Han Roro Reimagines 'A Cruel Angel's Thesis' 30 Years After Its Neon Genesis Evangelion Debut

Singer-songwriter Han Roro released her remake of "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" on July 30, bringing a softer emotional register to one of the most recognizable anime songs ever recorded. The track drops as the second entry in the J-Pop Remake project, a series curated by singer and TV personality Kang Nam that pairs celebrated Japanese songs with Korean artists.

The original was recorded by Takahashi Yoko in 1995 as the opening theme for Neon Genesis Evangelion, and it has never really left the cultural conversation. Thirty years on, the song still carries serious weight: in 2024, Japan's TV Asahi polled anime fans worldwide for the "World Anisong Grand Election" and "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" came in first. That kind of staying power is earned. Lyricist Oikawa Neko built the song around a collision between philosophical language and raw feeling, with themes of existential independence that have made it read less like a pop opener and more like a philosophical text set to a melody.

Han Roro's approach keeps the original's driving band arrangement and its sense of scale, but her vocal is noticeably more restrained than Takahashi's soaring delivery. Where the original leans into a kind of grand, end-of-century catharsis, Han Roro's version pulls that energy inward slightly, letting the emotion breathe through texture rather than volume. A teaser clip released the day before the official drop already drew warm responses from listeners, with the interplay between her vocals and the live band session drawing particular attention.

This isn't Han Roro's first time with the song. She covered it at the J-pop festival Wonder Rivet 2024, and the reception there appears to have been part of what led to this full studio release.

The J-Pop Remake project got its start with Taeyeon of Girls' Generation, whose cover of "Banchouka" climbed to No. 7 on Melon's Top 100 chart as of the morning of July 30, a strong early signal for what Kang Nam is building with the series. Han Roro's entry follows that momentum with a song that may be even more immediately recognizable to a generation raised on Evangelion fan edits and late-night anime blocks.

For listeners who grew up with the original, hearing that opening melody reinterpreted through Han Roro's quieter vocal style is the kind of small recalibration that makes a familiar song feel worth revisiting.