A Cruel Angel's Thesis - Neon Genesis Evangelion OP - Yoko Takahashi (Piano Cover)

I’m finally putting it out: the Weeb National Anthem.

Over a year ago, I watched Neon Genesis Evangelion and finally understood why it was such a classic. Everything from the existential questions it asked to the mech fights, even the old-school animation aged well and gave the show such an interesting feel (miss me with the ending and the movie tho).

And of course, who could forget possibly one of the most memorable anime songs of all time? The groove, the instrumentation, the 90s-style vocals, everything just comes together to form a veritable banger.

On top of all that, enter Animenz, who creates an absolutely baller arrangement of the song for piano. Sure, it’s not as flashy as say Cateen’s, but it in so many ways captures the pure groove and essence of the original while providing many beautiful alterations that fine-tune it for piano. Case in point, the lovely soft sections at 2:39 have got to be one of my favorite moments in the entire piece to just sit, take time, and express.

Of course, that means that there are some nastier and more difficult sections too, like the octaves at 1:26, which sound great but are hard to hit. I’m pretty surprised that I got them both times here too lol.

Which brings me to recording day. This piece ended up being much more difficult to learn than I expected, largely in part due to the fact that I’ve never played anything quite like it before, and because I was learning some other pieces that also fit that descriptor (Fiction    • Fiction - Wotakoi OP - Sumika (Piano ...   and Love’s Sorrow    • Liebesleid (Love's Sorrow) - Fritz Kr...  ). If you remember my practice vlog for this piece, you’ll remember some of my frustrations.

But then even on recording day I couldn’t seem to get a take that I was happy with. I was frustrated, angry, and tired, so much so that I ended up trying to get more takes the next day. Fortunately, that’s where perhaps some of the themes from the show bring my performance full circle.

One of the things I frequently say on this channel is to know for whom and why you are making music, and if those things are worthwhile to you, then the goals for your performances change. In practice, it’s hard to constantly fend off the feelings of imposter syndrome and inferiority with less-than-perfect performances, especially when your audience and relative success are growing.

Reminding myself of the reasons that I play are what allowed me to relax and have more fun recording the next day. Ironically, I didn’t even end up choosing a take from that day and instead chose one from the first day after I realized that they were more expressive than I originally thought.

At the end of the day, A Cruel Angel’s Thesis is such a bop and I have a ton of fun playing it every single time. Even when I’m tense, it’s a piece that really allows me to have fun and I’m happy that Animenz’s arrangement gives me so much room for interpretation!

Oh, and to be clear, the reason this is being uploaded so late (I recorded in late March 2021) is because I always ended up having other more pressing things to upload, not because I was nervous lol.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy my take on this timeless classic!

Until next time,

- Watt

Outroless version:    • A Cruel Angel's Thesis - Neon Genesis...  

Practice Vlog:    • Feeling the Groovy Vibes - Animenz's ...  

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