I just heard we are green lit to talk about it! I am voicing Kanji Tatsumi in "Persona 4 Arena Ultimax" and "Persona Q"!
Troy Baker is no longer Kanji
I, er... I presume that's a failed attempt at embedding a tweet? Could probably do with a little more... anything here. That said, it's surprising if true that Troy Baker isn't voicing Kanji. Guy seems like the type that sticks to his roles. But then, perhaps he feels his time is now worth more than for some remix (?) of a fighting game thing.
- Naoto Shirogane's original (unknown) VA being replaced by Valerie Arem for PQ and P4AU
- Theodore's original VA (Travis Willingham) being replaced by Bryce Papenbrook for PQ and presumably P4AU
- Margaret's original VA (Michelle Ann Dunphy) being replaced by someone for PQ and P4AU
- Kanji Tatsumi's original VA (Troy Baker) being replaced by Matthew Mercer for PQ and P4AU
Nich Maragos of Atlus states that he is pretty sure these are all of the VA replacements for the upcoming Persona games.
His name is Matt Mencer who is currently voicing Levi in the Attack on Titan dub and voiced Tygra in the 2011 Thundercats reboot where I can kinda hear a Kanji like voice but man Kanji will never be the same. Also I've tried to edit this post 3 times now and non of it is sticking so fuck it just responding
maybe they didnt hire them to save money. they probably arent gonna be huge sellers and troy baker is probably getting more expensive by the day. i dont like it but i can understand.
more reason then ever to let persona 4 die after these last couple games though. I dont like change!
@fluxwavez: I believe a Nicole Karrer is Naoto's original VA. And Matthew Mercer, huh... a pretty good recast as he happens to sound an awful lot like Baker. There was a time where I thought was basically going to become the next in-line to be in every game ever since he carries that same style of voice, but he's not nearly as good of a voice actor as Baker or North. Though of course there's the possibility that he simply hasn't been given the right role to show what he's truly capable of yet... but as of now he's about on par with most anime/JRPG voice actors.
@fluxwavez: I believe a Nicole Karrer is Naoto's original VA.
No. Her P4, P4G and P4A VA is not known; that is fact. The only one who portrayed Naoto that is known is her VA from the anime, and that was Mary Elizabeth McGlynn.
Specifically to the Nicole point, Erin Fitzgerald has specifically said it isn't her.
So apparently this isn't the first time Matt Mencer has voiced Kanji as he did it during episode 13-26 (according to wikipedia) of Persona 4 the animation so
@fluxwavez said:
@fluxwavez: I believe a Nicole Karrer is Naoto's original VA.
No. Her VA is not known; that is fact.
lol oh... OK then.
Us Chie fans already went through all of this.
Never forget.
@uppercaseccc: wait so THIS was Mercer?
Suddenly everything is ok.
Isn't that Valirie Arem girl the one who voiced the mother in P4 Animation?
- Naoto Shirogane's original (unknown) VA being replaced by Valerie Arem for PQ and P4AU
- Theodore's original VA (Travis Willingham) being replaced by Bryce Papenbrook for PQ and presumably P4AU
- Margaret's original VA (Michelle Ann Dunphy) being replaced by someone for PQ and P4AU
- Kanji Tatsumi's original VA (Troy Baker) being replaced by Matthew Mercer for PQ and P4AU
Nich Maragos of Atlus states that he is pretty sure these are all of the VA replacements for the upcoming Persona games.
Isn't that Valirie Arem girl the one who voiced the mother in P4 Animation?
Matthew Mercer did a pretty decent Kanji in the P4 Animation, so that's cool.
No Michelle Ann Dunphy is a total bummer, I gotta be honest.
Not really familiar with Theodore so I can't care too much.
@uppercaseccc: wait so THIS was Mercer?
Suddenly everything is ok.
God damn it I love Laura Bailey.
...but not enough to get over the fact that Yu sounds identical to Adachi.
@corruptedevil: according to Wikipedia ya but who knows with wikipedia man
I hate to say it, but I'm suddenly way less excited for this game. Teddie getting replaced was bad enough, but Kanji too? If that means I don't get to hear Troy Baker yelling at people while I'm beating them up anymore this game just isn't as special anymore.
You will, actually. The way they handled Naoto's in-game battle VA is that most of her lines are of her original VA's from the first Persona 4 Arena, however a few new lines—alongside some of her new moves, for example—are of the new voice actor's. They will most likely operate the same way with Kanji in P4AU, so most of his in-game battle VA will still be Troy Baker's.
I hate to say it, but I'm suddenly way less excited for this game. Teddie getting replaced was bad enough, but Kanji too? If that means I don't get to hear Troy Baker yelling at people while I'm beating them up anymore this game just isn't as special anymore.
You will, actually. The way they handled Naoto's in-game battle VA is that most of her lines are of her original VA's from the first Persona 4 Arena, however a few new lines—alongside some of her new moves, for example—are of the new voice actor's. They will most likely operate the same way with Kanji in P4AU, so most of his in-game battle VA will still be Troy Baker's.
Well, I suppose as long as the new lines aren't jarringly different I could live with that. I suppose. It still means he won't be there for the new story though, which is still a bummer.
When the game was announced there was a (not so) small part of me hoping they'd actually get Dave Wittenberg back as Teddie and everything would be perfect. I didn't even consider it might go in the other direction. :/
@fluxwavez: I more worried about Q now personal when it come to Naoto because Kanjis replacement semmes fine but I don't know if the Naoto will sound like Naoto in Q guess well have to wait and see
Yeah, Kanji was apparently changed halfway through the anime dub and I never noticed that, so it's probably fine.
Naoto though... I wouldn't be as worried if they just used Mary Elizabeth McGlynn.
I'm a little bummed about Naoto, but whatever. If I can put up with the musical chairs of voice actors/actresses that is BlazBlue, I can put up with this.
Man this is kind of a super bummer. At this point these games are barley the original cast. Like we have Yukiko but... you know Yukiko.
As much as I like Troy Baker, Matthew Mercer is another one of the good ones. And he can sound damn similar at times. That one should be fine.
I'm more trepidatious about Naoto's VO change. I've never heard Valerie Arem in anything, so I don't know what to think there. But I really liked the old "mystery" actress. She played the part well, despite the incredibly awkward, wordy lines they write for her. Also I thought it was way awesome and appropriate that Naoto's VO is this crazy secret.
dammit who let papenbrook in here
Us Chie fans already went through all of this.
After watching/playing Persona 4, and hearing that Tracey Rooney wouldn't be voicing Chie in any subsequent material, I had to make a clean brake from caring about any Persona 4 related media. That's the downside to having such a pitch-perfect voice cast as P4 did: any changes whatsoever became a deal breaker for me.
If Michelle Ruff doesn't reprise her role as Yukari, I would be hugely disappointed at this game...
Again, Nich Maragos confirmed that the VA replacements that are now known should be the only ones. Specifically regarding Yukari, Michelle Ruff is reprising her role for future Persona products:
Same with Vic Mignogna who is reprising his role as Junpei Iori and Mona Marshall who is reprising her role as Ken Amada. The only Persona 3 related P3 replacement is Theodore's.
@fluxwavez: Phew!
I had no idea that Troy Baker didn't voice Kanji in P4A, but then again I think the voice direction for the english dub was... kinda not great? For as much as I love the bizarre choice of Johnny Young Bosch talking to himself (another reason why including Adachi in P4AU is so great), it wasn't enough for me to watch more than a few episodes in english.
Sorta bummed about Troy Baker being replaced (for whatever reason), but Matthew Mercer sounds pretty similar anyways. Not nearly as jarring as when they changed Chie's voice. At least they still got all of the P3 cast.
I had no idea that Troy Baker didn't voice Kanji in P4A, but then again I think the voice direction for the english dub was... kinda not great?
Troy Baker voiced Kanji in P4A.
Edit: Oh wait, sorry, I missed that you were talking about the anime. Acronyms...
Troy Baker still voiced Kanji in the first season of the anime. Matt Mercer did the second season because Troy was on his honeymoon at the time.
Kinda bummed about this news. Troy Baker is amazing as Kanji, and while her "pretending to be a boy" voice wasn't very convincing I thought whoever voiced Naoto did a great job.
I had no idea that Troy Baker didn't voice Kanji in P4A, but then again I think the voice direction for the english dub was... kinda not great?
Troy Baker voiced Kanji in P4A.
Edit: Oh wait, sorry, I missed that you were talking about the anime. Acronyms...
Totally blanked that P4A could also stand for Persona 4 Arena. Thanks Japan.
@wiseblood Ohhhhhhh. Okay, that makes sense.
Troy Baker will always be Kanji in my heart. Also I was the original voice of Naoto and now you all know my secret.
I love Persona 4 to death, but this is just one more reason why I'm excited that Persona 5 is coming. It's time to let Persona 4 ride off into the sunset with Ultimax. If they do another Persona 4 spin-off in the future, I'm gonna be pretty disappointed.
It's important to remember that Persona 3 and Persona 4 came out only one year apart. Now, Atlus is milking those two franchises like none other.
It's time to let Persona 4 ride off into the sunset with Ultimax. If they do another Persona 4 spin-off in the future, I'm gonna be pretty disappointed.
Remember Persona 4: Dancing All Night, which would be the last of the upcoming spin-offs in both North America and Japan.
The others I could deal with but Troy is a deal breaker. I'll probably sell my copy of Persona Q since I pre-ordered it at a discount.
I've had a bad feeling that exactly this was going to happen. I mean, Baker's kind of a big-shot now, right?
I've had a bad feeling that exactly this was going to happen. I mean, Baker's kind of a big-shot now, right?
You might say he's currently the biggest shot in video game VA.
It's time to let Persona 4 ride off into the sunset with Ultimax. If they do another Persona 4 spin-off in the future, I'm gonna be pretty disappointed.
Remember Persona 4: Dancing All Night, which would be the last of the upcoming spin-offs in both North America and Japan.
If they don't resolve the Elizabeth/P3 MC and mystery villain storylines in ultimax they'll have to come back to it at some point. I've always felt like the implications for the persona universe they unveiled in P4A were way too big to resolve them in the visual novel part of a fighting game. We'll have to see at TGS if they talk more about P5.
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