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Hikaru Utada Sings Evangelion: 3.0's Ending Theme

Singer Hikaru Utada contributed a new song, "Sakura Nagashi," as the ending theme song of Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (Evangelion Shin Gekijō-ban Q Quickening), even though she has been on hiatus since the end of 2010. The film just opened at midnight on Saturday.

This is her first new song since November 2010, but her record company emphasizes that this does not represent her return to music — just a standalone release. Evangelion character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto drew the jacket cover for the song's DVD single, which will go on sale on December 26.

Utada's official YouTube channel is streaming the song's entire music video, which was directed by Cannes Grand Prix-winning director Naomi Kawase:

Utada also contributed the ending theme song "Beautiful World" for 2007's Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, and an acoustic version of the same song became the ending theme for 2009's Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance. On October 14 of this year, she posted a photograph of Evangelion fingernail art on her Twitter account. On Friday, she noted that Evangelion: 3.0 would be opening the next day and urged her followers to watch it.

Source: Oricon

Update: More information added.