Best Things That Evangelion Inspired You to Consume (Non-Anime)

[asakuraikun]

I'd like to know things that Evangelion led you to consume, but other than anime/manga.

I know many people who gave a chance to mecha anime (or even anime in general) after watching Evangelion. I know many people may share this story as well.

BUT what I'd like to hear is about other media Evangelion induced you to consume - books, movies, philosophy books, psychology books, religious books, even other kinds of Japanese media, etc.

Share if you can, maybe someone can even pick something from here too. Thanks!

[BernardoCairo]

That's a great question! I started listening to French house because it reminded me of the general style of Evangelion (late 90s, futuristic aesthetic). A friend of mine here on the site also helped me get hooked by sharing some of his favorite songs with me. The same goes for classical music.
It also inspired me to start looking for new types of films (things outside of the usual blockbuster releases). Some of my favorite movies today have an Evangelion touch to them (American Beauty, The Shining, After Sun, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, etc).

[The Killer of Heroes]

It was only one of many, many reasons, but Evangelion is partly why I read the entire King James Bible (Plus a fair amount of the "apocryphal" books, albeit in NRSV translation) last year.

[asakuraikun]

That's a great question! I started listening to French house because it reminded me of the general style of Evangelion (late 90s, futuristic aesthetic). A friend of mine here on the site also helped me get hooked by sharing some of his favorite songs with me. The same goes for classical music.
It also inspired me to start looking for new types of films (things outside of the usual blockbuster releases). Some of my favorite movies today have an Evangelion touch to them (American Beauty, The Shining, After Sun, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, etc).

Yes, Evangelion (and Anno altogether) made quite interested in movies out of the mainstream. I don't watch as many movies as before, but to be honest it's very hard to me to watch blockbusters these days.

About French House, any recommendations? I think most House artists I've listened to were american or british.

It was only one of many, many reasons, but Evangelion is partly why I read the entire King James Bible (Plus a fair amount of the "apocryphal" books, albeit in NRSV translation) last year.

That's interesting and quite an effort. I never read the bible in its entirety, even though I have quite religious people in my family. The only parts I really read with real interest were the Revelations and the (apocrypha) Gospel of Barnabas (which is interesting because it's somewhat a middles-ages muslim view of the bible drafted as a gospel).

[The Killer of Heroes]

Believe me it certainly was an effort! I'm not religious at all but reading the Bible helped fill in a lot of holes in Western culture for me, and was pretty fascinating in its own right.

Haven't heard of Gospel of Barnabas before but it sounds interesting (Though I'm guessing I'd get way more out of it after studying more about Islam). The only non-canonical Gospel I looked at was the Infancy Gospel of Thomas which has kinda funny stories about Jesus as a young boy- curiously though, it seems like some of its stories worked their way into the Quran somehow.

[BernardoCairo]

About French House, any recommendations?

Well, obviously we have Daft Punk, which is very well known and one of my favorites. But what's cool about them is that they kept on reinventing their style with each new album and their best work, in my opinion, came after they started exploring other genres. Still, Homework (their very first album) was what brought worldwide attention to French house music in the first place.

Besides them, I would say that The Phantom's Revenge is the best in the game. They have a very distinct style that reminds me of Sonic CD of all things. Their best work has that “late 90s TV” vibe. It's really cool and mysterious (so much so that Twin Peaks is one of the things that always comes to mind while I listen to it). Here are some of their best songs, in my opinion:
A better day: https://youtu.be/_-bnEl3w4zs?si=jlnOYfR3cN07azJx
Saturated Phat Impact: https://youtu.be/p_EaRFJIojQ?si=AChHlg0QxBUAMuLP
Commercial Breaks: https://youtu.be/J4lKX36Ut8Y?si=QUMi4S3YdKkqDkVS (this is the best, but it's kind of long, you'll have fun following the story being told here)

Of course, you have other great songs from groups like Modjo, I'll link them below.
Faithfull (Fantom): https://youtu.be/u2plGB-reso?si=QWuCwiy9AGQt5Eza
Music Sound Better with you (Stardust): https://youtu.be/Cjs5IBBB8gY?si=RD-74tZdfqDTHzmv
Lady (Modjo): https://youtu.be/mMfxI3r_LyA?si=h_YOSOqD1iEzzCG6

Kudos to my friend Berserk EVA-02 for sharing some of these with me way back then here on the site!

[asakuraikun]

Haven't heard of Gospel of Barnabas before but it sounds interesting (Though I'm guessing I'd get way more out of it after studying more about Islam). The only non-canonical Gospel I looked at was the Infancy Gospel of Thomas which has kinda funny stories about Jesus as a young boy- curiously though, it seems like some of its stories worked their way into the Quran somehow.

It is interesting indeed! Yeah, this cross-religion stuff sure is interesting in its own way. It's always an interesting experience to tell people that Jesus is respected in Islam, but as a prophet of God. Most people seem to look at both as antagonistic, but despite the wars and invasions between Christians and Muslims, both share many things in the religious ground specifically.

About French House, any recommendations?

Well, obviously we have Daft Punk, which is very well known and one of my favorites. But what's cool about them is that they kept on reinventing their style with each new album and their best work, in my opinion, came after they started exploring other genres. Still, Homework (their very first album) was what brought worldwide attention to French house music in the first place.

Giving some feedback: I really enjoyed the linked songs, I'll look out for more later. It's interesting because it really matches my taste - the mentioned Sonic CD soundtrack mentioned is one of my favourite soundtracks out of a 16-bit machine (although it was Sega CD). Daft Punk I did know indeed, but mostly their most famous albums (Like Random Access Memories and Discovery), but I'll try to dig deeper later on. Thanks for the recms.

[BernardoCairo]

the mentioned Sonic CD soundtrack mentioned is one of my favourite soundtracks out of a 16-bit machine

The original Japanese soundtrack might be my favorite OST of all time to be honest. At least it goes toe-to-toe with Super Mario Galaxy's. It's a mix of New jack swing and Electronic that really makes me remember of Phantom's work in particular. I played this game a lot when I was a kid, so maybe that's why I love this style of music so much.
Sonic, being inspired by Dragon Ball and other manga, also has that subtle connection with Evangelion. This game in particular. The bad future versions of the levels really go all out in making you feel responsible for the destruction around you. They place the state of the world around you right on your shoulders. You can see the outcome of your own failures right in front of you. Kind of like what happens to Shinji in Evangelion, isn't it?
If you want to know more about this game's excellent OST, there's a YouTube channel called Alex Yard where the host goes in-depth explaining why the music is so good and suitable for the levels.

[jeffythedragonslayer]

I'm curious to read the psychology book Anno read while developing NGE.

And, Miss Misato had inspired me to consume Yebisu and steak dinners.

[::KL7::]

I bought a book of Harlan Ellison…mainly because I read about it somewhere here in the forums.

[LucAAAs]

Evangelion overall lead me to learn more about different cultures and mythologies, which I find really cool as a culture nerd and specially as an artist that enjoys incorporating different philosophies into my drawings and ideas. As much as I appreciate this newfound interest, the thing that most benefitted me certainly was the interest I developed in psychoanalysis, which eventually lead me to discovering how past traumatic experiences were damaging my current self and are guiding me towards healing.

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

Sayonara Jupiter was pretty sweet. I just need to get around to watching UFO at some point.

[MissDeamy]

Drawing, I mean it inspired me to draw better or at least become crazy with my artwork because back then I would just draw characters standing and having no pose at all but after watching Evangelion it legit inspired me to be more dynamic with my poses when I draw, and so I practice even more now thanks to Evangelion.
It also made me wanna draw giant robots, oh the anatomy is so fun to look at haha!
Robot are cool