She’s an incredibly popular seiyuu — and she very much deserves that popularity.
The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) is a very unique anime. Combining historical setting, mystery, witty dialogue and realistically written drama, it received praise from different sorts of otaku. Its popularity is not something you’d expect for a series with female protagonists — but to be fair, Maomao is among the best ones we’ve seen in a while.
One thing that makes Maomao so great is her voice actress, Aoi Yuuki. She has been in the industry for a while, and was already beloved by many fans even before the series. If you haven’t heard much of her before, but want to change that, here are some of her other great roles:
Kumoko (So I'm a Spider, So What?)
Kumoko is probably one of Aoi Yuuki’s most memorable roles — especially in the past few years. When she’s the focus of the anime, which a lot of the time features little dialogue and has her talking to herself alone, she gets a lot of screentime.
Many viewers have mixed opinions on So I'm a Spider, So What? (Kumo desu ga, Nani ka?) — citing the non-Kumoko parts as boring and not contributing much. That said, pretty much everyone agrees Yuuki’s performance was stellar.
Madoka Kaname (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)
Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica) is one of studio Shaft’s most famous works. It gave a fresh breath to the magical girl genre — while it’s not the first anime to deconstruct it, it’s the first one to hit the mainstream audience.
The titular protagonist, Madoka, slowly progresses from a meek and unready girl to a determined heroine. The transformation is beautifully done, and wouldn’t be complete without proper voice acting — and thankfully, Yuuki delivers in that regard.
Tanya Degurechaff (Saga of Tanya the Evil)
Tanya is very obviously evil, sometimes cartoonishly so. The over-the-top nature of the series is what we like about it, and so, a proper vocal performance is needed.
Aoi Yuuki can definitely play evil characters like that in a way where they sound both amusing and threatening at the same time.
Victorique de Blois (Gosick)
Gosick was a popular mystery series once. It’s not talked about much nowadays — mostly because it fully adapted the novels in one season, and there was nothing for otaku to discuss anymore.
That said, Victorique, the genius detective girl with a troubled past, is one of the earlier lead roles of Aoi Yuuki — and she’s great in it. Victorique is a tsundere character who slowly opens up to the protagonist, and the romance in the anime is actually very well done.
Tsuyu Asui (My Hero Academia)
Tsuyu’s weird way of speaking is one of the things that are actually better expressed in My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia) anime than in its manga. We have to give credit where it’s due: Yuuki gives the character her own flair.
A lesser known fact is that this is not even her only role in the series. She also voices Setsuna Tokage of Class 1-B in the series — who doesn’t sound like Tsuyu at all.
Peeps (Sasaki and Peeps)
Peeps, or Pii-chan, is the sage from another world who was turned into a bird and sent to the real world. While Sasaki and Peeps (Sasaki to Pii-chan) has only just begun airing recently, it already has quite the following — and some people are just here for the bird’s seiyuu.
Hibiki Tachibana (Senki Zesshou Symphogear)
A lot of anime fans have probably never heard of Senki Zesshou Symphogear. In short, it’s about girls who fight eldritch aliens and other threats with the power of singing — and it’s about as insane and over-the-top as you can imagine.
The protagonist, Hibiki, is arguably Aoi Yuuki’s most impressive role — she has a huge range of emotions, and often has to both scream and sing. Of course, the impressive voice cast of the series is something that made many fans fall in love with it.
Mami Nanami (Rent-a-Girlfriend)
Say what you want about Mami — a lot of people seem to hate her — but one thing about her that is absolutely brilliant is Aoi Yuuki’s performance as her. The character is supposed to be disliked, and Yuuki nails the role perfectly.
Rent-a-Girlfriend (Kanojo, Okarishimasu) may be disliked by a large chunk of its viewers, but many of them watch it solely because they like the female characters. Some even appreciate Mami — apparently, because of her seiyuu.
Tomo Kunagisa (The Kubikiri Cycle)
The Kubikiri Cycle (Kubikiri Cycle: Aoiro Savant to Zaregotozukai) is an adaptation of the very first novel written by the author of the Monogatari series. The novel inspired many detective games and anime that came out later (Danganronpa comes to mind), but didn’t actually have an adaptation until recently.
Aoi Yuuki plays Kunagisa, the whimsical computer genius who is the so-called savant. The characters, frequently prone to mood swings, require a huge range — one that her seiyuu definitely has.
Kino (Kino's Journey -the Beautiful World- the Animated Series)
Aoi Yuuki voices the stoic Kino, the protagonist of the 2017 remake Kino’s Journey (Kino no Tabi: The Beautiful World).
There’s a fun little fact about this role: her anime debut was back in 2003 as one of the side characters in the original series. She was just 11 years old back then! Although, to be fair, she did start out as a child actor first, appearing in TV dramas at the age of 4.