Angels (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
[6][7] In one early draft, which was published about two years before airing, Gainax included enemies named Apostolos (アポストロ, aposutoro), which they conceived as ancient relics scattered all over the globe and left in hibernation by a species called "First Ancestral Race" (第1始祖民族, dai'ichi shiso minzoku).
The Apostolos would have been the servants and apostles of the giant Adam, the divine sentinel of a distant alien race formed long before humanity, drawing on Hogan's evolutionary and science fiction themes.
[12] The original authors intended there to have been twenty-eight enemies, the first of which, Adam, would have been found in the Dead Sea region but destroyed in an explosion fifteen years before the events of the series.
[9][13] The initial scenario also included the introduction of two Apostolos named Shateiel (シャテイエル, Shateieru), which was described as the "Angel of silence" and Turel (テゥレル, Tureru), "the rock of God".
[17][18] For their number, the authors took inspiration from the twelve apostles of the Lamb that are mentioned in the book of Revelation, but the idea of multiple clashes on the Moon was abandoned, eventually being recycled for the battle against the nine Mass Production Model Evangelions in the 1997 theatrical conclusion.
[21] According to Nebbia, staff took inspiration both from Nadia and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind for the scenario, in which ancient civilizations are destroyed by their own creations,[7] while for the opposition between Adam and Lilith Gainax possibly took clue from the works of artist Daijiro Morohoshi.
During the broadcast of the series, the Japanese economy and society were perceived in the country as inherently corrupt and decadent, with no one being able to trace the causes, making the concept of "enemy" ambiguous.
The enemy of twentieth-century Japan, according to Anno, was neither political nor defined, as in the case of the religious sect Aum Shinrikyō, which in March 1995 attacked the Tokyo subway with sarin gas.
[85][86] In the Jewish Kabbalah, Adam is described as a kind of deity, a being that is capable of giving life and as an entity to which all things are destined to return at the end of time.
[23] In the episode "Rei II", the image of two giants without the lower part of their bodies and merged to each other is visible; according to Gainax, it represents Lilith and Eva-01 around the period of Yui Ikari's disappearance.
[184][185] Ramiel is equipped with a strong AT Field[186] and an accelerated-particle cannon,[187] which, exploiting the collision of subatomic particles, emits a powerful beam of photons[188][189] due to an inner torus reactor.
[157][199] Anime News Network's Lynzee Loveridge described Ramiel's design as "Anno's shout out to Future Police Urashiman",[200] while Yasutaka Yoshimura compared it with some abstract shapes in the final scenes of Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
[230] The only way to defeat Israfel, according to Misato, is "a double coordinated attack on its core";[231] between the two parts of the divided Angel is a bond that allows Kō and Otsu to share their behaviors and vulnerability.
[263] According to a guide on the original series included with the Neon Genesis Evangelion RPG card game, the Sandalphon episode suggests that dormant, larval Angels are hidden around the world.
[296] At the bottom of its main body, Sahaquiel develops an anthropomorphic entity that pierces Unit 01's hands with spear-like weapons, which were designed by director Takeshi Honda.
[308][309] Dr. Ritsuko Akagi devises a "reverse hacking" strategic plan, believing it is better to increase the enemy's evolution and insert a program to make Iruel choose to coexist with the Magi System.
[335] Writer Virginie Nebbia compared it with Dada from Ultraman,[157] while academic Dennis Redmond noted that Neuromancer makes use of moiré patterns in a scene in which Case tries to break free from a neural trap set by one of the AIs of the story.
[324][341] Bardiel (バルディエル, Barudieru) has a nature similar to that of a fungus or a parasitic bacterium,[342] which allows it to infiltrate the body of Eva-03[343] during its transport by air from the United States of America to Japan.
[372] Asari again designed the creature; except for the skull, which is almost identical to the one in the classic series, the movie's Zeruel has paper-like tentacles it wraps around its body like the bands of a mummy.
[376] The Angel makes Asuka relive her childhood trauma[377] in an attempt to investigate her mental wavelength by learning her mechanisms and rendering the human on board the Evangelion harmless.
[413] Like Arael and Armisael, who both attempt to make contact with Asuka's and Rei's souls, Kaworu aggressively tries to touch Shinji's thoughts, but through peaceful human exchange rather than an open attack.
In the comic book adaptation of the series, which was drawn by character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Sandalphon, Matarael,[435] Iruel and Leliel do not appear and the number of Angels is reduced to twelve.
More differences are introduced in the manga Neon Genesis Evangelion: Campus Apocalypse, in which they are depicted as creatures that take possession of dead bodies to obtain gems called "cores".
Daisan Shin Tōkyō Shi (新世紀エヴァンゲリオンRPG 決戦！第3新東京市, "Neon Genesis Evangelion RPG Decisive Battle in Tokyo-3"): Adovaquiel (アドヴァキエル, Adovuakieru), similar to an aquatic spore that shoots energy projectiles;[442] Zefon (ゼフォン) is a humanoid Angel equipped with an energy cannon;[443] Atalibu (アタリブ, Ataribu) is dinosaur-like and attacks with its claws;[444] and Azrael (アズラエル, Azuraeru) is shaped like a virus and able to attack by manipulating gravity.
Drazen, noting the Black Moon is placed on the Izu Peninsula, interpreted the mythopoiesis of the series as a cosmogony according to which all human life on Earth springs from Japan, as a hi-tech version of Kojiki.
[461] Neon Genesis Evangelion manga editor Carl Gustav Horn also noted that in some doctrines of the Jewish Kabbalah angels are not conceived as alien entities, but as beings that were present and recently awakened in the Creation.
[463][464] Anime Academy reviewers linked Evangelion to earlier monster-of-the-week products, such as Sailor Moon and Power Rangers, tracing influences to Macross and the works of Gō Nagai.
[465] Art magazine Real Time also analyzed the Angels, saying their design reflects ancient and modern archetypes, comparing them to Aztec paintings, Joan Miró murals and Donald Judd cubes.
Creamer also lauded the battles against the Angels, describing them as "a captivating combination of eerily distinct monster designs, creative tactical setups, and gorgeous, horrifying fight animation".
[487][488] Anime News Network's Justin Sevakis appreciated the omission of their names in the first two installments of the Rebuild of Evangelion film tetralogy, lacking the Judeo-Christian references from the original series, which he described as "confusing and problematic".
