If Evangelions soundtrack had not been composed by Shirō Sagisu, how different would the shows mood be? If it had somehow found its way into the hands of someone like Yoko Kanno, would the soundtrack be as loved as it is today? I'm sure I'm not the only person who thinks that the soundtrack, to really any form of media, is one of the most important aspects of it. I think that if Neon Genesis Evangelion's soundtrack had not been as strong as it was, it would've affected the shows reception, maybe negatively, maybe not.

That's a question entirely without answer. There are a lot of composers that would probably have produced reults with a similar feel; at the same time, there are countless others that would have produced a soundtrack that felt differently in just about as many ways.

Blockio wrote:That's a question entirely without answer.

I think the fact that it's entirely without answer makes it a lot more fun to think about. All the possibilities that could've been the Evangelion soundtrack, it's really complete chance that Sagisu ended up composing it in the grand scheme of things.

The best composers produce music that varies widely according to the requirements of the show concerned. Sagisu or Kanno, for instance, can write in a wide variety of styles (Kanno more than Sagisu, I'd say overall ). So it could be that the music in Evangelion is to a considerable extent the right music for that show and would have turned out that way whichever (decent) composer had been asked to write it.

I'd say there are certain "Sagisuisms" though which are recurring in his work which I would say perfectly fit Eva. Can't properly explain cause I don't know music that well. It's the way he ends certain themes, there's just something deeply melancholic about it.

Kanno is amazing too though.

pwhodges wrote:So it could be that the music in Evangelion is to a considerable extent the right music for that show and would have turned out that way whichever (decent) composer had been asked to write it.

I guess that's probably the superior way of thinking of it. It's just fun to think about how different it could've turned out.