Kikuko Inoue

Kikuko Inoue (井上 喜久子, Inoue Kikuko, born September 25, 1964 as 井之上 喜久子 (pronounced identically) in Yokosuka, Kanagawa) is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She has been part of the singing groups DoCo and Goddess Family Club, among others, and is the manager of her voice-acting company, Office Anemone. Inoue tends to play the "perfect girlfriend" or "motherly" role in many series, but has also played more sultry and provocative roles.

Inoue's vocal roles are usually female characters characterized as dignified, reserved, beautiful, kind, regal, mature or domestic. For example, Belldandy, a goddess who is kind, compassionate and skilled at domestic tasks. Kasumi Tendo is an older sister who has taken over domestic duties after the death of her mother, and who acts as a counterbalance to the more rambunctious members of her family. Notably, both Kasumi and Belldandy are almost parallels of each other due to their roles as domestics in a home which could explode into chaos at any moment. She also plays Rune Venus in El-Hazard, a princess and leader of her country; as well as Kazami Mizuho in Please Teacher!, a sensible, strong-hearted alien agent in charge of observing humanity that ends up falling in love with an earthling.

She occasionally takes on roles which are more sultry, such as Corvette, a curvaceous dancer who flirts quite intensely with Mimu, the young heroine. In the hentai OVA Ogenki Clinic she provides the voice of a sex-crazed nurse. Also, as Lust in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, she was an antagonist the main characters have to contend with more than once. On very rare occasions she takes male roles, such as Tsubasa Oozora from Captain Tsubasa ROAD to 2002, as she has stated that these roles allow her to shout, which she finds "liberating".

She is referred to as "Onee-chan" ("big sister" in Japanese) and stayed with the title on her official site and a few albums because of her role as Kasumi Tendo in Ranma ½; this is confirmed in her online profile. She believes that in her past life she was a fish and therefore uses fish as her trademark. She made a guest appearance at the 2007 Animazement anime convention in Durham, North Carolina for an autograph and Q&A session. When asked her age, she often responds that she is only 17, which has become a running gag at events as well as anime shows. At an Otakon 2009 panel, she explained that the number 17 was an aesthetic choice. After voice acting Belldandy from the Ah! My Goddess anime, subsequent chapters of the manga used Inoue's distinctive style as the basis for Belldandy's character.

She won Best Supporting Voice Actress in the 4th Seiyu Awards. In 2016, at the 10th Seiyu Awards, she won the Kazue Takahashi Award for "the female performer who broadens the profession of voice acting in every form of media."

Inoue is married, and has a daughter named Honoka.

Anime

Film

Video games

Drama CDs

Dubbing

• TV Champion (TV Tokyo, September 15, 2005)

• Densha Otoko (Erumesu)
• Sakura Taisen Paris Mini-Live 2001 Tokyo (Lobelia Carlini)
• Sakura Taisen Paris no Christmas, Joyeux Noël! 2001 Dinner Show, Tokyo (Lobelia Carlini)

Albums

Outside Japan

• Anime Toonz Presents Kikuko Inoue (Jellybean, 2001)

Singles

• Dōzo Yoroshiku ne.
• Okaerinasai

Talk

• Inoue Kikuko no Gekkan Onee-chan to Issho monthly series (1997)
• Manbow Hōsōkyoku (000000001995-11-17-00001995)
• Ruri Iro Aquarium: Manbow Hōsōkyoku 2 (000000001996-01-19-00001996)
• Ruri Iro Aquarium Special: Manbow Hōsōkyoku 3 (000000001996-03-21-00001996)
• Ruri Iro Aquarium Selection (000000001996-05-17-00001996)
• Shin Onee-chan to Issho seasonal series (1999)

Collaboration

• Lu · puty · La · puty (Shiawase Kurowassan, Kikuko Inoue and Maria Yamamoto)
• Osakana Penguin no Theme (Osakana Penguin, Kikuko Inoue and Junko Iwao)
• Osakana Penguin CD (Osakana Penguin, Kikuko Inoue and Junko Iwao)
• Shiawase-san (Shiawase Kurowassan, Kikuko Inoue and Maria Yamamoto)

Soundtracks

Listed in broadcast order.

AM radio

Satellite digital radio

• Inoue Kikuko no Osakana Radio (November 2000–March 2002)
• Inoue Kikuko no Shiitake Radio (April 2002–March 2003)
• Inoue Kikuko no Caramel Town (March 2003–current)

Internet radio

• Onegai Hour: Mizuho-sensei no Kojin Jugyō (May 2004–March 2005)
• Onee-chan ha Mahō Shōjo? (June 2005–current)

• Coco Macne (white) and Coco Macne (black) from the Macne series

• "Kikuko Inoue Voices Macne Nana Virtual Singer's 'Sister'". Anime News Network. September 29, 2009. Retrieved June 29, 2016.