I don’t get all the complaints. And, to be honest, it’s a small issue compared to the uh… actually nevermind.
I think it’s a disconnect from cinematic-to-game. A lot of things can be lost in translation.
Like how Ram’s trailer acted like he was all so cool and stuff? Don’t get me wrong, he still is, but certain aspects don’t work well in gaming aspects.
But, personality issues, which this seems to be rather than a voice issue? These are easier to fix…but they’ve committed the resources already so it won’t be an ideal investment.
10th post about Kirikos voice but everyone is fine that Reins VA neither is german nor speaks a single german word and does a fake accent the whole time. Not even mentioning how he pronounces Brigitte.
Mmh?
What’s strawman about my comment. I just stated facts. I do agree that Kirikos voice acting ain’t the best and highest quality, but it was like that from the start. It’s just it happens more often now.
In a world like Overwatch, Kiriko could be a literal horse and have all the reason in the world to “sound American” if she wanted to
That aside, her VA is Japanese and speaks both languages fluently. I’m sure if Kiriko wanted to, she could learn to master the spirit arts and speak in that accent without much issue
Outside of the cinematic, it seems like most of her characterization revolves around her being an edgy street punk. In game, she is in her cocky “this is my era/the world belongs to the young” phase and doesn’t seem too concerned about speaking her mind or respecting authority
I don’t think Sojourn sounds bored - she just sounds “normal”. Like she retired from OW, got a dog (Murphy), and just went back to basic Canadian life with a cup of Tim Hortons in her hand during all that downtime. Definitely not as cartoony as some of the other heroes but I guess they wanted to make her more relatable (which could be good considering she is like 80% robotic). Hopefully we get to see more of her in the PVE missions though and see her interact with others (and her cinematic?)
Right, this is what I think too. It leaves me curious on when things take place in game vs the cinematics – Junkerqueen’s vid looked like she was much younger than the one we get in game (and a lot less crazy).
The way I see Kiriko, that shot at the end of her origin story with her team (The Yokai) is probably in-game Kiriko. A crime fighting vigilante breaking the rules and doing what she thinks needs to be done for those she cares about. She’s cocky and rude to authority figures and doesn’t impress easily – if the PVE actually explores hero stories then it would be cool to see how her character shifts
But her actress is American. She grew up around Americans and had American friends. It’s her primary language. Kiriko was born and raised in Japan under a traditional family culture. That’s not to say she shouldn’t voice the character, but why is Hanzo’s actor, another Japanese American who doesn’t even speak the language, going through the effort of trying to sound like someone who grew up in Japan, yet Kiriko’s doesn’t?
I don’t think it’s a huge problem and it doesn’t annoy me as much as it does others. But it is silly. I don’t know why people are pretending it’s not. No one’s saying she has to speak broken English.
Who said that? She can speak English perfectly and have an accent of someone that has lived in Japan her ENTIRE life. Are you implying having an accent is a flaw in someone’s ability to speak a language?
It’s actually not her primary language. She moved to Japan at 16. She’s lived there for years. Japanese is the language she uses on a daily basis. Since her parents are both native Japanese speakers, she would have learned Japanese before English in the home. This isn’t uncommon for 1st generation Americans.
Yes, she is a native English speaker. But she’s also a native Japanese speaker. And Japanese is her primary language.
Besides, I’ve met non-Americans who were not born here who speak English in a perfect American accent. More than one… In fact, I know someone who hasn’t ever even been to the US that could be mistaken for someone from the US if they ever moved here.
Just because Kiriko was born and raised in Japan doesn’t mean she couldn’t sound like she does.
There’s at least 3 Overwatch voice actors I can think of who were born and raised outside of the US that if I ran into them here in the US, I wouldn’t think that they hadn’t been born here without knowing who they were.
It’s amazing that Hanzo, who only has 1 line of japanese dialogue and a fake japanese accent you’d find in a cartoon, is fine, but Kiriko’s authentic jp voice is bad because she hasn’t got an accent
My parents are Irish. I grew up in Ireland. Never been to America. Not got any plans to move there either.
Everyone thinks I sound American…
I have to try put on a fake accent when walking around London. I can only travel around Europe if I wear the Irish flag on my shirts.
I once told someone I just met I was Irish and she never trusted me again. The entire time I knew her she was trying to find my ‘real’ passport and out me as a fraud.
But this is what happens when a country sells their culture and media to the world and does a good job of it. I picked up a lot of the words and phrases and slang growing up without noticing.
