Oi, oi... Anyway, Kikuko Inoue (born September 25, 1964) is a voice actress best known for her motherly, dignified, angelic voice, which lends well for her to get picked to play Yamato Nadeshiko, Team Mom, or Onee-sama roles. She also specialized in playing mega-bitches like I-No from Guilty Gear, Grace, Lust, Louise's big sister Eleonore and even a Tokusatsu example (Insarn). She's a member of the Goddess Family Club singing club, and like Megumi Hayashibara, she is also part of the singing club DoCo.
If you think mega-bitches are her only "other" role, how about a Badass Action Mom, to the tune of The Boss in Metal Gear Solid 3?
Also, she is not related to Kazuhiko Inoue or Marina Inoue.
These notable roles are all 17 years old!note
- Aina Sahalin in Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, Super Robot Wars Advance Portable, Super Robot Wars Impact, Super Robot Wars GC/XO
- Akane Sonozaki in Higurashi: When They Cry
- Akira Yoshii in Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts
- Alex Kidd in Segagaga
- Reprises the role in the Japanese dub of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed.
- Alv in Kiddy Grade
- Anju Kitahara in Marmalade Boy
- Anna in Brave Command Dagwon
- Ari Mamano in Laughing Salesman NEW
- Ashe the Frost Archer in the Japanese dub of League of Legends
- Belldandy in the Ah! My Goddess franchise
- Benigio in Maho Girls PreCure
- Birman in Weiß Kreuz
- Blue Diamond in the Japanese dub of Steven Universe
- Calamity Mary in Magical Girl Raising Project
- Princess Calla in the Japanese dub of Adventures of the Gummi Bears (from episode 22, replacing Keiko Han)
- Caridad Yamato in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
- Carta Issue in Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
- Carul "Carmen 99" Mendosa in GUN×SWORD
- Caster of Nightless City aka Scheherazade in Fate/Grand Order
- Cecile Croomy, Inoue and Dorothea Ernst aka Knight of Four in Code Geass
- Princess Celestia in the Japanese dub of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- Chianti in Detective Conan
- Chiemi Takakura in Mawaru-Penguindrum
- Chika Hatori from The Ancient Magus' Bride
- Chitose Hibiya from Chobits
- Claire Majoram in Mitsumete Knight
- Claudia McCunnen in Phantom of Inferno and its OVA adaptation
- Cyberdoll Mami in Hand Maid May
- Deirdre in Fire Emblem Heroes (And yes, she's listed as 17 years old)
- Durga in Asura's Wrath
- Electra in Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
- Eleonore in The Familiar of Zero
- Elizabeth Starling in Lollipop Chainsaw.
- Queen Ercell in Petite Princess Yucie
- Eris Anthule in Shadowverse
- Fabula from Final Fantasy: Unlimited
- Gloria in the Hot Shots Golf and Tennis series.
- Goei Hakufu in Ikki Tousen
- Grace O'Connor in Macross Frontier and Super Robot Wars Z2: Saisei-Hen.
- Grizzly's mother in Shirokuma Cafe
- Guinevere Green in Argento Soma
- I-No in Guilty Gear XX and Guilty Gear Xrd
- Ihadurca in Eretzvaju
- Insarn in Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger
- Izayoi (Inuyasha's mother) in InuYasha
- Izumi Morino in Never7
- Jennifer Record in ID-0
- June Thunders in Gate Keepers
- Karen the Suit Lady (Jennifer Connelly) in the Japanese dub of Spider-Man: Homecoming
- Kasumi Tendo in Ranma ½
- Kirumi Toujou in New Danganronpa V3
- Captain Kuune in Cat Planet Cuties
- Kyouko Sakura's mother in Puella Magi Madoka Magica Drama CD 3
- Leandra in the Japanese version of Dragon Age II
- Liala in The Testament of Sister New Devil
- Liete in Grandia and Grandia Online
- Lila Test in the Japanese dub of Johnny Test
- Lily in Rune Factory Oceans
- Lobelia from Sakura Wars 3 & 4
- Louisa Ferre in Shin Megami Tensei: Deep Strange Journey
- Lust in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
- Macrophage in Cells at Work!
- Maria in both the Gungrave game and anime series
- Marie in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
- Marina Sugisaki in Mitsudomoe
- Mercury in Dragalia Lost
- Mei Momozono in Mouse
- Melissa (Fantina) in Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl. Also Nurse Joy for DP eps 25-50 and Dawn's Togekiss.
- Mercédès de Morcerf in Gankutsuou
- Miho Azuki's mother in Bakuman。
- Miki Hiiragi from Lucky Star
- Minerva Orlando in Fairy Tail
- Miria in Claymore
- Misaki Senomiya in RoboticsNotes (even got to play her 17-year-old self!)
- Mishra and Ms. Miranda in Granblue Fantasy
- Mitsuka Yoshimine-sensei in DearS
- Mizuho Kazami in Please Teacher!
- Myers in Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
- Nagi in Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
- Nanase Senjou/Silk in Yumeria
- The Narrator of Binchou-tan
- The Narrator from Musou Kakyou: A Summer Day's Dream (though many fans suspect that the narrator is Yukari Yakumo). Reprised the role in the Chinese-Japanese fanime The Sealed Esoteric History.
- The Narrator and Salem in the Japanese Dub of RWBY
- The Narrator from Urara Meirocho
- Nygglatho in Sukasuka (Honoka voices Phyracorlybia Dorio)
- Okusa Manami and herself in Zoku Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei
- Olga Strand in In Another World with My Smartphone (Honoka voices Alma)
- Panther from Saber Marionette J
- Penelope Pitstop/Milk-chan in the Japanese dub of Wacky Races (2017) (she darrins Noriko Ohara who herself was darrin'd by Haruko Miyaji note and Kumi Sakuma note prior to this)
- Philia Felice in Tales of Destiny
- the Dominatrix Queen of Hearts in Miyuki-chan in Wonderland
- Reiko in Phantasy Star Online 2 -ON STAGE-
- Rosemary, The Boss, Sunny and Chico in the Metal Gear series
- Ruko Tatase from Ogenki Clinic
- Rune Venus in El-Hazard: The Magnificent World
- Ryoki from Senran Kagura
- Sailor Aluminum Siren in Sailor Moon
- Sanae Furukawa in CLANNAD
- Seira Mimori in Kaitou Saint Tail
- Selva Norte in Granado Espada
- Sephie Michaela Devilduke in To Love-Ru
- Sephiria Arks in Black Cat
- Shadow Weaver in the Japanese dub of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
- Shiina Kamijou in A Certain Magical Index
- Shinigami and Arleen Nazon from Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO 2: The Gravity Front
- Shizuka Nekonome-sensei in Rosario + Vampire
- Shizuna Minamoto in Mahou Sensei Negima!
- Sorceress in Dragon's Crown
- Sumire in Arcana Famiglia
- Summer Gleeson in the Japanese dub of Batman: The Animated Series
- Tampopo Anno in Hugtto! Pretty Cure
- Tangram in Virtual-ON
- (Female) Tico in Devil Survivor 2
- Torino Kasami in Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid
- Touko Aozaki in the Kara no Kyoukai drama CD. Another "eternally 17" role, sort of. She's made a number of perfect backup bodies for herself; when her current self dies, another activates.
- Tsubasa Oozora (young) in Captain Tsubasa: Road to 2002
- Tytti Noorbuck in Super Robot Wars
- Uraha in Air
- Ureshiko Asaba in Oku-sama wa Mahou Shoujo
- Valara in Baten Kaitos Origins
- Valkyrie in Namco × Capcom and Project X Zone
- Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) in the Japanese dub of Spaceballs
- Virgilia in Umineko: When They Cry
- Yamabuki in Binbogami Ga
- Yasho from Shin/New Cutey Honey
- Yayoi Sanzenin in Happy Lesson
- Yoriko Yasaka in the Haiyore! Nyarko-san Drama CDs (succeeded in the anime by her friend Aya Hisakawa)
- Sister Yukariko Sanada from Mai-HiME
- Yukariko Steinberg and Laura Bianchi in Mai-Otome and Mai-Otome Zwei
- Yuri-ka Hakonaka in Yuri Kuma Arashi
She always refers to herself in public as "17 years old + XXXX days" even though she was born in 1964 and no longer looks anywhere close to 17. This is used as a Shout-Out in Mai-HiME in regards to Midori Sugiura's dubious age; and by Maria in Hayate the Combat Butler who actually is 17 but is constantly mistaken for someone older; and by Virgilia, who is obviously not 17 years old but is voiced by Kikuko Inoue, in a Umineko: When They Cry preview; and by Shizuka Nekonome-sensei from Rosario + Vampire. Some seiyuu, such as Yukari Tamura (who voices Midori) have also picked up this habit, which is not surprising, because Kikuko started the 17 years old religion, and ONLY females can be worshippers, quite a number of seiyuu have converted.
It's also worth noting that despite being THE archetypical Yamato Nadeshiko seiyuu, she's also often landed with Lethal Chef roles, where said Yamato Nadeshiko isn't so complete due to her lack of quality in producing good, edible food. Examples include Cecile Croomy, Tytti Noorbuck, Sanae Furukawa and Rosemary.
In a strange twist of art imitating life, Kosuke Fujishima (creator of Ah! My Goddess) became so impressed by Ms. Inoue's portrayal of Belldandy in the first OVA series that subsequent chapters of the manga use her characterization as the character's base personality, including quirks such as liking sunfish and touching fake food.
According to Anime News Network,
she is the most prolific female seiyuu, having over 30 more roles than Mamiko Noto.
Despite her very common surname, she is not related to any other prominent Inoue seiyuus. She has, however, worked together with her only child, Honoka Inoue.
Kikuko Inoue and her works provide examples of:
- Cool Old Lady: Regardless of her 17 years old Running Gag, it's telling that she's born at 1964, by 2017, she'd be 53 years old(well, around 17 years old + 12XXX days), one of the older female seiyuus in business. Yet, despite so, she's still capable of doing all those sisterly/motherly roles all the same.
- The Danza: Played Inoue in Code Geass, as well as Kikuko in Miss Monochrome.
- Follow the Leader: Her "17 years old" shtick started when she hosted a radio show and her co-host was known for declaring herself "16 years old!", so she followed and evolved when said co-host is 17 years old. Later on, while her 17-years old cult is still growing, there's also similar movements such as "Forever 23" (spearheaded by Chiaki Takahashi) and "Forever 29" (spearheaded by Yuko Goto).
- Old Shame: Before Kasumi Tendo and Belldandy propelled her to fame and respectability, she was known for her role as a "naughty nurse" in the original video animation Ogenki Clinic.
- Onee-sama: It's even her Fan Nickname amongst the business.
- Pigeonholed Voice Actor: Although justified, she's basically the Trope Codifier of the Yamato Nadeshiko archetype for voice actors (which according to the trope page stands at 19 roles).
- Playing Against Type:
- If you think she can only do sweet, pure, angelic women, wait until you hear I-No, Grace O'Connor, Lobelia Carlini, or Lust from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
- Or Professor Nastassja from Senki Zesshou Symphogear G, one of the few times Inoue plays an old lady.
- Or The Boss from Metal Gear Solid 3, a motherly figure who's also a soldier who can kick your ass six ways from Sunday.
- Carta Issue would count as well, being her hammiest character in recent memory.
- Ryouki normally fits Inoue's usual roles...until you touch her halo and her sweet, caring personality switches to an incredibly harsh and violent Lady Swears-a-Lot.
- And let's not forget Salem.
- Her as Benigio in Maho Girls Pretty Cure! Yet another villain role for her, made even more amusing because she talks like a gyaru (which is naturally rendered as a Valley Girl accent in the fansubs).
- Running Gag: "I'm 17 years old." Usually followed by someone else replying "Oi, oi!" note
Inoue-san as a fine 17-year-old GPS system.
note And Inoue-san counts 17 sheep.
