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Evangelion Theme 'Cruel Angel's Thesis' Might Be Tops Globally, but Not in the U.S.

Time and again, the incomparable "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" theme song from Hideaki Anno's classic Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series has topped the anisong rankings in Japan and around the world. It's so popular that Japanese karaoke goers are sick of hearing it over and over again. In 2015, composer Neko Oikawa disclosed that she earned over one hundred million yen (about $830,000 then) in royalties from the song every year.

Globally, it's almost the same story. In ANN's recent survey of over 1,000 of our readers, "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" was the number-one song worldwide outside the U.S. But in the U.S., Yoko Kanno's "Tank!," the jazzy Cowboy Bebop opener, was voted the most popular anime theme song.

While Cowboy Bebop wasn't as big of a hit in Japan, it was a huge hit internationally, particularly in the United States, where it was a staple on the popular Adult Swim programming block. Not coincidentally, the FLCL theme song "Ride On Shooting Star," also fared much better among our U.S. readers than internationally. FLCL was, of course, another very successful Adult Swim title.