Bandai Namco is facing backlash for the English dub of Naruto x Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections, as the company has been accused of using AI to alter line readings.
The fighting game is based on the popular anime and covers the entirety of the saga along with an original story. Fans of the series have noticed that some of the line deliveries in the English dub have odd inflections, drawing the attention of some of the voice actors for the game.
Responding to tweet about a particularly jarring line that she was tagged in, Maile Flanagan, the English voice actor for Naruto, said “I can GUARANTEE I did not say that line that way. What’s that from? And I guarantee no voice director of Naruto or the games would have me do that in that way.”
A similar clip also got the attention of Michael Schwalbe, the voice actor for Kawaki in the game. “Bro what???? I screamed my lungs out for hours and they chose that???” he said in response.
Schwalbe then reached out to a friend, who ran the lines through an AI detection program, the results of which predicted some degree of AI use. “This was a union game. Generative AI use is supposed to be forbidden,” Schwalbe added.
AI detection programs are not always reliable, so there is no definitive proof that Bandai Namco employed generative AI for the game’s dub. However, an accusation from one of the game’s voice actors is still notable.
This year has seen a significant increase in controversies surrounding AI, with games such as The Finals and Persona coming under fire for potential use of it. Bandai Namco has not commented on the situation.