Image via the official Ghost in the Shell websiteThe son of voice actor Atsuko Tanaka announced on his X (formerly Twitter) account that his mother passed at the age of 61 on August 20, with Mausu Promotion also announcing the news on the same day.Tanaka’s son, fellow voice actor Hikaru Tanaka, noted that she did not want to reveal the name of the disease but revealed she had been battling the condition for the past year. Atsuko Tanaka is best known as the voice of Motoko Kusanagi in the Ghost in the Shell franchise, Bayonetta in the Bayonetta games, Lisa Lisa in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Hanami in JUJUTSU KAISEN, Konan in Naruto and many more.Here is the message from Hikaru Tanaka along with a translation:
To all of you who have always been a part of our lives,On August 20, 2024, my mother Atsuko Tanaka, a voice actor, passed away.From my heart, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all the fans who loved Atsuko Tanaka and to all those in the industry who took care of her during her life.I’m very sorry to have to inform you of our family relationship in this way.At my mother’s request, we will not reveal the specific name of the disease. Still, in the typical Atsuko Tanaka way, it seems to me that her life, including her nearly year-long battle with this disease, was serious, dignified and a tiny bit playful.I am truly happy to have a mother as strong as she was.Last but not least, I hope you will never forget the works that Atsuko Tanaka has been sincerely involved in, the characters she has lovingly created and the voice actor Atsuko Tanaka herself.With love to my mother, an actor/voice actor, whom I respect and love.
Atsuko Tanaka was born on November 14, 1962, in Maebashi in Gunma Prefecture. Tanaka spoke about her life and career in a 2022 interview with NicoNico News that she wanted to be an actor from a young age, joining the theater and dance clubs in school. While initially becoming an office worker for six years after graduating from university, she was motivated to keep doing theater on the side, eventually being introduced to the Tokyo Announce Gakuin Performing Arts College by a fellow troupe member.Tanaka was inspired by the voice actor Yukiko Nikaido, the first voice of Fujiko Mine, and applied to the same agency (previously , where she was accepted into the agency’s training school and debuted with them in the Japanese dub of Unlawful Entry, voicing Karen Carr. Tanaka would stay with the agency, now known as Mausu Promotion, for the rest of her life.Since then, Tanaka has voiced roles in many popular anime and games. Including the voices previously mentioned, she starred as Coffee in Cowboy Bebop, Margot Langer in Monster, Kaoru in Lupin III: Angel Tactics, Yuri Nikaido in The World God Only Knows, Caster in the Fate/stay night franchise, Flamme in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Chun-Li in various Street Fighter games, Reina in Yakuza Kiwami and of course many more roles.Our thoughts are with Tanaka’s family and friends, and we would like to thank her for all of her contributions to the anime industry.
Image via Mausu Promotion
Source: Hikaru Tanaka on X (formerly Twitter), Mouse Promotion
