Kotoha Tanaka

Kotoha Tanaka is one of the new idols introduced in THE iDOLM@STER: Million Live! series. She is voiced by Risa Taneda.

Personality
Kotoha is a very diligent girl with a passion for acting, though she often gets lost in it when doing so. If one had to describe what Kotoha is like in three words, it would be “an honors student”; she's diligent, takes everything seriously, does all work to her absolute best, and she just seems to be perfect at everything. Yet, she actually has low self-confidence. She often says that she has no real talents (except maybe acting), and she has a somewhat fragile mentality. This makes Kotoha easily pressured by her work and she accumulates a lot of emotional stress from time to time, to the point that she occasionally breaks into tears. For example, in the event “Idol Symphony”, where Kotoha had been made the leader of the wind instrument group, the responsibility and lack of self-confidence lead her to break into tears in front of Megumi Tokoro, as she felt that Megumi was more suited to be leader than she was. Fortunately, in those times, her two best friends, Megumi and Elena Shimabara (and of course, the Producer), are often there to comfort her.

However, work is not the only thing that gives her stress-- her feelings for the Producer also cause her a lot of stress. Because of her lack of self-esteem, Kotoha is unable to confess her feelings, so she stresses herself out by trying to make herself look good in the Producer's eyes. This leads to many of her dialogues with the Producer sounding like she's going to break down in tears at any time. For example, in the Christmas event, when the Producer lent her his coat, she asked him whether he's only kind to her because she's an idol, and in the event “Idol Symphony”, when the Producer praised her and said that she's so good at her job that she’ll be fine even if he's not there, she became upset. She later confessed that she actually tried her best because she wanted the Producer to recognize and praise her, and he said that he needed Kotoha by his side. In conclusion, Kotoha is a diligent girl with confidence issues.

On her days off, she enjoys fencing, and seems to put all of her efforts into it. Despite the fact that she has a mature air about her, one of her favorite things is ice cream.

Etymology

 * The name Kotoha means "Japanese harp" (琴) (koto) and "leaf" (葉) (ha).
 * Kotoha's surname Tanaka means "field, rice paddy" (田) (ta) and "middle" (中) (naka), which literally means "dweller in the rice fields".

Trivia

 * Kotoha along with Emily Stewart, Matsuri Tokugawa, and Fuka Toyokawa made a cameo at the end of THE IDOLM@STER MOVIE: Beyond the Brilliant Future!.
 * Kotoha is the leader of the drama club at her school.
 * Kotoha practiced fencing because she acted like a tomboy when she was younger.