Komm Susser Tod and the fictive dream

 

Introduction:

While there are countless mecha anime, Neon Genesis Evangelion is arguably the most influential one, and undisputably one of the most influential anime of all time. When it was created by Hideki Anno in 1995, most anime was focused on epic fights and more traditional hero’s journeys, Evangelion instead threw all of that to the wind to create a more personal story based instead around the psychology of its very damaged main cast. The culmination of its exploration of trauma and interpersonal relationships was the movie End of Evangelion, which was directed by Hideaki Anno and Kazuya Tsurumaki and written by Hideaki Anno. It was released in Japan in July 1997.  

For this post, I’m going to look at Komm Susser Tod, one of the most striking songs from the climax of End of Evangelion. Before I go into the story significance of the song, I will first provide some background for the song. Komm Susser Tod was composed and arranged by Shiro Sagisu, its lyrics were originally written in Japanese by Hideki Anno, but were adapted to English by Mike Wyzgowski, lastly the vocals were done by Arianne Schreiber.

Story:

Evangelion packs as much story as possible into its 26 episodes and movie, so even when trying to keep it brief, this section will be decently sized. Evangelion is set in a somewhat recovered post-apocalyptic world, 20 years before the start of the show, a massive explosion in Antarctica was caused by a long asleep primordial being known as Adam’s DNA being combined with human DNA. The explosion was so massive it was effectively covered up as a massive meteor and is now collectively known as the second impact. The surviving governments of the world realized that, eventually, new beings unlike any known life would attempt to combine with Adam once again to start the third and final impact. This all leads to the creation of Project Eva, which was created by the protagonist’s father to stop the Angels. Project Eva creates mechs known as Evangelion, to fight the Angels, but they can only be piloted by a select few.

The series follows 14 year old Shinji Ikari, one of the only pilots, who serves as an inversion of the normal action protagonist. While most protagonists at the time would be confident and fight without much hesitation, in the first episode, Shinji has to be guilted by his father into piloting an Eva. As we see more of Shinji, we learn that he suffers from significant issues due to his father’s neglect of him after his mother’s death now Shinji has a deep seated self-loathing that leads him to believe no one can love him. As the series continues, he cracks mentally more and more.

The movie starts with the protagonist having defeated the last Angel, but now he and all of the cast are at their lowest after so much loss and pain throughout the show, but even with the Angels gone, things only get worse. An organization launches attacks on Project Eva’s base, seeking to end the world in a very different way. A shadow organization known as SEELE seeks to acquire Adam’s opposite, Eve, to bring about instrumentality, a merging of all souls into one. During the battle, Shinji can’t save those around him, and he finally breaks completely. SEELE fails, though, because Rei, Shinji’s friend, combines with Eve and ascends to godhood before offering Shinji a wish, and finally, beyond the point of sanity, he wishes for it all to end. The song Komm Susser Tod plays as we see the world end, and the movie then transitions from different character perspectives as the song plays.

Role of the song:

The song plays to express the inner thoughts of Shinji as the world ends. He couldn’t save anyone, and so he has fallen into complete despair. As the song plays, we see numerous different perspectives as the world ends, and the song is used so as this happens his different yet equally bleak feelings can be conveyed. Lyrics like “I just keep letting me down, letting me down” show his self-loathing, while other lyrics convey the character's guilt so we can understand what is going through his head emotionally without having to have him on screen. Another important part of the song expressing Shinji’s feelings is that he is so far gone sanity wise it would feel awkward if he was clearly monologuing his feelings during the scene and also it wouldn’t as easily allow for other perspectives to be simultaneously shown. Another feeling of the protagonist it expresses is that his long running self-hatred has come to a head with the belief he shouldn’t exist either.

Musical Elements:

Melody:

The Melody of Komm Susser Tod purposely contrasts the lyrics of the song, and that’s what makes it so great in my opinion. While the lyrics express so many regrets and negative feelings, the Melody is purposely simple and happy sounding. At the start, the piano is firmly at the forefront of the melody, but it quickly changes to the drums, becoming the center of the melody with occasional piano and guitar joining it. In the second half of the song, the center of the melody yet again changes to clapping that is paired with gentle guitar and drums.

Dynamics:

The song’s vocals start off at a medium volume level that feels on par with someone talking, and the instruments, while very different in vibe, stay at similar dynamics. For the first few minutes of the song, it stays very consistent in volume, which benefits the feeling of lamentation the lyrics have. Around the four minute mark, the chorus increases in volume, and the song shifts somewhat up in energy from it. The dynamics were changed to complement the shifting intensity of the scene the song was made for.

Social commentary:

Evangelion as a series is full of social commentary, and I feel like this song is no different. When I listen to Komm Susser Tod outside of the movie, one of the main things I feel like they are describing is fear of connection with others, with how so many phrases are about failed connections with others and the pain from it. I also feel like they carry themes and commentary on how self-loathing can affect how we perceive our connections with others. Lyrics like “I just keep letting me down” and “So I feel like the best thing I can do is end it all, and leave forever” reinforce the themes of self-loathing in the song, and then lyrics like “I know I’ve let you down” show how feelings about yourself color how you think others feel. The song feels very nihilistic in nature, but to me, it also doesn’t seem like it's treating the nihilism in it as a good thing, instead treating it as a sad conclusion of thinking reached by someone in despair.

Personal reaction:

End of Evangelion is one of my all-time favorite movies, second only to Blade Runner 2049, and this song is one of the many reasons I love it so much. The way the melody and lyrics contrast in emotional tone, and the singer’s voice, make it so pleasing to listen to for me. Another thing I love about the song is the lyrics and how, to me, they convey different themes about connection and self hatred while also working within the movie to echo the protagonist’s emotions so well. I really enjoyed getting to analyze the song and dive deeper into what it was about, now I enjoy it even more.

Citations:

“Arianne Schreiber – Komm, Süsser Tod.” Genius, 2020, genius.com/Arianne-schreiber-komm-susser-tod-lyrics. 

Komm, süsser Tod - EvaWiki - An Evangelion Wiki - EvaGeeks.org. (n.d.). https://wiki.evageeks.org/Komm,_süsser_Tod

Napier, Susan J. “When the Machines Stop: Fantasy, Reality, and Terminal Identity in ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ and ‘Serial Experiments Lain.’” Science Fiction Studies, vol. 29, no. 3, 2002, pp. 418–35. JSTOR,http://www.jstor.org/stable/4241108. Accessed 23 Mar. 2026.