The messy story of the Bleach voice acting controversy, explained - The Verge
The messy story of the Bleach voice acting controversy, explained - The Verge
Yoruichi almost had a new voice in Bleach.
Honestly I don't think the actors race really matters too much for voice acting. Let the voice directors/casters pick the voices they think best match the characters. If that happens to mean that actors are selected by race, then that is because that's what the voice director/caster wanted. For some stories it works better or makes more sense when the voice actor is selected based on race, and for some stories it doesn't. Let the voice director/caster decide.
This doesn't have to be hard.
Yeah, voice acting is the one area where race and gender should not matter. Imagine losing out on the voice actor for Kratos. Everything else is so dependent on physical appearances in the entertainment industry where you have to look the part, so it'd be a shame for voice acting to also be affected by that.
It's the one place where it's just the voice that matters, and the best voice roles being ones where you don't recognize the actor behind it.
Well no, race and gender can still matter. Basically, the choice of whether race matters or not should be up to the voice director/caster.
For example, if I was voice director on a project that features characters from feudal Japan, I would probably not cast white actors. Not that white actors are bad, but I wouldn't consider them a good fit. I would prefer to hire native Japanese actors, as that would give a more authentic sound to the voices in my opinion. Or, if I was making a new Silent Hill, I would prefer American actors (for characters that arent specifically a certain nationality) over other nationalities. It would give a more authentic sound as compared to hiring actors that sound "non-American."
At the same time, if I was casting characters for something like Sword Art Online, I wouldn't really care much about who the actors are. The premise of people being transported into an MMORPG lends itself to having a varied voice cast. So I would simply pick voices that I feel best sound like what I hear from the character in my mind.
In any of those cases, the choice should be left to the voice director/caster. They know the project and have conversed with the producers, artists, and other creatives on the project. No project should be required to include or not include races of people. If it is what the creatives want, thats what should be done.
This really shouldn’t be a controversy. Characters change voice actors all the time, and Quiñones isn’t a bad voice actor.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The announcement was met with considerable excitement but also backlash as some fans reacted negatively that Quiñones now had the role instead of Wendee Lee, who originally voiced Yoruichi when the series began back in 2004.
Lee, a seasoned voice actress known for her roles across decades of anime, cartoons, and video games, appeared to conflate support for Quiñones, a newer but successful performer, as an attack against her.
“By stepping aside now I open the door of Access and give opportunity to an actor who can represent Yasutora Sado with the same love and pride and imagination but with more life experience than I have.”
Viz’s decision to bring Lee back comes at a time when other production companies have similarly found themselves facing criticism from fans displeased with the addition of Black cast members.
Hobbits Elijah Wood and Sean Astin spoke out against racist attacks on the Black and Brown actors cast in Amazon’s Rings of Power series.
Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series, defended Black actress Leah Jeffries when she faced racist abuse for her casting as Annabeth Chase in the Disney adaptation.
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Everyone just put your racism card back in the deck until it's needed. We're all people.