It’s the 22nd anniversary of Hikaru Utada‘s debut on Wednesday (December 9), and she and her staff are celebrating in a major way.
The 37-year-old First Love legend, who has a Netflix series on the way based on her songs, is keeping with tradition by announcing a brand new single for the latest and final installment in the Evangelion series, EVANGELION:3.0+1.0 THRICE UPON A TIME, which hits theaters on January 23, 2021.
The song is called “One Last Kiss,” out digitally on January 24, and will be the theme for the forthcoming film. And that’s not all.
Hikki’s also dropping an EP on January 27 featuring all of her theme songs from the Evangelion film series, which will be made available in physical CD format, as well as a limited 12″ vinyl. (And if you, like me, are not familiar with the series, the artwork features main character Shinji, while the vinyl cover features Rei.)
Hikaru Utada's new single "One Last Kiss" revealed as theme for “EVANGELION:3.0+1.0 THRICE UPON A TIME”!!https://t.co/gtl2B26ueE#HikaruUtada #OneLastKiss kb pic.twitter.com/ecOKTV4APg
— 宇多田ヒカルSTAFF (@hikki_staff) December 8, 2020
Hikaru’s provided the theme song of every Evangelion in the theatrical film series, and each song is reliably fantastic: “Beautiful World” (EVANGELION: 1.0 YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE), “Beautiful World -PLANiTb Acoustica Mix-” (EVANGELION: 2.0 YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE) and “Sakura Nagashi” (EVANGELION: 3.0 YOU CAN (NOT) REDO), as well as “Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words) -2007 MIX-” for the trailer of EVANGELION: 1.0 YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE.
Plus, to keep us all entertained between now and January while we wait for the new tune, Hikki’s staff just rolled out a special website featuring 22-song playlists from industry players, media types and fellow superstars, including the “Lucid” superstar and longtime Hikaru stan herself, Rina Sawayama.
“I’ve loved Utada ever since I saw her ‘Automatic’ video in 1998. I remember dancing in front of the armchair in our living room just like she did in the video, and her music was literally all I listened to growing up ! It was really hard to select my favourites, as I love all her albums,” Rina said. Taste.
You can also submit your own playlists to @hikki_staff on Twitter using #hikaruutada22 with a URL to your playlist, and 200 fans will receive a “One Last Kiss” plastic file folder. So basically, get to tweeting.
New Hikaru Utada to kick off 2021: that’s one reason to have hope for our future.
Click here to find Hikaru Utada CDs and vinyl on sale now.
Photo credit: YouTube / Sony Music Japan
