Mari Nakatsu is a Japanese voice actress and actress born on July 8, 1983, in Higashiosaka, Osaka Prefecture. She began her entertainment career in the early 2000s, initially working as an actress and model before transitioning to voice acting. Her birth name is Mariko Nakatsu, and she performed under that name until August 8, 2014, when she officially changed her stage name to Mari Nakatsu. She is affiliated with the talent agency Across Entertainment.

Nakatsu's path to voice acting was influenced by a childhood experience. Having studied classical ballet for over eight years from the age of three, her early dream was to become a ballerina. At the age of six, she spent time recovering from a serious illness in the hospital, where watching a great deal of anime inspired her to pursue a career as a voice actress. She is a native of the Kansai region and is proficient in the Kansai dialect.

Her career in entertainment began before her official voice acting debut. In 2001, she performed as part of the troupe Fairy Sector Tentou, playing the role of Blue Tentou and singing its theme song, SILENT BLUE. She gained popularity from 2004 for her role as the ninja character Ayame Hana-Kage on the NHK Educational TV show Mite Hustle, Kiite Hustle. After joining the agency Sun Music Production in September 2009, she made her voice acting debut in 2010 with a role in the series Cooking Idol I! My! Mine!.

Nakatsu is widely recognized for several prominent roles in anime television series. She voiced Nanami Aoyama in The Pet Girl of Sakurasou, which aired from 2012 to 2013, a role for which she is particularly well-known. Her other major anime roles include Erika Takatō in Ginga e Kickoff!!, Kinue Atago in Saki: Zenkoku-hen, Suzune Kinbako in the Danball Senki franchise, and Kana Higurashi in Hello!! Kin-iro Mosaic. She also voiced Charm in Heavy Object. In addition to these series, her filmography includes roles in Kingdom Season 2, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid, and Tantei Kageki Milky Holmes TD.

Beyond anime, Nakatsu has contributed her voice to video game adaptations of her anime roles, such as The Pet Girl of Sakurasou, Danball Senki, and Yome Collection. She has also appeared in television dramas, stage plays, and music videos. Her work extends to music, where she has performed character songs and theme songs for series in which she starred. Notably, she performed the opening theme for The Pet Girl of Sakurasou as part of the unit Pet na Kanojotachi with her co-stars, and also sang the episode 14 opening theme, I Call Your Name Again, in character as Nanami Aoyama. She was also a member of a voice actress unit called Purikettsu, which combined singing and dancing with voice acting.

In September 2015, Nakatsu left Sun Music Production and joined her current agency, Across Entertainment, that November.