The Weeknd just did something nobody saw coming. Saturday night at Belluna Dome in Saitama, Japan — the opener of the Asian leg of the After Hours Til Dawn tour — he debuted a brand-new, unreleased song called "Tokyo."
And it's not just any song. "Tokyo" samples "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" by Yoko Takahashi — the iconic 1995 opening theme of Neon Genesis Evangelion, one of the most famous anime songs ever recorded.
Then he took it further than anyone expected: Yoko Takahashi herself joined him on stage and performed the full theme with him. The multimedia visuals for the moment were directed by Yoko Taro, the legendary creator of NieR, with imagery mixing Evangelion and NieR:Automata.
The Weeknd credited the moment on social media himself: "Presented by YOKO TARO ft. YOKO TAKAHASHI."
This is the second city-linked unreleased debut on this tour, following "Rio" with Anitta back in April 2026. No official release date for "Tokyo" has been announced — and with The Weeknd recently confirming he is NOT retiring the moniker, the next era might be bigger than anyone expected.
🧠 SNUBBZ TAKE: Two Yokos and one Abel just cooked the coldest anime-pop crossover ever. Evangelion is sacred ground — anime Twitter has been undefeated since Saturday. 🌕
Which anime theme should The Weeknd sample next? 👀👇
Sources: Jambase (https://www.jambase.com/article/the-weeknd-tokyo-yoko-takahashi-video) • Hypebeast (https://hypebeast.com/2026/9/the-weeknd-tokyo-new-song-sampling-neon-genesis-evangelion-after-hours-til-dawn-tour-debut) • Paste Magazine (https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/the-weeknd/the-weeknd-debuts-new-song-tokyo-in-japan)