Kikuko Inoue



"Good morning, Troper-san. Please describe a 17 years old seiyuu named Kikuko Inoue, if you would, please?"

Oi, oi... Anyway, Kikuko Inoue 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, Hot Mom or Onee-Sama roles. Recently 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 is also married and has a young daughter, Houko. 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?

Some of her notable roles:

 * 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 from Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni
 * Akira Yoshii in Baka to Test To Shoukanjuu
 * Alv in Kiddy Grade
 * Anju Kitahara in Marmalade Boy
 * Belldandy in the Ah My Goddess franchise
 * Birman in Weiss Kreuz
 * Captain Kuune in Asobi Ni Iku Yo!
 * Caridad Yamato in Gundam Seed
 * Chianti in Detective Conan
 * Chiemi Takakura in Mawaru Penguindrum
 * Chitose Hibiya from Chobits
 * Claire Majoram in Mitsumete Knight
 * Cecile Croomy, Inoue and Dorothea Ernst aka Knight of Four in Code Geass
 * Cyberdoll Mami in Hand Maid May
 * Eleonore in Zero no Tsukaima
 * Electra in Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
 * Queen Ercell in Petite Princess Yucie
 * Fabula from Final Fantasy: Unlimited
 * Goei Hakufu in Ikki Tousen
 * Grace O'Connor in Macross Frontier
 * Oddly enough, this isn't Playing Against Type at all.
 * Guinevere Green in Argento Soma
 * Insaan in Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger
 * Izumi Morino in Never7
 * June Thunders in Gate Keepers
 * Ihadurca in Eretzvaju
 * I-No in Guilty Gear XX
 * Karrul "Carmen 99" Mendosa in Gun X Sword
 * Kasumi Tendou in Ranma One Half
 * Kyouko Sakura's mother in Puella Magi Madoka Magica Drama CD 3
 * Lobelia from Sakura Taisen 3 & 4
 * Lust in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
 * Maria in both the Gungrave game and anime series.
 * Marie in Castlevania Lords of Shadow
 * Marina Sugisaki in Mitsudomoe
 * Mei Momozono in Mouse
 * Melissa (Fantina) in Pokemon: 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
 * Miria in Claymore
 * Mitsuka Yoshimine-sensei in Dear S
 * Mizuho Kazami in Please Teacher
 * Nanase Senjou/Silk in Yumeria
 * Okusa Manami and herself in Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
 * Panther from Saber Marionette J
 * Philia Felice in Tales of Destiny
 * Rosemary, The Boss, Sunny and Chico in the Metal Gear Solid series
 * Ruko Tatase from Ogenki Clinic (although someone is trying to hide the evidence on this one. See Old Shame below.)
 * Rune Venus in El Hazard the Magnificent World
 * Sailor Aluminum Seiren in Sailor Moon
 * Sanae Furukawa in Clannad
 * Seira Mimori in Kaitou Saint Tail
 * Sephiria Arks in Black Cat
 * Shiina Kamijou in To Aru Majutsu no Index
 * Shinigami and Arleen Nazon from Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO 2: The Gravity Front
 * Shizuka Nekonome-sensei in Rosario to Vampire
 * Tangram in Virtual On
 * Touko Aozaki in the Kara no Kyoukai Drama CD.
 * Tsubasa Oozora (young) in Captain Tsubasa: Road to 2002
 * Tytti Noorbuck in Super Robot Wars
 * Uraha in AIR
 * Ureshiko Asaba in Okusama wa Mahou Shoujo
 * Valkyrie in Namco X Capcom
 * Virgilia from Umineko no Naku Koro Ni
 * Yasho from Shin/New Cutey Honey
 * Yayoi Sanzenin in Happy Lesson
 * Sister Yukariko Sanada from Mai-HiME
 * Yukariko Steinberg and Laura Bianchi in Mai-Otome and Mai-Otome Zwei
 * The narrator from Touhou Musou Kakyou (though many fans suspect that the narrator is Yukari Yakumo)
 * She is certainly the narrator of Binchou-tan.
 * The Dominatrix Queen of Hearts in Miyuki Chan in Wonderland
 * Princess Calla in the Japanese dub of The Adventures of the Gummi Bears
 * Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) in the Japanese dub of Spaceballs
 * Durga in Asura's Wrath
 * Leandra in the Japanese version of Dragon Age II
 * Selva Norte in Granado Espada

She always refers to herself as "17 years old" even though she was born in 1964 (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-year-old but actually voiced by Kikuko Inoue, in a Umineko no Naku Koro Ni preview). Some seiyuus like Yukari Tamura (who is Midori's seiyuu) have picked up this habit.

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.

Apparently, after she voice-acted Belldandy, Kosuke Fujishima (mangaka of Ah My Goddess) became so impressed that subsequent chapters use Kikuko's characterization of Belldandy as the character's base personality, including quirks such as liking sunfish and touching fake food.

Despite her names, she has no relations, aside of fellow seiyuus, with other Inoue seiyuus.

Tropes associated with Kikuko Inoue:

 * Follow the Leader (Her "17 years old" stitch 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 movement such as 'Forever 23' (spearheaded by Chiaki Takahashi) and 'Forever 29' (spearheaded by Yuko Goto))
 * Happily Married (And has a daughter)
 * Hot Mom (Both in fiction and real life)
 * Lethal Chef (Usually as a countermeasure to her Yamato Nadeshiko roles)
 * Not Really Seventeen Years Old
 * Old Shame (Before Tendou Kasumi 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)
 * Phrase Catcher ("Oi oi", usually in response of her "I'm 17 years old" stitch.)
 * Pigeonholed Voice Actor (Although partially justififed she's THE Trope Codifier of Yamato Nadeshiko for voice actors. However, she can still be...)
 * Playing Against Type (If you think she can only do sweet, pure, angelic women, wait until you hear I-No, or better yet Grace O'Connor)
 * Or for that matter, Lust from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
 * Running Gag ("I'm 17 years old")
 * Spiritual Successor (She's somewhat the Spiritual Successor to Sumi Shimamoto, who's the Ur Example for Yamato Nadeshiko voice actors. Also, Sayaka Ohara seems to be her Spiritual Successor)
 * The casting crew for Umineko sure seems to think so.
 * Yamato Nadeshiko (Let's be honest: this woman might as well have defined this trope because of her voice)
 * Silk Hiding Steel (And when her character isn't Japanese, this'll be it)

For her American equivalent (who's more subtle about her age), see Bridget Hoffman.

Inoue-san in GPS form