One hockey documentary produced for the Olympics haws resurfaced and gone viral with anime fans for its surprising Neon Genesis Evangelion inspired opening! Released back in 2018, The Nagano Tapes: Rewound, Replayed & Reviewed was written and directed by Ondřej Hudeček (with Jon Weinbach also sharing a writing credit). Apparently it’s been hiding a huge shout out to the world of anime for the past three years right under everyone’s nose. But as anime fans have started to latch onto the documentary in the past week, the surprise goes even further because of how overall dedicated it is to its tribute.
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As first spotted and thrust into the anime world by @VoltySquirrel on Twitter with the following tease, “I cannot stress enough just how much you need to stop whatever it is you are doing and watch the opening titles of this documentary. I promise you’re not ready for what’s coming.” You’ll want to check out the opening minutes of The Nagano Tapes as it features a beat by beat recreation of Neon Genesis Evangelion‘s opening complete with the Yoko Takahashi performed theme, “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis.” Check it out below:
ripped it so you don’t have to watch it on the Olympic channel because lmaooooooo
get in the hockey rink, Shinji https://t.co/gytZS67WGe pic.twitter.com/PyhMdqTnEI
— Fred Durst’s Society For The Arts (@caylenb) May 27, 2021
Director Ondřej Hudeček was delighted to see the anime world catch onto The Nagano Tapes‘ opening minutes, and took to Twitter to reveal he has been waiting for anime fans to find it since its release in 2018. The film itself catalogues how the Czech Republic went on to win the gold medal in the ice hockey tournament in Nagano, Japan in 1998, so the time frame fits with the 1995 release of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
It took me 3 years, but I finally made Anime Twitter go nuts. pic.twitter.com/DVd7LP5e4y
— Ondřej Hudeček (@ondrejhudecek) May 27, 2021
Neon Genesis Evangelion‘s opening theme and sequence is arguably one of the most famous anime openings of all time, and has since been remixed, parodied, and referenced in tons of other fan projects along with even some official releases from the Evangelion franchise such as the one time they got a full kitten makeover.
Evangelion itself released the final film in the franchise in Japan recently, and Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.0 Thrice Upon a Time has broken some major records for the franchise. An international release date has yet to be made known, unfortunately. What do you think of this blend of ice hockey and Neon Genesis Evangelion? Let us know all of your thoughts in the comments!
