Ikuko Ito is a Japanese animator, character designer, illustration artist, and animation director, recognized as the original creator of the anime and manga series Princess Tutu. She was born on August 25, 1961, in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. After graduating from the animation department of Tokyo Designer Gakuin College, she began her career in the early 1980s, working as a key animator and animation director on various productions.

Ito gained significant recognition for her work on the Sailor Moon franchise in the 1990s. Starting as an animation director for the original Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon R, she eventually took over from Kazuko Tadano as the character designer for Sailor Moon S, a role she continued through Sailor Moon SuperS. Her distinctive visual style and expressive character art from this period have remained highly regarded by fans. Following her work on Sailor Moon, she served as character designer for other projects, including Fushigi Mahou Fun Fun Pharmacy and both the OVA and television series versions of Magic User's Club.

In 2002, Ito created Princess Tutu, a project where she served as the original creator, character designer, and chief animation director. The anime, produced by Hal Film Maker and directed by Junichi Sato, is a magical girl series heavily inspired by ballet and fairy tales such as Swan Lake and The Ugly Duckling. The story follows a duck transformed into the ballerina Princess Tutu, who must restore the shattered heart of a storybook prince. The series is noted for its exploration of themes like destiny and free will, and for using dance in place of traditional violent conflict. The anime originally aired in Japan on NHK from August 2002 to May 2003, spanning 26 episodes.

Concurrent with the anime, a two-volume manga adaptation of Princess Tutu was published. The manga was written by Ikuko Ito and illustrated by Mizuo Shinonome. It was serialized in Akita Shoten's Champion Red magazine from August 2002 to May 2003. Both the anime and the manga were subsequently licensed for English-language release in North America.

Beyond Princess Tutu, Ito continued to work as a character designer and animation director. Her later credits include Living for the Day After Tomorrow, The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan, and Somali and the Forest Spirit. Her career is marked by a long-standing and productive collaboration with director Junichi Sato. Through her original creation Princess Tutu and her influential design work on major franchises, Ikuko Ito has established herself as a significant figure in Japanese animation.