Mari Kanou is a Japanese voice actress from Tokyo, born on September 29, 1985. She is affiliated with the talent agency ArtsVision, having joined them in April 2006 after graduating from the Japan Narration Acting Institute in March of the same year. Kanou possesses the special skill of sign language.

Kanou began her voice acting career in 2005 with her first major role as Fumika Narutaki in the anime adaptation of Mahō Sensei Negima!. This character became a defining and long-running role for her, as she continued to voice Fumika Narutaki in subsequent OVAs including Mahō Sensei Negima!: Shiroki Tsubasa Ala Alba and Mahō Sensei Negima!: Mō Hitotsu no Sekai, as well as the 2011 film Mahō Sensei Negima! Anime Final. Her association with the franchise even extended to later series such as UQ Holder!.

In 2006, she was cast as Kiraha Kirihara in the television anime series Eternal Alice (also known as Kagihime Monogatari Eikyū Alice Rondo). Another notable role came in 2011 when she was cast as the lead character, simply known as Neesan (meaning "big sister" or "elder sister"), in the original net animation +Tic Elder Sister, a comedy series directed by Tsutomu Mizushima. Her other anime credits from her early career include roles in Chocotto Sister and Ghost Hunt.

Beyond animation, Kanou has contributed her voice to video games. She is known for voicing Fumika Narutaki in the various Mahō Sensei Negima! games and provided vocals for a song in the Taiko no Tatsujin series. She also performed theme songs for the Negima! anime series.

In addition to her solo voice work, Kanou has been active in music. She formed a unit called elements with fellow voice actress Asami Shimoda, and later joined a group named "Bakamoribu". Her professional relationships include frequent collaboration with voice actress Chiwa Saito, with the two having worked together on multiple installments of the Negima! franchise and on +Tic Elder Sister.