What "Neon Genesis Evangelion" literally means.

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What "Neon Genesis Evangelion" literally means.

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Postby Stryker » Mon Mar 21, 2011 3:28 pm

So, I decided to look up "Neon", "Genesis", and "Evangelion", and then mish mash it all together to make what would be Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Neon: Neon ( /ˈniːɒn/) is the chemical element that has the symbol Ne and an atomic number of 10.

Genesis: A coming into being.

Evangelical (Since Evangelion leads directly to NGE, and that isn't what I am looking for): The term evangelical has its etymological roots in the Greek word for "gospel" or "good news": ευαγγελιον (evangelion), from eu- "good" and angelion "message." (Since Evangelical is the idea of good news, it must mean that Evangelion must be someone/something that spreads good news.. right?)

So, as I see it, "Neon Genesis Evangelion" literally translates into this: A messenger spreads good news about the new chemical element that comes to being. But, of course, there are several meanings, therefore it can be interpreted differently. Show your literal/wacky translations of "Neon Genesis Evangelion" means. (Please, tell us something we don't know. Something away from the lines of "Neon Genesis Evangelion (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン Shin Seiki Evangerion?) franchise is an umbrella of Japanese media properties generally owned by the anime studio Gainax.")
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Postby Mr. Tines » Mon Mar 21, 2011 3:31 pm

http://forum.evageeks.org/viewtopic.php?t=3430
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Postby toe mash » Mon Mar 21, 2011 4:16 pm

inb4 the obligatory pic from the extra curricular lesson..

You know the one I'm talking about.

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Postby Eva Yojimbo » Mon Mar 21, 2011 9:46 pm

View Original PostMr. Tines wrote:http://forum.evageeks.org/viewtopic.php?t=3430
Also: [url]http://forum.evageeks.org/viewtopic.php?p=183990[/url]

"Neon" isn't referring to the chemical element in this case, it's referring to the neutered version of "neos" meaning "new".
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Postby Allemann » Tue Mar 22, 2011 2:55 pm

"The New Gospel of Creation"

Where's the old one, Anno?

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Postby InstrumentalityOne » Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:00 pm

"Shinseiki Evangelion"
New Century Evangelion.
There.

Afaik, the english name was only chosen because it sounded cool.

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Postby Sailor Star Dust » Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:19 pm

Quick! Somebody post NaveryW's hilarious mp3 edit of Greenfield explaining the meaning!
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Postby InstrumentalityOne » Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:26 pm

View Original Posttoe mash wrote:inb4 the obligatory pic from the extra curricular lesson..


Image
Image

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Postby Stryker » Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:27 pm

Guys, I know that Shinseiki Evangelion means New Century Evangelion, and that "Neon" in the name isn't referring to the chemical element, but one thing I don't know is who the hell NaveryW is. I know exactly what Neon Genesis Evangelion means. I just looked up every single word in the name "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and made a plot based off those definitions. Now, what I am asking you to do is the same. There are different meanings to each word, so I want to see how crafty/creative/witty you can get with the plots.
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Postby liquidus118 » Tue Mar 22, 2011 5:02 pm

View Original PostInstrumentalityOne wrote:Image
That's one hell of a beard.
View Original PostInstrumentalityOne wrote:Image
Why does this make me like Anno and the title, rather than less?

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Postby TehDonutKing » Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:12 pm

View Original PostStryker wrote:Guys, I know that Shinseiki Evangelion means New Century Evangelion, and that "Neon" in the name isn't referring to the chemical element, but one thing I don't know is who the hell NaveryW is. I know exactly what Neon Genesis Evangelion means. I just looked up every single word in the name "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and made a plot based off those definitions. Now, what I am asking you to do is the same. There are different meanings to each word, so I want to see how crafty/creative/witty you can get with the plots.

View Original PostStryker wrote:but one thing I don't know is who the hell NaveryW is.

View Original PostStryker wrote:I don't know who the hell NaveryW is.

View Original PostStryker wrote:I don't know who the hell NaveryW is.

Oh, God....

http://forum.evageeks.org/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=1350
http://www.youtube.com/NAveryW
http://www.youtube.com/WalrusGuy
http://www.youtube.com/WalrusGuyMEMORIAL
http://naveryw.newgrounds.com/
http://naveryw.deviantart.com

Also, WalrusGuyMEMORIAL isn't Nicholas. It's actually a fan.
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Postby Rei Makes You Go Splat » Fri Mar 25, 2011 8:50 pm

Aw man. I always thought the title meant that the Evangelions were to bring about the Neon Genesis (new beginning) for humanity through the Third Impact, but now I know it was just to sound cool. Sometimes I like my own interpretation better than the creators, or the translators in this case.
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Postby Shogo-Kun » Fri Mar 25, 2011 9:49 pm

Gospel of the New Beginning ( aka Mankind is Surely Fucked: The Series)
NGE was a damned good anime
EoE was an anime masterpiece
And Rebuild is nothing short of epic
Long live the EVAs!!

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Re: What "Neon Genesis Evangelion" literally means.

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Postby SaiyanPrince1994 » Fri Dec 08, 2017 9:07 am

I've always prefered "First book of the new gospel."

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Re: What "Neon Genesis Evangelion" literally means.

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Postby DarkBluePhoenix » Fri Dec 08, 2017 12:15 pm

View Original PostSaiyanPrince1994 wrote:I've always prefered "First book of the new gospel."

I like that description better, it flows nicely.

And your username makes me want to mock your pride for some reason. No idea why :rolleyes:
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Postby Guy Nacks » Fri Dec 08, 2017 11:28 pm

Among the people who use the Internet, many are obtuse. Because they are locked in their rooms, they hang on to that vision which is spreading across the world. But this does not go beyond mere ‘data’. Data without analysis [thinking], which makes you think that you know everything. This complacency is nothing but a trap. Moreover, the sense of values that counters this notion is paralyzed by it.

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Re: What "Neon Genesis Evangelion" literally means.

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Postby Asuka'sBigBrother » Sat Dec 09, 2017 8:53 am

So....

A chemically made being that is preached to be good by religious demagogues...

In other words, instrumentality?

Clever name.
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Postby Lavinius » Sat Dec 09, 2017 10:39 pm

I wrote:by the way, said Greek name has to be Νέων Γένεσις Εὐαγγελίων, with Neon and Evangelion in the genitive plural.
you'd assume that it'd be Νέον Γένεσις Εὐαγγέλιον, with them being nominative singular, but that makes absolutely no sense.
the word order is a little strange in the other one, with the noun and adjective separated, but Greek poetry can do that, at least, and it has a meaning viz. "Origin of New Evangelia", which differs from the translation I've usually seen attributed viz. "Birth of a New Gospel" only in number, which naturally is occluded in Japanese
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Re: What "Neon Genesis Evangelion" literally means.

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Postby robersora » Mon Dec 11, 2017 8:19 pm

We all know Anno chose the title because it sounded pretentious. I would love to know how much he knew about the the term "Evangelion" before using it.
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Postby DarkBluePhoenix » Mon Dec 11, 2017 9:34 pm

View Original Postrobersora wrote:We all know Anno chose the title because it sounded pretentious. I would love to know how much he knew about the the term "Evangelion" before using it.

Probably as much as I know about Shintoism, which is to say that it's a religion in Japan.
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