Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections, the latest entry in the Ultimate Ninja Storm series, is under fire by fans and the game’s voice actors for its questionable English redub.
On social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Naruto fans are taking apart the vocal performances in the new Naruto x Boruto game. One scene, in particular, features Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha in their Naruto: Shippuden forms. After an intense clash, Naruto asks Sasuke if the impact woke him up, reminiscent of their past fights as kids. However, when the scene transitions to the flashback of young Sasuke and Naruto, young Naruto sounds tonally off from the serious situation he’s in, delivering the “Wake you up!” line in an oddly upbeat way.
The voice actors for Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections are apparently just as confused by the final takes used in the game as franchise fans. Maile Flanagan, the English voice actor for Naruto, said that the “Wake you up!” line wasn’t hers. “I can GUARANTEE I did not say that line that way,” Flanagan said. “What’s that from? And I guarantee no voice director of Naruto or the games would have me do that in that way.”
Michael Schwalbe, the English voice actor for Kawaki, likewise called out the questionable performance of his character used in the game. “Maybe the most charitable way an awful dub line has ever been called out,” Schwalbe said. “But seriously, this thread made me laugh until I cried. I just wish it wasn’t my read I’m laughing at.” Schwalbe even called out a clip of Kakashi Hatake that “sounds like straight text-to-speech.” After a friend of Schwalbe ran the game’s questionable audio through an AI detection app, the results suggest AI recordings were most likely used. As Schwalbe notes, Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections was a union game, meaning AI involvement was supposed to be forbidden.
Now, voice actors both involved and not involved with the Naruto anime franchise are sounding off on the possibility of AI recordings being used in Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections, along with fans of the Naruto series as a whole, as seen from just a few of the below comments.
Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections is now available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Source: X (formerly Twitter)
