Evangelion Gets Its First Hard Rock Cafe Japan Collab, With a Unit-01 Sukajan and Store-Only Pins

If you've ever wanted to see Shinji and Asuka in a Hard Rock Cafe tee, Hard Rock Cafe Japan has you covered. The chain announced its first-ever collaboration with the Evangelion franchise, a merch line called the "EVA Unit-01 Logo Collection", and it goes on sale on November 3, which is a public holiday in Japan.

A Hard Rock Cafe in Tokyo-3

The part I like most is the concept behind the new artwork. It was drawn specifically for this collab around one question: what if there were a Hard Rock Cafe in Tokyo-3? The illustration puts the characters in front of that imagined branch, wearing the chain's classic logo tees and the new Unit-01 logo shirt that's part of the lineup. It's a goofy, very specific crossover, and that's exactly why it works.

What's on sale

Six kinds of items are in the collection:

• Unit-01 logo T-shirt, sizes S to XXL, 9,570 yen. Colors depend on the store: white, grey or black.
• Unit-01 sukajan (souvenir jacket), sizes S to XXL, 66,000 yen.
• Unit-01 logo cap, 5,940 yen.
• Unit-01 logo magnet, 3,080 yen.
• Unit-01 logo shot glass, 1,980 yen, arriving around mid-November.
• Pin badges, 3,080 yen each, with six designs that each belong to a specific store and only 500 per store.

The sukajan is clearly the showpiece, and the store-exclusive pins are the kind of thing collectors will plan whole trips around. The Yokohama pin is set to arrive in early November rather than on launch day.

Where to find it

The goods will be sold at Hard Rock Cafe Tokyo (Roppongi), Ueno-Eki Tokyo, Yokohama, Kyoto, Osaka Namba and Universal CityWalk Osaka. Anyone who buys at least one collab item also gets a special shopping bag, while supplies last, and it isn't sold separately.

If you're in Japan this month, this looks like a fun stop. Full details are on Hard Rock Cafe Japan's announcement page.