[ANISONG] Cruel Angel's Thesis AniSong writer earns over 100 million yen in royalties

The OP theme song for Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cruel Angel’s Thesis”, is one of the most recognized AniSongs in history. It is no wonder that the song-writer who wrote the song, Neko Oikawa, has become one of the most successful AniSong writers in history.

The song has become one of the most played AniSongs in karaoke bars and is still one of the most played anime theme songs around… 20 years after Neon Genesis Evangelion was first shown, which speaks volumes about just how big of a classic it really is. Hey, it’s even been covered by Hayate the Combat Butler!’s Hinagiku Katsura, who is voiced by Shizuka Itou, during one episode!

In an interview with the Japanese variety program, Out × Deluxe, Neko Oikawa has revealed that she is receiving over 100 million yen in royalties every year because of the song. However, she’s not nmaking as much from the karaokes as one might think, as only 0.08 yen go to her every time someone sings Cruel Angel’s Thesis. She said that she earns a lot more with pachinko machines than karaoke, as she earns between 30 million to 100 million yen annually.

However, despite earning a lot each year, she revealed that she only has 100,000 yen in her bank account, however, that may be because her ex-husband recently bought a cave in Cappadocia, Turkey worth 300 million yen. Ouch!

She also revealed that despite being responsible for making her a lot of money, she still hasn’t watched Neon Genesis Evangelion yet and said that “It’s a finished job, so [I’m] not really [interested],” and added that when she finished the song,  “It wasn’t even colored. I wrote the song, and my job was done. I wrote it in about two hours.” Previously, she also revealed that she’s never even met the composer, Hidetoshi Sato, before even writing the song.

Source: ANN