The Japanese voice actress Atsuko Tanaka has passed away at the age of 61. Over her career, which began in the early ’90s, Tanaka lent her voice to numerous iconic characters in anime and video games.
Her first credited role in anime was Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, where she voiced the character Juca Mellasch. In the same year, she made her video game debut, voicing Lisa in the Japanese dub of the Sega CD game Night Trap. From there, she became a fixture in the industry, contributing her voice to over 160 video games.
The sad news of Tanaka’s passing was announced on August 20, 2024, by her son, Hikaru Tanaka, also a voice actor, via X/Twitter. He revealed that she had been battling an undisclosed illness for a year.
Hikaru shared a heartfelt note, expressing gratitude for the support his mother received throughout her career. “In accordance with her wishes, I will refrain from disclosing the specific illness she had,” he wrote, per a machine translation.
“However, she faced her fight, including about a year of battling her illness, with dignity, seriousness, and a bit of her characteristic sharpness, in a way that truly embodied the life of...
