Youko Takahashi is a Japanese singer most famous for "A Cruel Angel's Thesis," the iconic opening theme to Neon Genesis Evangelion. She's actually tied to that franchise pretty heavily—she also sang the closing theme, a groovy acid bossa cover of "Fly Me to the Moon," plus "Refrain of Soul," which closes Evangelion: Death and Rebirth.

Beyond Eva, she's done anime theme work for several other shows. She performed "Metamorphose" for studio Gainax's 20th anniversary series This Ugly Yet Beautiful World, and picked up ending and opening themes for Shakugan no Shana and Pumpkin Scissors respectively. Among anime fans, her voice has become pretty synonymous with late-90s and early-2000s series.