Also, the "Star Gate" sequence in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey features different kinds of psychedelic shapes and forms, including pulsating objects which momentarily look very Ramiel-like. Just how the hell do you know?” demanded General Drummond, loosening his sidearm. “That thing has the strength of a bulldozer.” While the Ideon references in Evangelion are especially significant, Evangelion is not the first show by Studio Gainax to pay homage to it: many of their acclaimed works made before and after Evangelion contain more or less subtle references to Ideon, as demonstrated by the following list:

A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy. Devilman, a manga series by Go Nagai, features a similar apocalyptic ending. Yoshiyuki Sadamoto said in an interview published in the Deluxe Edition of Der Mond [1] that both he and Hideaki Anno were influenced by Go Nagai and that they wanted an ending similar to that of Devilman. If only because the Protestant ministers were visibly dubious, Father O’Malley agreed. “By all means. Oh, yes.” The date September 13th is a reference to this 1975 science fiction show by Gerry Anderson. For more details, see Otaku no Video (the first Gainax show to make this reference). In Evangelion, Second Impact is prominently seen from the moon. Also, in a reversal of positions, the Sun is shown with the crescent moon under it, and Earth below, during Third Impact.

Recommended Reading

The Blue Water Crystal from Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water is a blue octahedron, although more elongated in shape than Ramiel.

The Super Dimension Fortress Macross is a classic mecha anime that aired on October 3rd, 1982, and started a franchise of TV Series, OVAs, and Movies. It was directed by Noboru Ishiguro and featured unique mech designs that were based on the Grumman F-14 Tomcat. Hideaki Anno was a key animator on this project (as also pointed out in Otaku no Video). [2] Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007): In episode 14, the Gurren-Lagann fires a swarm of drill missiles in a very ideonish fashion. PDF / EPUB File Name: The_General_Zapped_an_Angel__New_Stories_o_-_Howard_Fast.pdf, The_General_Zapped_an_Angel__New_Stories_o_-_Howard_Fast.epubAs a somewhat bizarre ending note, it has been pointed out that the helmet of Dave Bowman's space suit bears some resemblance to Shamshel's head. DIV “ The General Zapped an Angel was written for fun, and offers me a chance to smile at the absurdity of human existence. Therefore, these stories of fantasy and science fiction are among the most serious writing I have done.” —Howard Fast/div Both 2001 and Evangelion offer ideas surrounding evolution and the advancement of the human species. In 2001, the mysterious monoliths appear at the dawn of man, and later invites man to Jupiter for the next stage in evolution, the Starchild. Their role can be compared to Evangelion's First Ancestral Race and the Secret Dead Sea Scrolls, which guides Seele toward their goal of Human Instrumentality, the next stage in human evolution. The Mouse” - 5 - My favorite story in the collection: A group of small, densely heavy aliens come to Earth and modify a mouse. The mouse gains consciousness and self-awareness. The mouse collects data for the alien beings, but soon learns that self-awareness can be a dolorous experience, especially when you are the only one of your kind.

Arthur C. Clarke's novel, Childhood's End, which was published in 1953 features a concept similar to Instrumentality. In Childhood's End, a race of devil-like aliens called the Overlords land on Earth and immediately put a stop to all wars, creating a virtual utopia on Earth. Years pass and children start displaying telephathic abilities. The Overlords reveal that their true purpose for arriving at Earth was to prepare humanity for absorbtion into the Overmind, an entity that exists as a hive-mind of consciousnesses from numerous civilizations. As the novel comes to a close, all adults have died off and the telephathic children, all that is left of humanity is absorbed into the Overmind. Mark Harris' Preface to this 50th-anniversary edition of Howard Fast's collection The General Zapped an Angel is absolutely spot-on: the details in these stories may be a little dated (the book was originally published in 1969, after all), but Fast's satire still bites just as deeply. Penance is your field, gentlemen,” said General Drummond. “I have the problem of a war, the press, and this body.” The story of SDF Macross starts when an interstellar war erupts between humanity and the Zentradi, a space-faring race of warrior giants. While at first there seems to be very little in common with the two races, it is eventually revealed that both are genetically amazingly similar. In a final bombshell revelation it is found out that both the humans and the Zentradi were created in the distant past by an older race of humanoid aliens known as Protoculture: the Zentradi were created for war, humans for preserving culture. The Interval” - 3 - A story with an interesting concept and weak execution: A man visits the home that he is attempting to sell. He is in a transitional state. Upon looking out the window, he sees that the landscape is literally being rolled up like a carpet and the world is transitioning as well. He drives to the city, seeing the same thing everywhere. He finds a group of people and they experience the transition together.

The story's very ambiguity steadily feeds its mysteriousness and power, and Danielewski's mastery of postmodernist and cinema-derived rhetoric up the ante continuously, and stunningly. One of the most impressive excursions into the supernatural in many a year. It has a body—a very substantial body. In fact, it’s as large as a young elephant, twenty feet tall. It’s lying in Hangar F, under guard.” Detonator Orgun is a three-episode OAV from 1991. While it's impossible to tell for certain whether or not it actually influenced the creators of Evangelion, there are a number of similarities that are worth noticing, even if they are entirely coincidental: The second episode of the 2007 TV series Masters of Science Fiction, "The Awakening", was adapted from the title story of this book.

Maybe we don’t explain it, sir. I mean, there it is. It happened. The damn thing’s dead, isn’t it? Let’s bury it. Isn’t that what a soldier does—buries his dead, tightens his belt a notch, and goes on from there? Since Rabbi Bernstein represented the oldest faith that was concerned with angels, the others deferred to him. Well, Kelly answered, I don’t quite know how to answer that, sir. An angel is an angel. One of God’s angels, sir. The Mohawk” - 3 - A story that feels out of place in the collection: A Native Mohawk man decides to meditate on the steps of a Catholic church. The man simply wants to experience being. But a crowd forms around the man and it becomes a spectacle. The church has to decide what to do with the man on their property. General Drummond, sir, there’s a committee of chaplains, sir, who insist on seeing you, and they’re very up tight about something, and I know how you feel about chaplains, but this seems to be something special, and I think you ought to see them.”The devil with this theological nonsense! The plain fact of the matter is that we are standing in front of one of God’s holy angels, which we in our animal-like sinfulness have slain. What penance we must do is more to the point.” In 1980s Thole experienced an eye disease that compelled him to reduce his work activity and to leave Urania covers to Vicente Segrelles and Oscar Chichoni. His last work for Urania is for N°1330 of 1998: in the meantime, Thole earned a robust fame as one of the greatest European book cover artists. He worked also for French and German publishers.