Yuki Tanaka-Soria

Yuki Tanaka-Soria grew up between two worlds — her mother's family in Osaka and her father's in Valencia — and anime was one of the few cultural anchors that held across both households. Her first clear anime memory is watching *Sailor Moon* on a small Sanyo television at her grandmother's apartment in Namba at age six. Years later, studying in Barcelona, she realized she had been analyzing animation direction without knowing there was a name for it.

She holds a degree in Audiovisual Communication from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra and has spent the past decade focused on the craft of animation direction — specifically, how individual episode directors shape a series' identity episode by episode. Her work examines directors like Ikuhara Kunihiko, Hosoda Mamoru in his TV years, and the revolving-door talent structure of Toei Animation productions. She is particularly interested in how Spanish and Latin American dubbing decisions altered the reception of classic titles in the Western market.

Before Otakiva, Yuki hosted *Doble Pantalla*, a Catalan-language podcast co-produced with Barcelona's Sala Phenomena cinema, where she interviewed Japanese industry guests via interpreter. She also wrote for *Mondo Sonoro* covering soundtrack releases from anime composers.

Her personal top five: *Revolutionary Girl Utena*, *The Wolf Children*, *Millennium Actress*, *Natsume's Book of Friends*, and *Tatami Galaxy*.

Based in Barcelona's Gràcia neighborhood. Contact: [email protected].