Genshin Impact developer miHoYo revealed on December 8, 2021, the Character Teaser trailer for Arataki Itto, revealing at the same occasion the voice of Kamisato Ayato in the Japanese, Chinese, Korean and English dubs - and in Japanese, Ayato is voiced by Akira Ishida.
First, let's get this out of the way, there is still no face reveal of Ayato, only his voice can be heard in the Itto Character Teaser trailer. Ayato's voice is credited in the Japanese video's official description.
As a reminder, in Japanese, Itto is voiced by superstar singer and anime otaku Takanori Nishikawa, which we introduced in a dedicated story. Moreover, it was already confirmed in-game that Itto and Ayato were friends. So it's not surprising Ayato is heard talking in Itto's trailer.
Do we know who is the English VA of Ayato?
Furthermore, the English version of the Itto Character Teaser doesn't have voice credits. But many anime fans and American dub watchers have possibly identified Ayato's English voice.
However, with the weird situation to say the least of the voice acting industry in the US, it's best to avoid mentioning VA's names before an official announcement. As the voice actor themselves could be suspected of breaking their NDA. Which is stupid but that's how things work right now, and there are sadly precedents of VAs even getting fired after fans managed to guess their roles.
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Who is Akira Ishida, Japanese voice actor (seiyuu) of Kamisato Ayato in Genshin Impact?
Younger anime fans probably only know Akira Ishida for voicing villains as his cold voice often makes him type casted into these roles nowadays. Akira Ishida is most notably voicing Akaza in Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba Mugen Train to take a mainstream example.
However, most Japanese fans and older anime fans know Akira Ishida for tons of iconic roles, starting with Kaworu in Evangelion and Xellos in Slayers, the best fantasy-themed anime of all time.
Akira Ishida also voiced Gaara in Naruto, Athrun Zala in Gundam Seed, the protagonist of Persona 3, Reid the protagonist of Tales of Eternia, Katsura in Gintama, Cho Hakkai in Saiyuki, Edo Phoenix in Yugioh GX, etc. He's a veteran seiyuu who debuted in the late 80s with over 30 years of experience.
Arataki Itto character trailer in Japanese & English
The trailer features Itto crashing down a theater piece because the original script had Oni getting defeated by the Shogun's samurai, and he obviously doesn't like that.
At the end of the trailer, Thoma reports to Ayato that Itto is at it again, and that's when we can hear Akira Ishida's iconic voice.
When is Kamisato Ayato getting released in Genshin Impact?
No one knows yet when is Ayato's release date. There is only a single tangible leak from Uncle Dumb Dumb which basically said Ayato should be released before Genshin Impact 3.0, which should be released around late 2022.
However, talented Genshin Impact data miner Dimbreath explained finding data in the latest game client pointing out Ayato is a Hydro character. With a kit that can reduce Elemental Skill CD of teammates, most likely through a passive skill. And with Kendo inspired attacks. Meaning Ayato should be a Sword character. There was also data about Yae being able to summon towers with her E that has different charges, and being able to detonate these towers with her Q.
However, Dimbreath also explained this could be errors or bait. I'm personally thinking it's bait as miHoYo is obviously aware people are data mining the game, and I wouldn't be surprised if Ayato turns out to be the first case of intentional data mining bait and switch from miHoYo, with Ayato actually using a different Weapon and Vision at release.
Meanwhile, new characters Arataki Itto and Gorou are releasing on December 14, 2021. Genshin Impact is available on PS4, PS5, PC, and Mobile, with a Nintendo Switch version in development. You can always ask me stuff about Genshin on Twitter @A_iyane07.