Biography
Youta Tsuruoka is a Japanese sound director born April 28, 1959, in Tokyo, and a graduate of Hiroshima University [1]. He began his career at West Cape Corporation as a production assistant and music producer under Yoshinori Nishizaki, then moved into anime sound production at Arts Pro, where he trained under sound director Yasunori Honda [1]. After going independent he founded the audio production studio Rakuonsha and later established the recording facility Studio Gongu [1]. Through Rakuonsha he has built long-running working relationships with several studios, including Sunrise, Gonzo, Kyoto Animation, and Shaft, and has served as sound director on a wide swath of their output, among them Macross 7, Kino's Journey, the Puella Magi Madoka Magica films, A Silent Voice, the Sound! Euphonium film series, and the Kizumonogatari trilogy [1]. Sound direction rarely draws attention outside the credits, casting voice actors, timing dialogue against finished animation, mixing music and effects into a coherent whole, but Tsuruoka has done that work across enough acclaimed, tonally different productions that his name has become a quiet constant behind why certain shows sound as polished as they do. In recent years he has also taken on planning and production roles alongside his primary sound-direction work [1].