"NEON GENESIS EVANGELION" lyrics:
"Amaki shi yo, kitare" and "Komm, süsser Tod"

• Amaki shi yo, kitare (Transliteration + Translation)
• Komm, süsser Tod (Lyrics)
• Amaki shi yo, kitare (Original Japanese)

"Komm, süsser Tod" (German for "Come, Sweet Death") is the title given by Hideaki Anno to piece M-10 created for "The End of Evangelion". Bizarrely enough, it is sung entirely in English (by the vocalist ARIANNE), but that is not its original state. It began as verse, written by Anno himself, entitled "Amaki shi yo, kitare" (guess what that means ;;>), from which Mike Wyzgowski created the loose English adaptation that you hear in the film.

Since my original attempt to translate this, Eva Otaku's page posted a literal translation by Bochan_bird (who is rather well-known in NGE circles for his numerous other translation work). While this contains a couple of errors (he transliterates one line as "Kowai dakara" when it is supposed to be "Kirai dakara", and translates accordingly), he's a guy who knows his stuff, whereas I am a mere padawan. His translation tipped me off to several places where I goofed (a world of difference between "I'm afraid of hurting myself" and "I'm afraid of myself being hurt" ::p), which have been subsequently fixed. My translation should be accurate now, at least, although I've aimed for a freer, more flowing translation than Bochan's. Take your pick as to which you prefer.

On the song itself... While Sagisu's rather upbeat composition may seem completely at odds with the scene in which it is used, the lyrics are very relevant -- not only to the scene, but to "NGE" in general. They could be considered a direct reflection of Shinji's mindset -- and perhaps, by the same token, contain Anno's own feelings from the period of his depression, pre-NGE. The themes contained in "Amaki" actually relate to NGE's characters as a whole, and references to the verse actually turn up throughout the series. In #25, Rei says, "Mu e to kaeritai no" ("I want to return to nothing"). Gendou's dialogue with Yui, Kaworu, and Rei in #26' effectively summarizes the entire verse. And there are others I can't remember at the moment. Next time you watch NGE, keep an ear open for the references -- they're there.

Along with a transliteration and translation of "Amaki shi yo, kitare", I've also included Wyzgowski's adaptation (copied word-for-word from the S^² Works booklet) and the original kanji/kana version of "Amaki". (For the latter, your browser will need to have Japanese character support.) And just so you don't miss it, I've also covered "Komm, süsser Tod"'s sister piece, "Everything you've ever dreamed".

Back to the top

Back to the top

Back to the main page

�@