Riko Kohara is a Japanese voice actress and guitarist, born on February 3, 1990, in Gifu Prefecture. She is affiliated with the talent agency Object. Her interest in voice acting began during high school, inspired by series like Naruto, though her career path initially led her towards music. She moved to Tokyo to pursue this goal and graduated from the ESP College of Entertainment, a vocational school specializing in music, where she studied guitar under Masanori Kusakabe, the guitarist for the band BURNY.

Kohara's professional career began in music before voice acting. In July 2011, she became the guitarist for The Sketchbook, a real-life band formed around the fictional group from the anime Sket Dance, performing the series' opening and ending themes. The band was active until its disbandment in 2015. Her voice acting debut came in 2014 with a small role in the long-running children's anime Soreyuke! Anpanman.

A pivotal moment in her career arrived in 2018 when she was recruited by Bushiroad president Takaaki Kidani to join the BanG Dream! multimedia franchise. This opportunity arose after a fan shared a video of her guitar performances on social media. She initially joined the franchise's backup band, The Third (Beta), as its guitarist. The band was later renamed Raise A Suilen (RAS), and its members received corresponding anime and game characters. Kohara voices Rokka Asahi, also known by her stage name LOCK, the guitarist of RAS. The character shares several traits with Kohara, including having moved from Gifu to Tokyo. This role uniquely blends her skills as both a voice actress and a performing musician, as she plays guitar for the band in live concerts.

Beyond her signature role in BanG Dream!, Kohara has voiced a variety of other characters across anime and games. Her anime roles include Gekkō in Senran Kagura Shinovi Master, Misa Aoi in Kandagawa Jet Girls, Mako Shirakabe in Teppen—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Laughing 'til You Cry, Nanami Hoshi in Idol Memories, and Lily in The Caligula Effect. She also voiced Shiro-chan in Poccolies and Karin in Tokyo Gambo, as well as Kushiro in Oide yo Mahō Shōjo Mura [Fuhōsenkyo]. In video games, her work includes roles such as Mulberry in Arknights, USS Richmond in Azur Lane, and Momina Evelies in Ys X: Nordics.