The Weeknd walked out at Belluna Dome in Saitama on Friday night, September 19, to open the Asia leg of After Hours Til Dawn, and somewhere in the set he played a song nobody had heard. It's called "Tokyo." It's built on "A Cruel Angel's Thesis," the 1995 opening to Neon Genesis Evangelion. And the woman who sang that theme in 1995, Yoko Takahashi, was on stage singing it with him (Billboard, NME).
That alone is a moment. The screen behind him is the story.
## Who cut the video The visuals were directed by Yoko Taro, the creator of the NieR games, who was announced in July as the director of a new Evangelion series. The Weeknd's own post credited the piece exactly one way: "Presented by YOKO TARO ft. YOKO TAKAHASHI" (The Weeknd on X). No song title. No explanation.
The montage mixes footage you know from the original show with shots nobody online has been able to place, and it runs poetic on-screen copy in the same style as Taro's July teaser. There's one still that stopped everybody: Eva Unit-01 staring down 2B and 9S from NieR: Automata (Kotaku).
## What it probably is, and what it isn't Kotaku's read is that this may be the first new footage from Taro's series, dropped at a concert instead of a trailer. That fits the man. He announces canon on banana stickers. It also fits a summer where The Weeknd has been sitting with Hidetaka Miyazaki, Goichi Suda, a private Persona 6 demo, and commissioning Yoshitaka Amano art. A Weeknd song inside the new Evangelion is not a stretch.
But say it plain: Khara hasn't confirmed a frame of it. Taro directed a concert visual. Whether it's series footage is an inference. On the show it's "looks like," not "confirmed."
## Why this is an anime story and a music story at once Evangelion is the anime a 25-to-45 audience knows even if they never watched anime: the Adult Swim run, the theme every karaoke bar in the world has. The biggest R&B act alive sampling it, in Japan, with the original singer, is the clearest sign yet that anime is the mainstream's mood board and not a side room. For anyone making beats, it's also a masterclass in how to clear and honor a sample: bring the original voice on stage.
## What's next "Tokyo" has no release date. The official live video is on The Weeknd's YouTube. Taro's Evangelion series has a July teaser and no premiere date. Watch Khara's channels and Taro's account this week; if a real trailer follows, this concert was the soft open.
## Sources - The Weeknd Debuts New Song Sampling 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' Theme — Billboard, Sept. 19, 2026 - The Weeknd debuts anime-sampling new song 'Tokyo' with Yoko Takahashi as he kicks off Asia tour — NME, Sept. 19, 2026 - Potential Glimpse At Yoko Taro's Neon Genesis Evangelion Drops At The Weeknd Concert — Kotaku, Sept. 20, 2026 - The Weeknd - Tokyo ft. Yoko Takahashi | Directed by Yoko Taro (Live in Japan) — The Weeknd, YouTube - The First English Trailer For Yoko Taro's Evangelion Series — Kotaku, July 5, 2026

