On Tuesday, Hikaru Tanaka, the son of famed voice actor Atsuko Tanaka, announced via the social media platform X that his mother sadly passed away. She was 61. Hikaru, who is also a voice actor, revealed that she had been suffering from an undisclosed illness for around 12 months. “I would like to express my deepest gratitude on behalf of the fans who loved Atsuko Tanaka. And to the people in the industry who took care of her during her lifetime. It’s unfortunate that we have to announce the relationship between mother and son in this way,” he wrote.
Tanaka was probably best known as the voice of Motoko Kusanagi in the Ghost in the Shell franchise. Koichi Yamadera, who played Togusa in the same series, paid tribute to his former co-star on X. “Atsuko Tanaka was an irreplaceable friend,” he wrote. “I’m so sad. I have so many memories of Ghost in the Shell. Regrettably, I won’t be able to call you Major anymore. Ten days ago, I was so happy to speak to you in person. A-chan, you were beautiful, cool, kind and wonderful until the very end. You did a great job. Thank you.”
Atsuko Tanaka’s Most Iconic Characters
While Tanaka will be best remembered for her portrayal of Motoko, she was also the voice behind several other iconic anime characters, including Lisa Lisa in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Bayonetta in the Bayonetta series, Konan in Naruto: Shippuden, Coffee in Cowboy Bebop and, more recently Hanami in Jujutsu Kaisen. She also voiced several game characters, such as Poison in Street Fighter and Layla Hassan in Assassin’s Creed. Another major role for Tanaka was as the dubbed voice of Angelina Jolie in the Tomb Raider franchise. She dubbed for several other Hollywood stars, including Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Lopez.
