA.

I think every song in Eva (whether it be from the series, the old movies, or the new ones) that has lyrics sits on an instrumental and melodic bed that's completely off for the series/scene it's in.

Irony is indeed a powerful tool.

@sickVisionz: Like when? Are you referring to the scene where Kaworu kills a certain someone, and choir music is playing? I just tried looking it up, and in fact there is a parody of the scene which replaces the original music with the Benny Hill chase song... I don't see how that is relevant. In my opinion, the original choir music fits well with the scene. Shinji is in a position of power to kill a potentially harmful being. But he is unsure of whether what he is doing is right, or of what value/use it will be if he exercises this power. This is unlike how in some religions (which the choir music reminds us of) there are definitions of what is right and wrong and supposedly one can refer to religious texts or talk to a priest if they ever wonder what to do in a certain situation. It is ironic that choir music plays and for such a long period of time because, it almost makes it seem like killing Kaworu is just another inevitable religious ritual. In a way the long scene pause only teases the viewer by withholding the conclusion and forcing both Shinji and the viewer to question what is the right thing to do.

Or maybe you are referring to the scene near the end of evangelion 2.0 where this song plays?

If you listen to how the song is sung, you should notice an overall tone of hopefulness and yearning. The song begins with a single singer, then a choir joins in, then the instrumental comes in, then the choir leaves the singer and the instrumental. If you look at the lyrics, the song is about the singer making a wish to be able to fly into the huge sky without any sadness. This is fitting for Shinji because of what he ultimately tries to do, save Rei. He finally finds something that he wants to do and tries to accomplish it. The irony is that the song itself is simply about a wish, a wish to fly and be free, the actual flying and being free is not accomplished by the end of the song. Likewise, even if Shinji (a single individual) is able to save Rei, it is not certain what will become of humanity if the instrumentality project still goes through.

Or maybe you mean the opening/ending themes or the upbeat previews at the end of each episode? Or maybe even the battle music. It's possible to go through the entire series and analyze the use of music in relation to the scene in which the music is being played, and then offer an interpretation to why the music fits or is ironic or doesn't fit with the scene, but I don't currently have time for that. My overall impression of evangelion and how it uses music is that: music is used ironically in many ways, and from the irony you can show how it emphasizes the irony of Shinji's situation throughout the series, and the irony or problem of the human instrumentality project.

@sickVisionz: It's not irony for irony's sake, it's irony to emphasize ambiguity. That's a pretty good find to directly compare the two scenes. The different scenes have a different effect overall. Maybe they decided to use that music in 2.22 in order to prime viewers for when they hear the similar song in the scene that I posted. In this scene Shinji is helpless as he watches what happens, but in the scene later, where similar music plays, he is trying his hardest to save Rei. It's a different approach than what they did in the original anime series. The music that plays in the original scene is almost like battle music, like the music that plays every time NERV prepares to fight an angel and deploys the EVAs. I honestly can't say which scene is "better", but they're certainly different and produce a different effect overall.