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Maybe related: [Why do drama CDs and anime series of the same franchise use
different voice actors
sometimes?](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/4139/why-do-drama-cds-
and-anime-series-of-the-same-franchise-use-different-voice-acto)

* * *

I notice in WTC / Umineko / Higurashi: Based on [fandom](https://07th-
expansion.fandom.com/wiki/Voice_Actors), it seems like for umineko the only
difference is [Kasumi Sumadera](https://07th-
expansion.fandom.com/wiki/Kasumi_Sumadera). Seems the case for higurashi is
similar: the VAs reprise their role from the VN in the anime (or vice-versa in
the cases where a VN is released after an anime episode).

I'm not familiar with VNs in general, but afaik, it's not common for, say,
live actors to play animated or vice-versa...exceptions include Haruka
Fukuhara from Kaguya-sama (Tsubame Koyasu), Riisa Naka from the girl who leapt
through time (Akari Yoshiyama & Makoto Konno) or Patton Oswalt (Dementor) from
Kim Possible.

But unlike the above case, I guess the idea is that a VN is basically an anime
with multiple endings, less animation and more dialogue and so why not just
get the same people to reprise the roles?


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question
anime-production higurashi-when-they-cry umineko-when-they-cry visual-novel-production
Do VAs in visual novels usually reprise their roles in anime adaptations?


Answer by [MajinAkuma](https://www.reddit.com/user/MajinAkuma/) in [this
reddit
comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/seiyuu/comments/a7sr3h/comment/ia4yl1b/?context=3):

> In the case of Higurashi and Umineko, I‘m sure the anime cast was casted
> first and they reprised their roles for the visual novels. The original
> sound novels had no voice acting, so fans wouldn’t able to hear the
> characters of the first badges until the anime got released.
>
> Same as with Fate/stay night. But in some cases, if later visual novels got
> full voice acting releases on the PS2 editions, then the new characters
> would get their voices for the visual novel first before the characters
> appear in the anime. This happens with many other anime adaptations where
> the original source material didn’t have full voice over, like many of the
> early KEY VNs.
>
> Whether or not a seiyuu doesn’t reprise their role depends on the numerous
> factors, factors we might never know. The Umineko example is probably easy
> to explain. Tanaka Atsuko did voice Kasumi in the anime, but Kyrie was her
> primary role in Umineko. She obviously reprised her role as Kyrie in the
> VNs, but apparently it was unnecessary for her to reprise her role as
> Kyrie‘s sister Kasumi, so they gave her another seiyuu to distinguish the
> sisters better. That might be the right choice, since multiple Umineko
> seiyuus voice multiple versions of the same characters or characters that
> are intended to be copies of each other, which is why they have the same
> voices. Kyrie and Kasumi are just sisters, and they don’t disguise
> themselves as each other like the Sonozaki twins from Higurashi.
>
> In Little Busters!, Tamiyasu Tomoe voiced both, Riki and Rin in the original
> visual novel, but in the anime, Riki is voiced by Horie Yui instead. Horie
> probably wasn‘t in the visual novel because Little Busters! was original an
> eroge with H-scenes, and having both characters having the same seiyuu in
> the anime might have been not the best idea, so they casted Horie for Riki.
>
> Here’s a funny tidbit. CLANNAD originally came out without voice-over like
> other early KEY titles. The characters wouldn’t get their voices until the
> Toei anime films. The full voice-over version of the visual novel would
> later be released during the run of KyoAni‘s TV series. Kuwashima Houko is,
> of course, the voice of Tomoyo in the Toei films, the KyoAni TV series and
> in the full voice version of CLANNAD. However, she didn’t reprise her role
> for Tomoyo After, which unlike CLANNAD, has H-scenes. In Tomoyo After,
> Tomoyo was voiced by Tanaka Ryouko instead. Bur recently in Kaginado,
> Kuwashima voices both versions of Tomoyo: the CLANNAD version and the After
> version, and the anime makes a point to treat both versions as different
> characters.


CC BY-SA 4.0
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answer