Naoko Watanabe is a prominent Japanese voice actress, or seiyū, born on November 21, 1959, in Suginami, Tokyo. She is a graduate of Nihon University and is affiliated with the talent management firm Aoni Production. Watanabe began her career in the early 1980s, with her debut role being a minor character in the 1982 television animation The Pumpkin Wine. Her first major role came in 1984 as Rui in the series Adventures of Little El Cid, followed shortly by her first leading role as the title character Memoru in Tongari Bōshi no Memoru.

Watanabe is perhaps best known for her long-standing and iconic roles in the Dragon Ball franchise. She voices both the fiery wife of Son Goku, Chi-Chi, and the shapeshifting cat-like Puar, a role she has played since the original 1986 Dragon Ball series. Her performance as Chi-Chi has been a constant throughout the franchise, spanning Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Kai, and Dragon Ball Super, as well as numerous feature films like Dragon Ball Super: Broly and Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods. She also took on the role of Gine, Goku's mother, in Dragon Ball Super: Broly.

Beyond Dragon Ball, Watanabe has an extensive and diverse filmography. Another of her most celebrated and enduring roles is Tamae Honami, affectionately known as Tama-chan, the best friend of the titular character in the long-running anime Chibi Maruko-chan, a part she has played since 1990. She also voiced the quirky and powerful Guu in the comedy series Haré+Guu and its sequels. In the mid-1980s, she provided the voice for Lottie Leigh in the classic world masterpiece theater adaptation Princess Sara. Her filmography also includes roles in Transformers: Zone as Akira, the Gall Force series as Catty, and Kamen no Ninja Akakage as Kaede.

Throughout her career, Watanabe has demonstrated a particular talent for voicing young, energetic, and often comedic characters, a skill that has made her a staple in family-oriented anime for decades. Her work in the Dragon Ball franchise represents one of the most significant and enduring recurring collaborations in voice acting, having voiced core characters across multiple series, films, and specials for over thirty years.