was a Japanese voice actress and narrator. Born in Maebashi, she became interested in acting during her youth, and while educated at Ferris University, worked as a background extra at Shochiku. After spending years working as an office lady for a Tokyo executive, she enrolled in the and joined the talent agency Mausu Promotion, with whom she was still affiliated at the time of her death.

She was best known for her portrayal of Motoko Kusanagi in the Ghost in the Shell film and franchise, and she also voiced Konan in Naruto, Caster in Fate/stay night, Lisa Lisa in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Chun-Li in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Claudette in Queen's Blade, Karura in Utawarerumono, Bayonetta in the Bayonetta franchise, Hanami in Jujutsu Kaisen, Kyrie Ushiromiya in Umineko no Naku Koro ni, and Rhinedottir in Genshin Impact.

Biography

Early life and career

Tanaka was born on November 14, 1962, in Maebashi, the capital city of Gunma Prefecture. Her paternal great-uncle was , who was from 1941 until 1943. During her youth, she and her family often saw live Takarazuka Revue performances and went to the local cinema theatre Orion-za,

After graduating from Ferris, she took a break from acting and relocated to Tokyo to become an office lady for a private company's male executive. While she continued her dancing career during her office lady career, she decided to end it because "somewhere in my mind [she] felt like [she] had done everything [in dancing she] could". After failing to find a talent agency that would hire her, she was eventually invited to join Ezaki Production by manager Mitsue Ono.

Outside of Ghost in the Shell, among her other voice acting roles in anime were Coffee in Cowboy Bebop, Margot Langer in Monster, Caster in Fate/stay night, Harumi Kiyama in A Certain Scientific Railgun, Konan in Naruto: Shippuden, Yuri Nikaido in The World God Only Knows, Lisa Lisa in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Reina in Yakuza Kiwami, and Hanami in Jujutsu Kaisen. In 2020, she won the Foreign Movie/Drama Award at the 14th Seiyu Awards. She then starred as Mary Sera in Case Closed, Flamme in Frieren, Rose in The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic, and Ōmurasaki no Omae in Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master. Other actresses she dubbed include Kate Beckinsale, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lopez, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Julia Roberts. She also worked as a narrator. She considered Kikuko Inoue to be her best friend.

Outside of acting, she also had a side career of giving pandas names, including as a godparent of Adventure World's giant pandas Yuihin and Saihin, and at point appearing as the anonymous in 's panda name prediction radio show . She was a fan of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters baseball team, and she and Rika Fukami would often go to the stadiums to attend games.

On August 20, 2024, Tanaka died at the age of 61, one year after being diagnosed with an undisclosed illness. Condolences came from many of the people, teams, and works she worked with, including her Fate/stay night co-star Jouji Nakata, Ghost in the Shell co-star Koichi Yamadera, and the Frieren and Nier franchises.

References

  • Official agency profile
  • 2nd GIG interview