# Kazuko Tadano

Kazuko Tadano (Japanese: 只野 和子, Hepburn: Tadano Kazuko, born March 14, 1959) is a Japanese animator, character designer, illustrator and animation director. She's mostly known for her character design work for the first two seasons of the 1990s Sailor Moon anime series.

## Career

Tadano first worked as an animation director for an episode of 1980s Saint Seiya anime. She then became a character designer for Dancouga – Super Beast Machine God, and Crystal Triangle.
In the 1990s, after working on various episodes for Goldfish Warning!, she then became a character designer for the first two seasons of the Sailor Moon anime series (Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon R), and provided some animation direction for many episodes. She also provided the designs for its first movie, Sailor Moon R: The Movie.
From the late 1990s to 2000s, after Sailor Moon, she designed the characters for Wedding Peach, Petite Princess Yucie, Jūsō Kikō Dancouga Nova, Valkyria of the Battlefield 3: The Wound Taken from Someone's Sake, and Nobunagun.
In June 2018, it was announced that Tadano was chosen as a character designer for Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie, a two-part anime film project that takes place as a "fourth season" for the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal anime series, adapting the Dream arc of the manga. The two-part film was released in 2021.
In December 2019, both Tadano and her husband, Hiromi Matsushita, were chosen as character designers for the sixth spin-off of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters anime series, Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens. In December 2021, Tadano and Matsushita were chosen as character designers again for the seventh spin-off, Yu-Gi-Oh! Go Rush!!.
In April 2022, it was announced that Tadano will design the characters for Sailor Moon Eternal's sequel, titled Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Cosmos The Movie, another two-part anime film project that takes place as a "fifth and final season" for the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal anime series, adapting the Stars arc of the manga, and was released in June 2023.

## Personal life

She married Hiromi Matsushita, who was also an animation director on Sailor Moon.
Her favorite hobbies are going to karaoke, traveling, and her dislikes are exercising, though she prefers to walk.

## Works
### TV Anime

| Year | Show | Credit | Note |
| 1985 | Dancouga – Super Beast Machine God | Character Design (Shinobu, Masato, Laura), Animation Director (eps. 4, 19, 24), Key Animation (eps. 2, 17) | |
| 1986 | Saint Seiya | Animation Director (eps. 65) | |
| 1989 | Time Travel Tondekeman | Key Animation (eps. 18), Sub-Character Design (eps. 1–5, 12, 24, 30, 33) | |
| 1991-1992 | Goldfish Warning! | Animation Director (eps. 14, 19, 25, 30, 35, 40, 43, 50) | |
| 1992-1993 | Sailor Moon | Character Design, Animation Director (eps. 6, 12, 17, 21, 28, 34, 39, 46) | |
| 1993-1994 | Sailor Moon R | Character Design, Animation Director (eps. 53, 58, 64, 69, 88), Key Animation (eps. 53) | |
| 1995-1996 | Wedding Peach | Character Design | |
| 2002-2003 | Petite Princess Yucie | Character Design, Animation Director (OP), Key Animation (eps. 8, 25) | |
| 2003 | The World of Narue | Eyecatch Illustration | |
| 2004 | Sgt. Frog | Key Animation (eps. 58) | |
| 2007 | Dancouga Nova – Super God Beast Armor | Character Design | Under the name of "KAZZ" |
| 2011 | Hunter x Hunter | Key Animation (eps. 23, 31, 38, 45, 53, 75, 81) | |
| 2014 | Nobunagun | Character Design | Under the name "KAZZ-T" |
| 2014-2015 | Mysterious Joker | Animation Director (eps. 13, 19, 24, 26) | |
| 2017 | The Royal Tutor | Chief Animation Director (eps. 3, 11–12) | |
| 2018 | Muhyo & Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation | Chief Animation Director | |
| 2020-2022 | Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens | Character Design, Chief Animation Director (OP1, ED1; eps. 1, 4, 10, 17, 23, 31, 43, 53, 67, 92), Animation Director (eps. 1, 10, 17, 23, 31, 43, 53, 67, 77, 92), Key Animation (OP1, ED1; eps. 1, 4, 10, 17, 23, 31, 43, 53, 67, 77, 92) | Co-character design with Hiromi Matsushita |
| 2020 | Muhyo & Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation Season 2 | Chief Animation Director, Animation Director (eps. 1), Key Animation (eps. 1, 6) | |
| 2022–present | Yu-Gi-Oh! Go Rush!! | Character Design, Chief Animation Director (OP1-3, ED1-5; eps. 1, 17, 22, 26, 32, 38, 46, 48, 52, 58, 77, 79, 85, 90, 102, 128), Animation Director (OP1-3, ED2-5; eps. 17, 38, 46, 52, 119, 128), 2nd Key Animation (ED5), Key Animation (OP1-2, ED3-5; eps. 38, 41, 46, 52) | Co-character design with Hiromi Matsushita |

### Anime Film

| Year | Title | Credit | Note |
| 1983 | Choro Q Dougram | Character design, Animation Director | 9 minute short film |
| 1993 | Sailor Moon R: The Movie | Character Design, Animation Director | |
| 2021 | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie | Character Design, Chief Animation Director (Part 1) | 2-Part Film Season 4 of Sailor Moon Crystal (Dead Moon arc) |
| 2023 | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Cosmos The Movie | Character Design | 2-Part film Season 5 of Sailor Moon Crystal (Shadow Galactica arc) |

### OVA (Original Video Animation)

| Year | Title | Credit |
| 1985 | Vampire Hunter D | Key Animation |
| 1987 | Crystal Triangle | Character Design |
| 1995 | Graduation | Character Design |
| 1996-1997 | Wedding Peach DX | Character Design |
| 2011 | Valkyria of the Battlefield 3: The Wound Taken from Someone's Sake | Character Design, Chief Animation Director |