Motoki Tanaka

Director and writer · Born June 7, 1976 (50) · Chiba Prefecture, Japan

Motoki Tanaka (田中基樹, Tanaka Motoki, June 7, 1976), also known as Tensho (天衝, Tenshō), is a Japanese director, animator, and storyboarder from Chiba Prefecture. After working at White Fox, he became freelance and currently is the representative of Bibury Animation Studios.

Biography from TMDB.

Born: June 7, 1976 (50)
From: Chiba Prefecture, Japan
Works as: Director and writer
Titles: 11 on Motif · 19 credits in all
Links: IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 39 days to Oct 28Down 21% in 30 days

What are Motoki Tanaka's films like?

Across their 6 Motif titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Society.

Themes

share of theme weight

Self

41%

Society

22%

Survival

13%

Bonds

12%

Ideas

11%

Identity4 Community2 Friendship2

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Tense

4

Melancholic

5

Warm

2

Contemplative

2

Dread

1

Other

2

How their films linger

Hopeful2 Thought-provoking2 Rousing2 Wistful2

How their films end · 1 with a twist

Happy1
Bittersweet3
Ambiguous2

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Motoki Tanaka's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 10 of their 11 Motif titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Crunchyroll (7).

Also on these channels

HIDIVE3 titles, show their 3 titles on HIDIVE
RetroCrush1 title, show their title on RetroCrush

Subscription and free streaming for Motoki Tanaka's titles on Motif; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Motif score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

19 credits, 11 with a Motif page.

Grisaia: Phantom Trigger (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2025)
Show 13 episodes · Production Supervisor
Prima Doll(2022)
Show 12 episodes · Director · Series Director · Storyboard Artist
Motif score: 21st percentile of all shows
Black Rock Shooter: Dawn Fall(2022)
Show 12 episodes · Director · Series Director · Storyboard Artist
Motif score: 23rd percentile of all shows
Azur Lane(2019)
Show 12 episodes · Series Director
Motif score: 17th percentile of all shows
Grisaia: Phantom Trigger the Animation - Soul Speed (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2019)
Director
Kin'iro mozaiku: Pretty Days(2016)
Director · Storyboard Artist · Writer
Motif score: 58th percentile of all films
Rewrite(2016)
Show 24 episodes · Director · Series Composition · Series Director · Storyboard Artist
Motif score: 9th percentile of all shows
Grisaia no Meikyuu: Caprice no Mayu 0(2015)
Director
Motif score: 83rd percentile of all films
The Fruit of Grisaia (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2014)
Show 23 episodes · Director · Series Director
Kinmoza! (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2013)
Show 24 episodes · Director · Series Director · Storyboard Artist
High School DxD(2012)
Show 1 episode · Storyboard Artist
Motif score: 80th percentile of all shows
Katanagatari (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2010)
Show 1 episode · Director · Animation Director · Key Animation · Storyboard Artist
Tears to Tiara (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2009)
Show 1 episode · Director · Animation Director · Key Animation
School Days(2007)
Show 2 episodes · Animation Director
Motif score: 11th percentile of all shows
Utawarerumono(2006)
Show 1 episode · Director · Animation Director · Key Animation
Motif score: 59th percentile of all shows
Stellvia(2003)
Show 1 episode · Key Animation
Motif score: 29th percentile of all shows
Cosplay Complex (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2002)
Show 2 episodes · Key Animation
RahXephon(2002)
Show 1 episode · Key Animation
Motif score: 58th percentile of all shows
Is the Order a Rabbit? The Movie: We Are Family! (not in the Motif catalog yet)
Director · Screenplay

Career shape

A full career of 19 titles, 18 of them dated from 2002 to 2025.

Biggest box office

Kin'iro mozaiku: Pretty Days (2016)

$17K worldwide

By role

only this rolewith another role

Directing10 of 19Writing2 of 19Other crew16 of 19 · 26^th

19 titles, 9 with more than one role — other crew and directing overlap on 7 of them.

By decade

2000s6 · crew2010s9 · crew2020s3 · crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Motif score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on Motif, shown from 5 scored.

Who does Motoki Tanaka work with?

People who share at least 2 of Motoki Tanaka's Motif titles, grouped by what they did on them; Mutsumi Takemiya shares the most, 4.