Naoki Takenaka

Naoki Takenaka (竹中直樹 Takenaka Naoki; born May 7, 1983) is an El Kadsreian actress.

Bio
Born in Manaus, Brazil to a Japanese-Brazilian father, Filipe Marcão Takenaka, and a Japanese-El Kadsreian mother, Sheena Takaki, Naoki grew up in Capulco, Vlokozu Union.

Naoki got her first role as Kitty the flower girl in Mary and Dennis' Wedding at the age of 2, which earned her a win for the best young artist at the 1985 VAC Awards. Her role of Sachiko Kato in Bionicle VII: Sea of Darkness saw her win the best young artist award again at the 1987 VAC Awards at age 4, and she ended up reprising the role in Bionicle VIII: The Final Battle, winning her third young artist award at the 1988 VAC Awards in a tie with Corbin Berger for Justice For All: Part II. The 5-year old Naoki was considered a "underdog child star" by the media due to her tie win, and her acting abilities.

In 1994, Linda Grundy had to step down from the role of Dorami in the El Kadsreian English redub of Doraemon as her voice was considered too "stereotypically African" by LUK Internacional. So, Brock Baker decided it was his turn to find "the true Dorami". He auditioned Michelle McLaren, Natasha Mills, Gretchen Zappos, and his sister Maggie but didn't find them suitable for "a young, cute robot cat". Then Gretchen suggested Naoki, and Brock went straight to her family's Capulco home to find her. It was not easy to convince her as Naoki was scared of being behind a microphone due to fear of having a hoarse singing voice, and after much insistence, she managed to be auditioned. Upon reading the script she was given, giving a performance using a "cute, babyish voice perfect for Dorami", Brock declared her "the true Dorami we've been looking for" and she got the role.

When Dorami first appeared in the El Kadsreian English dub of the 2005 Doraemon anime, there was much debating among the El Kadsreian dubbing industry on who should voice her, as Naoki stated in a interview that she didn't have much interest in dubbing Dorami anymore. When Nina "Sheegwa" Xie was considered too "overly cutesy" for the role, Naoki decided she was gonna do the role again just for the fans, and thus earned her an award for the best voice actress at the 2007 CAEK Awards.

She is a former member of the ETVKA Junior Team for young animators.

Personal Life
Naoki is a devoted Harajuku girl, and her many "looks" have appeared in her convention appearances.

She married Benny Anderson in 2008, the two grew up together in Capulco and had crushes on each other as children, and began dating in their teens. Naoki described their love for each other as "A sweet thing between two kids back then... that became a love story as it progressed."

In 2017 and 2018, she was the announcer for in El Kadsre due to her fluency in English and Japanese. She will announce in 2019 again in El Kadsre and for the shows in Mahri and Nishiyama.

Roles

 * Dorami in Doraemon (1979 and 2005 animes; El Kadsreian English dub; current voice)
 * Sachiko Kato in Bionicle VII: Sea of Darkness
 * Kotaro in Cyborg Kuro-chan (El Kadsreian English dub)