Takahashi Yoko

Best known for her contributions to the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise, Japanese pop singer Yoko Takahashi debuted in the early '90s with her first album, Pizzicato, and went on to foster a decades-spanning career that balanced mainstream trends and frequent anime-related collaborations. The most notable of those efforts remains "A Cruel Angel's Thesis," the famed opening theme song to the original Evangelion series that premiered in 1995. The Tokyo native emerged in 1991 with the single "Okaeri" from her debut LP, 1992's Pizzicato, which combined the sounds of contemporary Western acts like Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston (on tracks such as "Magic Kiss") with the emotive ballad stylings of Japanese predecessors like Mayumi Itsuwa ("P.S. I Miss You"). She quickly followed with the back-to-back releases Kugatsu no Sotsugyo (1993) and Watashi wo Mitsukete (1994). At this point, she was recruited for what was to become her signature song, "A Cruel Angel's Thesis," from the iconic anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. A Top 30 hit on the Japanese charts, it was bested in 1997 by another Evangelion song, "Soul's Refrain" from Evangelion: Death and Rebirth, the first film in the franchise. Soaring to number 3 on the charts, it became her biggest mainstream hit to date and helped push Refrain: The Songs Were Inspired By Evangelion into the Top 10 on the main album chart. Boosted by this crossover success, her sixth solo album, Li-La, maintained her chart presence, but she soon transitioned into a period of mixed success that lasted until 2005. That year, she returned to the charts with tenth album Sore wa Toki ni Anata wo Hagemashi, Toki ni Sasae to Naru Mono, which spawned the hit singles "WING" and "Yoake Umarekuru Shoujo," the end theme for the anime Shakugan no Shana. Following this brief resurgence, Takahashi released a handful of best-of compilations and singles to close the 2000s, but none were hits. Falling back onto the tried-and-true world of Evangelion, she recorded a 2009 version of "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" for 20th Century Boys & Girls, which shot her back onto both the album and singles charts. Takahashi's 2010s solo output remained steady but with mixed success. Evangelion remained her sweet spot, however, and she contined to contribute to the series with 2019's Evangelion Extreme, which included singles "Doukoku he no Monologue" and "Shibashi Sora ni Inorite." Yet another Evangelion compilation, the retrospective Evangelion: Finally, landed in 2021. Highlighting the work of Takahashi and Megumi Hayashibara, the set was a hit, peaking just outside the Top 100 on the Billboard 200.
© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo