#risa uchida

[kairidaily]

From the KINGDOM HEARTS 3 Ultimania interview, translated by Solis and Mio-Chan at KH13

Irino: Riku explored worlds in KH3D, so maybe it’s Kairi’s turn next? Miyano: Yeah! I wanna play that so badly! I wanna see Kairi dress up in different outfits. Uchida: I wanna play it too!

[yoroshiu]

Characterization Through Language: Xion (Kingdom Hearts)

Next from the poll: Xion!

(She technically tied with MoM but I put her first because MoM...he's something...and I feel like I'll have a little too much to say about him)

Xion has a lot of fascinating aspects to her that kinda get lost in the translation/localization sauce, one of the biggest ones I've posted about before so I'll just TLDR it here while linking that post. And just like the previous posts there'll be analyses and trivia ^o^

CV: Risa Uchida (Emika (Lupin the 3rd: Goodbye Partner); She mostly focuses on acting/theatre actually so she doesn't have as many voice acting roles)

And of course, she's Kairi's seiyuu as well.

Here's the two saying the same line:

"Don't hold back, Axel." vs "Don't hold back, Lea."

Uchida-san has such a pretty voice, it's very princess-like. That's one consistent thing I've heard from people hearing her voice for the first time.

~~~

Xion's preferred 1st Person pronoun ("I") is: "Atashi" - あたし

This previous post goes into it in more detail but there's a lot of significance in her usage of this particular pronoun.

"あたし" is the typically feminine way of referring to one's self as comapred to 私 (わたし)/"Watashi" which is gender-neutral and the standard "I" that people can use in conversation. It's basically the go-to for standard politeness in Japanese.

In short, this is extremely important for Xion's characterization because it's a pronoun that none of the other characters she's based on use it. Kairi uses "watashi" (and so does Naminé). This makes "atashi" a Xion thing. She's a girl, she's her own person and her name is Xion—not a boy named Sora.

("Roxas also doesn't have memories, like me.")

Xion's preferred 2nd Person pronoun ("you") is: "Anata" - あなた

This is a standard way to say "you', probably one of the most polite ways to do so. Honestly, I don't have much to say here lol

("You, as well. Why are you pretending to be [in the] Organization?")

~~~

Xion has a soft but firm voice, emphasis on the firmness. I think the best way to put it is to show how voicing Xion versus Kairi is for Uchida-san:

I think she tends to make use Uchida-san's darker/deeper tones, at least more than Kairi. Considering the time we get with her throughout Days + 3, there were a quite a bit of moments that stuck out to me. I don't have too much to say, but Xion's quite an emotional performance.

~~~

Notable Clips:

Xion screaming (Riku encounter)

That one convo with Axel (The softness of her voice usually)

After beating Xigbar (Her voice being more firm)

Right before her boss fight (The epitome of the climax of her making up her mind TvT)

Screenshot from an Interview:

(KH3 Ultimania)

Not gonna lie, there's a part of me that wishes I didn't make that previous post just so I could've written more here LOL

Either way, Xion's another case of relative consistency. Besides the "atashi" aspect, you don't really lose out on the characterization I feel. Kingdom Hearts is relatively consistent on that basis. I always find it fun studying characters with the same voice actor cause you can usually find those cool nuances based on the direction.

So, that's all I have for this post so thanks if you made here!

Next is the Master of Masters, and this time, there's A Lot to talk about with him in terms of how his dialogue and personality come through in the Japanese dub.

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Making Kingdom Hearts Stuff Until KH4 Comes Out (Day 109)

[kh13]

"I'm sorry. Those days are hazy for me. But it sounds like I'd have been in trouble without you. So, thank you." Happy 31st birthday to Risa Uchida! She's the Japanese voice actor for Kairi in the Kingdom Hearts series!

kh13.com kh13.com/discord

[fallinlovewithmiyanomamoru]

Over the years

[silva-heart]

You know what I wish existed?

 Japanese audio with original translations for the Kingdom Hearts games.

 @phoenix-downer tells me the translations are PRETTY ACCURATE with only a few things being lost in translation. Like how the “two people share one” line from kh1 is actually something along the lines of “feed each other” or something like that. And how “keyblade master” was apparently never said to Sora in the original Japanese because Master is a special title Sora has yet to earn. 

 I mean, I know it’s unlikely that we’ll get dual-language options for the games but even a  Japanese Lets Play or a cutscene movie with the original Japanese audio and original translations would be a real treat because:

 1) I really want to hear Sora’s Japanese VA more. I love Haley and his performance, and I cant imagine Sora without him, but I really want to hear the original VA for Sora. 

2) The other cast’s original VA’s would be a treat to hear too

3) The original translations hold many secrets apparently 

4) Anyone who understands Japanese culture well enough could include A/N explaining certain phrases/ customs to explain things either in video or on tumblr.

I REALLY want this--and I would do it myself except:

 1) I do not live in Japan

 2)I don’t know Japanese or understand Japanese culture

 3) I also don’t own a Japanese PS4 or Japanese versions of the games

 Don’t feel called out by this, translators and cultural side of tumblr. I’m NOT expecting anyone to do all this--It’s way too much work for any one person. I just really wish it existed: full, japanese audio lets plays with original translations. 

[miraculous-wielder-of-light]

Kairi’s Japanese voice actress just... BLEW ME AWAY!!!

MY. GOD. What a beautiful voice!!!!

she sounds gorgeous!

OMG!!!!!!!!!

me: Kairi cannot possibly be more precious

me: hears Risa Uchida’s voice performance of Kairi

[kairidaily]

From the KINGDOM HEARTS 3 Ultimania interview, translated by goldpanner

Come on, Nomura~ Give the voice actors who aren't haters what they want~

[yoroshiu]

Characterization Through Language: Kairi (Kingdom Hearts)

Our dear Princess of Heart! Nothing but love for our girl v-v

For the starter clip it'll be this:

Kairi and Not Forgiving Xehanort

CV: Risa Uchida (Emika (Lupin the 3rd: Goodbye Partner); She mostly focuses on acting/theatre actually so she doesn't have as many voice acting roles) (As noted in Xion's post)

I've already said this before but Uchida-san has an extremely pretty and princess-like voice. I also love the subtle differences in how she approaches Kairi and Xion. I'd use a different example than the one on Xion's post but I love the comparison of the "Don't hold back" line some much that, if this is the first post you're interacting with for this series, I'd love to share this:

"Don't hold back, Axel" vs "Don't hold back, Lea"

~~~

Kairi's preferred 1st Person Pronoun: "Watashi" - 私 / わたし

Kairi's preferred 2nd Person Pronoun: "Anata" - あなた and "Kimi" - 君*

I'm putting them together like this since I have a screenshot that has her using both watashi and anata in the same sentence.

("I won't forgive you.")

("Eh, you know Sora?")

This is all pretty standard ways of speaking so there isn't much to note here. Though, it does make an interesting difference with Xion who uses a different "I" pronoun, as talked about in this post. From what I've seen, she doesn't really switch from those

*Interesting is her use of "kimi"

This is her referring to Sora in her letter. I think this goes to show her familiarity with him. And I haven't found it or there hasn't been a case but I feel like she'd use it Riku, but most cases have her saying his name in a similar way Sora does.

As a result, I haven't seen her use "kimi" as much.

~~~

In general, her speakng style is more formal / not as "casual" as Sora or Riku but she does speak casually. And she's definitely one to switch depending on who she's talking to.

(Since she's speaking to Lea here, she uses だよね (dayo ne) instead of ですね (desu ne), hence showing her familiarity with him.)

She actually uses "desu/masu" form in her letter to Sora. Which I feel is probably a standard thing to do when writing letters.

("Knowing that Lea has a best friend he wants to save, I can't help but think he's someone you can't hate") (思ってます - "I think"; notice the ます (masu))

("Nice to meet you, I'm Kairi.") (use of masu here)

("But you also saved me, thank you so much.") (desu and masu used here)

Definitely among the trio, she's the most polite, I feel. Pretty fitting with how she was raised, methinks?

~~~

Clips:

Her distressed "Eeeeh?" when learning who Lea was

Her first appearance

Bits from her battle with Xehanort in Re:Mind

Kairi and Riku shared "Eh": 1 / 2

~~~

Doing this really made me want to see Kairi in different scenarios and study how she'd inteact with more characters. I'm begging, praying for more Kairi content in the future! Also I really want to see more scenes with her and Riku together, the shared "Eh"s and reactions are cute LOL

Up next is: Axel / Lea!!! He's definitely an interesting character to study, and his post will be very special v-v

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Making Kingdom Hearts Stuff Until KH4 Comes Out (Day 145)