Kana Ueda Thought Yoimiya Would be Selfish in Genshin Impact

As Yoimiya’s banner draws to a close, miHoYo posted a cast interview with Kana Ueda, who provides her Japanese voice. The video is available on both YouTube and Twitter. The video is only in Japanese but here is a summary of the interview.

Her first impression of Genshin Impact was of how popular it is on social media. Indeed, Genshin Impact was one of the most popular Twitter hashtags in Japan in the beginning of 2021. Due to the graphics, she noted that it feels more like you’re moving a character around in an animation, rather than playing a game.

Ueda’s first impression of Yoimiya was that she is a cheerful Kansai-ben character–exactly the type that Ueda is known for playing. Even before they announced Yoimiya’s voice, people around Ueda told her that she would be perfect for the role. Ueda also thought Yoimiya would be the loud and selfish class clown type. But after reading through her lines, she realized that Yoimiya is actually very serious and sincere. The only thing in common Ueda thought she has with Yoimiya is that she also uses Kansai-ben in her personal life. She doesn’t think she can go around helping people like Yoimiya does.

Other than Yoimiya, Ueda is interested in Xingqiu and the Unknown God. Ueda likes Xingqiu due to her relationship with Junko Minagawa, who voices Xingqiu in the Japanese dub. She used to go out a lot with Minagawa but with lockdowns in Japan, she can only have fun with Minagawa in-game. For a similar reason, she’s interested in the Unknown God because she thinks any character with Rie Kugimiya’s voice is very powerful.

When the interviewer asked Ueda about what she would like to do in the Genshin Impact world, she noted that she likes to socialize in MMOs. In previous MMOs she played, she would find a corner of the town with her friends and spend time chatting. So even in Teyvat, she would like to lead a slow life like that. Lastly, she thanked people for letting Yoimiya travel with them and asked people to play with her if they see her online.

Other voice actors miHoYo sat down with include Rie Takahashi, Eri Kitamura, Ryota Ohsaka, and Saori Hayami.

Genshin Impact is readily available on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and mobile devices. Players will have until Version 2.1, which will go live on September 1, 2021, to pull for Yoimiya.