📜 “Apostle or Angel?” — The Cultural Alchemy of Naming in Neon Genesis Evangelion
When Hideaki Anno and Gainax created Neon Genesis Evangelion in the mid-1990s, they weren’t just telling a story about biomechanical giants and teenage trauma; they were building a cultural puzzle box — a layered tapestry of psychology, philosophy, and religious symbolism. One of the most striking examples of this alchemy sits hidden in plain sight: the very name of the monstrous beings humanity fights against. In Japanese, these beings are called: 使徒 (shito) A term that directly translates to “apostle.” Yet to international audiences, they became known as “Angels.” At first glance, this might seem like a simple mistranslation or localization choice. But dig deeper, and it becomes clear: this was a deliberate, almost poetic inversion rooted in cultural semiotics, designed to ensure the creatures felt alien and divine to both Japanese and Western audiences — but by different routes. 🌸 In Japanese: “Apostle” sounds foreign, unsettling, divine Japan is not historically ...
