the film Tekkonkinkreet, based on the popular comic book by Taiyō Matsumoto and completed after 13 years of planning, received high acclaim from all quarters.

[2] In 2002, she co-produced The Animatrix with Warner Bros.[2] Tanaka has established Studio 4°C's reputation as an elite creative group, unique among Japanese animation studios, by continuing to emphasise the individuality of its creators and working with them to create cutting-edge visual expressions.

After graduation, she intended to become a Japanese language teacher abroad, but gave up the idea after a motorbike accident.

[4][5] Tanaka worked with Studio Ghibli as a line producer on My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service.

This was because the members of Studio 4°C each took their own jobs, and individual and group work gradually became blurred and difficult to manage.