Yoko Taro linked to new Evangelion project after The Weeknd performance in Saitama

The Weeknd debuted a new, still-untitled song in Saitama on 19 September 2026, with visuals reportedly created by Yoko Taro.

In an official post, The Weeknd wrote: “Presented by YOKO TARO ft. YOKO TAKAHASHI”.

What happened

Kotaku wrote on 20 September 2026 about a The Weeknd performance in Saitama, Japan, where he premiered a new song for the first time. According to the report, the track had not been officially named yet and the performance included visual elements attributed to Yoko Taro. The publication connects the show to a broader Evangelion context, but does not say with certainty what kind of project is behind it.

The same report links the performance to Neon Genesis Evangelion. The song is said to reference the anime, including samples of “Cruel Angel’s Thesis” and a contribution from Yoko Takahashi, the singer of Evangelion’s original opening theme. That makes her name an important clue in the reporting, since she has been tied to the franchise since 1995 through “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis”.

On 19 September 2026, The Weeknd posted on X: “Presented by YOKO TARO ft. YOKO TAKAHASHI”. That publicly framed the collaboration, but the post does not independently confirm what the underlying Evangelion project actually is. It does, however, show that The Weeknd explicitly linked the names of Yoko Taro and Yoko Takahashi to the performance.

Separately, multiple secondary sources say Yoko Taro had previously been linked to a new Evangelion project. Based on the available material, it remains unclear whether this is a series, film, or another format. So while the information does support a connection between Yoko Taro, Evangelion, and the concert performance, it does not confirm the project’s exact form.

Background

Yoko Taro is best known as the creator of NieR: Automata and for his experimental storytelling style. That is part of why the combination of his name, Evangelion, and The Weeknd drew so much attention in coverage of the concert. In the available sources, he is mentioned not only as the creator of the visuals, but also as a name that had already been associated with a new Evangelion project.

Yoko Takahashi is closely tied to the Evangelion franchise through her performance of “Cruel Angel’s Thesis”, the opening theme of the original 1995 anime. Her name in The Weeknd’s post is therefore a concrete clue pointing to the Evangelion link. The combination of her name and Yoko Taro’s in a single official post is one of the strongest public-facing hints in the story.

The wider context also points to broader reporting about a new Evangelion project with Yoko Taro reportedly involved as a writer, but that information remains secondary and not fully detailed in the provided sources. As a result, it is still unclear whether the concert performance was a standalone promotional collaboration, a reference to an existing project, or the first public hint at a larger Evangelion initiative.

Caution is also needed regarding the concert visuals themselves. Kotaku describes a visual montage and mentions a still showing Eva Unit-01 facing NieR: Automata characters 2B and 9S, but the available information does not confirm that this was new official Evangelion footage. What the sources do make clear is that the performance deliberately played with Evangelion iconography and placed Yoko Taro and Yoko Takahashi at the center of it.

Sources

• Kotaku: “Potential Glimpse At Yoko Taro’s Neon Genesis Evangelion Drops At The Weeknd Concert”
• The Weeknd (@theweeknd) X/Twitter post, 19 September 2026