Tanaka Reina

Tanaka Reina (田中 れいな, real name 田中 麗奈, born November 11, 1989 in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan) is one of the sixth generation members of the J-pop group Morning Musume. Her professional first name is spelled in hiragana to differ her from the Japanese actress Rena Tanaka whose name is the same in kanji because their first names can be pronounced both as "Reina" and "Rena" and who is similarly from Fukuoka Prefecture.

2002
Tanaka auditioned for a spot in Morning Musume 5th Generation in 2001 and passed but had to leave the training camp when it was found out that she was underage. She attempted again in 2002 -- now old enough to audition -- for a position in the 6th Generation and passed along with other members Kamei Eri and Michishige Sayumi, making Tanaka the only member ever of Morning Musume who auditioned twice to get in. Her audition song was Morning Musume's "Do it! Now". Once the sixth generation joined, it made it the group's biggest formation yet, with 15 members in total.

2003
In 2003, Tanaka was chosen to become the leader of a new Hello! Project unit alongside Hello! Pro Egg members Suzuki Airi and Natsuyaki Miyabi. The unit was named Aa! and the group released their first and last single in October of the same year. The group was later disbanded due to protests about the girls being too young to understand what they were singing about. Aa! does, however, occasionally reunite to perform live.

2004
She then provided the main vocals for the group's nineteenth single "Shabondama", making her one of the few members of Morning Musume who was able to lead on her debut single. She was featured in two solo versions of Memory Seishun no Hikari on a fan club release CD. She released her first album with the group, Ai no Dai 6 Kan in December 2004.

During her first year in the group, Morning Musume was split in two: Morning Musume Otome Gumi and Morning Musume Sakura Gumi. Tanaka was put in Otome Gumi, and released two singles with the group before they went on hiatus. The other sixth generation members were split also, Fujimoto Miki and Michishige Sayumi joined Otome Gumi with Tanaka while Kamei Eri joined Sakura Gumi.

2005
Tanaka was also one of the few members to be selected for the 2005 summer shuffle groups. She, along with fellow Morning Musume member Takahashi Ai, was part of Elegies. They contributed the song "Inshouha no Renoir You ni" to the summer shuffle CD that year.

2008
On March 28, 2008, it was announced that Tanaka would be voice acting as Kirara, a main character in Sanrio's anime Onegai My Melody Kirara, the fourth My Melody series. The show premiered on April 6, 2008.

In 2008, Tanaka became a member and a leader of Hello Project's new unit High-King, formed to promote their new musical; Cinderella the Muscial. The group released one single, "C/C (Cinderella/Complex)", and haven't released anything since.

2010
It was recently revealed that Tanaka would be voicing the main/title character of the new anime series, Kaito Reinya. The character, Reinya, had initially been modeled on Tanaka. The show is due to start airing on 9th Januaury 2010, and is set to have a total of 12 episodes. It has been revealed that Up-Front Egg (and ex-Hello! Project Egg), Noto Arisa will be voicing the character, Policewoman Nocchi

Profile

 * Name: Tanaka Reina (Stage: 田中れいな, Birth: 田中麗奈)
 * Nicknames: Tanakacchi, Reinya, 07 (Rei-Na), Ren-chan
 * Birth Date: 1989-11-11
 * Birthplace: Fukuoka, Japan
 * Blood type O
 * Height: 152.4 cm
 * Hobbies: People-watching. I record a lot of TV shows from Monday to Friday, so I watch them in the mornings.
 * Specialty: Making friends laugh, making funny faces, can make friends easily, and
 * Habits: "I clap my hands when I laugh..."
 * Treasures: Family Members
 * Motto: If you're allowed to be yourself, you won't do bad things to people!
 * Favorite words:
 * おつかれいな！（Otsukareina!）
 * やっぴー！（Yappii!）
 * あ～ね！！ (aa ne!! - "ah, hey!!")
 * え～！？ (ee!? - "whaat!?")
 * Favorite subject: Music and physical education
 * Least favourite subject: Math and history
 * Favorite food: Cartilage. Brocolli & enoki mushrooms, chocolate
 * Disliked food: Green bell peppers, natto
 * Favorite colors: Yellow, red, pink, black, white
 * Favorite flowers: Sunflowers
 * Favorite seasons: Spring, autumn
 * Favorite singer: Goto Maki
 * Afraid of: Ghosts, insects
 * Charm point: Eyes
 * Pets: (Cats) King, Neo, Chea, Peach and Ruby
 * Right hand grip: 18.5kg
 * Left hand grip: 14.9kg
 * Bending forward from standing position: 25.6 cm
 * Vertical jump: 39 cm
 * Upper body bending: 29.9 cm
 * Lung capacity: 2.10 liters
 * Back strength: 50 kg
 * Repeated side jumps: 33 times
 * Swimming (25 meters): 33.41 seconds
 * Favorite songs of Morning Musume:
 * 01 - Shabondama
 * 02 - SEXY BOY ~Soyokaze ni Yorisotte~
 * 03 - Ambitious! Yashinteki de Ii jan
 * 04 - I WISH
 * 05 - Koi no Dance Site
 * Hello! Project Groups:
 * Morning Musume (2003–)
 * Aa! (2003)
 * High-King (2008-)
 * Subgroups:
 * Morning Musume Otome Gumi (2003–2004)
 * Concert Units:
 * Hello! Project Akagumi (2005)
 * Wonderful Hearts (2006–)
 * Shuffle Units:
 * 2004: H.P. All Stars
 * 2005: Elegies
 * Other:
 * Metro Rabbits H.P. (2006–)

DVDs

 * Alo Hello! Tanaka Reina DVD　(アロハロ！田中れいな　ＤＶＤ. Released February 14, 2007)
 * Real Challenge!! (Released October 2008)

Movies

 * Hoshisuna no Shima, Watashi no Shima ~Island Dreamin'~ (星砂の島、私の島～Ｉｓｌａｎｄ　Ｄｒｅａｍｉｎ'～, Released September 29, 2004)

Musicals

 * Ribbon no Kishi: The Musical (リボンの騎士 ザ ミュージカル, 2006)


 * Cinderella the Musical (シンデレラｔｈｅミュージカル, ２００８) – As Stepsister Joy

Trivia

 * The kanji characters for her name (田中麗奈) are the same as the ones for the Japanese actress Tanaka Rena. To avoid confusion, Tanaka adopted hiragana symbols (れいな) for her first name when she joined Morning Musume.
 * She initially auditioned for Morning Musume during the Love Audition 21 auditions for the fifth generation members and was even featured on the MUSIX page.
 * Tsunku said she was the closest to being a perfect Morning Musume member.
 * Tanaka has always had the reputation of a yankii (a rebel) since her first audition for Morning Musume, when she had blonde hair.
 * The fact that she also wore shirts with skulls and dragons, and had a tendency to wear a lot of purple clothing, also furthered this yankii image with fans.
 * She is known as one of the most fashionable members of Morning Musume.
 * Around the time of her debut, purikura photos surfaced that showed her devotion to the boy group FLAME. Rumors went around that she had only joined Morning Musume so that she could become famous and get recognized by FLAME member Izaki Hisato, her crush (based on something that Tanaka herself wrote and made it on the web).
 * Niigaki Risa is the one who chiefly calls her "Tanakacchi."
 * Iida Kaori was the first to use "07" to refer to Tanaka (in an episode of Hello! Morning where she wrote her "07" on a flip card to identify Tanaka in a guessing game). Since then, "07" had been printed on her sleeves in some concerts, and other members such as Yoshizawa Hitomi and Fujimoto Miki have used "07" when writing.
 * In a 2004 interview, she said that her rival was Goto Maki. But she explained further that she just wants to become like her.
 * In a 2008 episode of Music Fighter, she claimed to hope to become Morning Musume's leader.
 * She, along with former Taiyo to Ciscomoon member Kominato Miwa, are the only two Hello! Project members to come from Kyushu.
 * When she was younger, she performed Minimoni's "Minimoni. Jankenpyon!" with a group of friends in a school talent show.
 * She stated that "Shabondama" is the song that gives her energy in concerts and "NATURE IS GOOD!" is the most suitable song for herself.
 * These are her opinions of the characters of the other Morning Musume members:
 * Takahashi Ai: Serious.
 * Niigaki Risa: Secure.
 * Kamei Eri: Soft.
 * Michishige Sayumi: Cutesy
 * Kusumi Koharu: Kirarin-chan
 * Mitsui Aika: Cheerful.
 * Junjun: She talks fast.
 * Linlin: She's like a Japanese doll.
 * These are the other members' opinions on Tanaka's character:
 * Takahashi: Hardworking.
 * Niigaki: Ike Ike girl (Does what she wants.)
 * Kamei: Fastidious about everything.
 * Michishige: Pure.
 * Kusumi: Knowledgeable
 * Mitsui: Osshaa!!!!
 * Junjun: Wants/Loves to win.
 * Linlin: Esthetic