Highlights
- Voice actor Anaires Quiñones announces replacement in BLEACH role, sparking racist backlash and highlighting lack of diversity in industry.
- Original voice actor Wendee Lee responds negatively to support for Quiñones, later issuing apology and welcoming Quiñones to the cast.
- Racism in voice acting industry revealed as fans argue against diversification, missing the point of representation and equal opportunity for actors of color.
On October 21, seasoned voice actor Anaires Quiñones revealed on X (Twitter) that they’ve been replaced in the role of Yoruichi Shihōin in the English dub of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War, and that their recorded lines would be replaced by veteran voice actor Wendee Lee, the character’s original English voice. While actor replacements aren’t new, the racist backlash that Quiñones received after announcing the role, and subsequent replacement, have rather sinister implications even if the replacement is the original actor of the role.
Various voice actors and colleagues tried comforting Quiñones, and lamented the circumstances; however, the situation got murkier when Lee reacted negatively to the outpouring of support, retorting in a series of now-deleted tweets. What have we been told about the Yoruichi dubbing controversy, and where does it leave us in the quest to diversify and grant equal opportunity in an industry that is difficult to thrive in, especially as an actor of color?
RELATED: Why Jamieson Price Will Not Be Returning to BLEACH
The Timeline
Quiñones announced their casting as Yoruichi Shihōin in the English dub of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War on October 7. In the days that followed, the actor received backlash from fans, some of whom cited dissatisfaction with the replacement of Wendee Lee, the original voice of the character. While that is a valid qualm given Lee’s iconic performance in that role and the reprisal of the majority of roles by their original actors, what made the backlash racist was the fact that angry fans were calling this a “diversity hire”, completely disregarding Quiñones’ 14 years as a voice actor, and the fact that Lee is still involved in BLEACH project, as the voice of Tatsuki Arisawa. Lee is known for voicing various iconic female anime characters, including Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop. Quiñones is also the voice of Hiyori Sarugaki, replacing Laura Bailey who played the character in the original BLEACH anime, and she has voiced various popular characters, including Nessa from Pokémon: Twilight Wings and Mirko in My Hero Academia.
Yoruichi makes her appearance in episode 22, and the episode aired with Quiñones voicing the character; however, she announced the recast just over two weeks later. Quiñones mentioned that the studio and client “wanted to go in a different direction”, and that she would still be the voice of Hiyori; however, it was evident that the chance to voice an iconic female character of colour in a major production like the long-awaited final arc of BLEACH meant a lot to Quiñones. Over the days following the announcement, support came pouring in from many fans and fellow voice actors like Kayli Mills (Emilia; Re: Zero); however, Lee would make a series of comments in response to many colleagues’ expressions of support for Quiñones, taking personally that people were sad to see them lose that role. It is now understood that the decision to cast Quiñones in the role was because Lee was thought to be unavailable, but by the time the mistake was caught, the episode had already been released. In their statement to ANN, Studiopolis claimed that it was always their intent to keep the original cast of the series.
Not an Attack
When Mills expressed support for Quiñones, Lee responded “Just maintaining the iconic character, Kayli”, and in the ensuing thread, Mills ended up apologizing and promising to “stay quiet” in the future. A number of tweets were sent out by Lee to various other actors, to which her responses were defensive, reiterating that she is “just maintaining the role she established years ago”. When reading the tweets and responses, it’s evident that Lee conflated support for Quiñones as an attack on her; however, on the following day, many of the tweets sent out by Lee were deleted, and a new post went up sending well-wishes, an apology and a welcome to Quiñones to the BLEACH cast. In addition to tweets posted by Lee herself, Lee liked some of the support she was getting on the apology, including one that describes those who are disappointed by her actions as “greasy freaks”, which undermines the sincerity of the apology since it implies a belief that she isn’t in the wrong in the way she responded.
What stands out, in particular, is that Lee mentions that she mistakenly thought that her colleagues were aware that she “originated the role”. However, even if that is the case, there’s something uncomfortable about a veteran performer feeling attacked about a younger, successful, and talented voice actor being shown support about losing the chance to voice an iconic character. What makes the situation feel rather sinister, beyond the racist backlash experienced by Quiñones, is the fact that Wendee Lee is an ADR Director on top of being a veteran, which makes her unprofessional comments regarding a “lack of support” rather baffling considering she has decades on Quiñones in terms of experience and the fact that many fans were disappointed to hear Yoruichi had been recast in the first place. Lee has done voice direction on BLEACH projects before, including the original anime, which also makes this a matter of seniority on top of Lee’s extensive and highly-regarded career.
The Racism Problem
Some fans respond with scorn at the idea that voice acting needs to be diversified, while others claim that all anime roles should be reserved for Asian actors if we are to truly represent the characters, because the majority of anime characters are Japanese. However, this gleefully misses the point. In industries that are both white and male-dominated, such as voice acting, the point of representation is not to match a character’s skin colour and origins with that of their voice actors, but to use the minimal appearances of minority groups as a springboard to designate to actors of colour who have proven their talents, time and time again, and ensure that the doors open for everyone regardless of identity. The timing of the replacement and the context of backlash from fans regarding the initial change is unfortunate; however, in their statement to ANN, Studiopolis claimed that it was always their intent to keep the original cast of the series, and that When Jamieson Price stepped down from the voice of Chad (and away from voicing characters of colour in general), the reason for the change was Price’s acknowledgment of the inequality of access to opportunity in voice acting.
The idea that it is simply a quest to match a race to a voice actor is disingenuous – the parallels between the majority of Japanese characters found in any one anime and the overwhelming majority of white actors is where the discourse is particularly relevant because characters of different races and backgrounds are scarce in comparison – much like the question of diversity in animation, voice acting, video games and other industries. The narrative that black actors can only be hired as a “social justice” move is riddled with racism so pervasive it can’t even see itself because the norm is usually so unquestionably a display of a homogeneity that can only be maintained through deliberate acts to deny, demoralize and discredit the work done by minority actors. Lee has issued Quiñones an apology privately which they have acknowledged, but not without reiterating that the issues began long before Lee’s response, saying “I understand where you were coming from, but your words were unkind to my peers”.
BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War is available to stream on Hulu and Disney+.
Sources: The Verge, ANN
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