Yoruichi's casting causes a storm before Bleach TYBW part 3 even begins

Heading into the release of Bleach TYBW part 3, fans of author and illustrator Tite Kubo’s original manga series and its television anime adaptation are incredibly pleased thus far. The revival series has been nothing short of a dream come true for diehard fans of the franchise, delivering in nearly every aspect thus far.

Likewise, many fans have taken the time in the month since the original Japanese airing of the second part of the series to digest it ahead of Bleach TYBW part 3’s imminent release. However, English dub fans are still watching the series with bated breath since the dubbed version of the series began airing roughly one month after the original Japanese version.

Understandably, many viewers of the original Japanese version have paid no attention to the dubbed version of part 2 and are instead wholly focused on when they can expect Bleach TYBW part 3 to air. However, recent controversy swirling around the character Yoruichi Shihouin and her original and new voice actor have caught the attention of general franchise fans.

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Bleach TYBW part 3’s looming release overshadowed by controversy around Yoruichi’s English dub casting

The controversy, explained

Long before Bleach TYBW part 3 was even a thought for fans, Viz Media and the anime’s production staff announced that much of the English dub cast would be reprising roles. This included Johnny Yong Bosch as Ichigo Kurosaki, Stephanie Sheh as Orhime Inoue, Michelle Ruff as Rukia Kuchiki, and Derek Stephen Prince as Uryu Ishida.

However, one voice actor decided not to reprise their role as Yasutora “Chad” Sato. Jameson Prince elected to have their role as Sato recast in an effort to support more diverse casting in the voice acting industry. These efforts were fruitful, with Cuban-American actor Alain Mesa voicing the half-Japanese, half-Mexican character Sato in the revival series.

Likewise, with Bleach TYBW part 3 on the horizon and part 2 set to reintroduce some old characters, similar casting announcements were made, which created this recent drama. It was announced that Anairis Quiñones would be portraying Yoruichi Shihouin in the revival series’ English-dubbed version, rather than Wendee Lee reprising her role.

Anairis is a voice actor of color, whereas Lee is of Caucasian descent. Anairis seemingly acknowledged this key difference between the two in a tweet where she shared her excitement over voicing the character in honor of other people of color who saw themselves in Yoruichi. This is an understandable sentiment, as Yoruichi is one of the few central characters of color in the series overall.

However, shortly after the announcement and well before Yoruichi’s central role in Bleach TYBW part 3’s events, the anime’s casting department reversed their decision. This meant that Lee would be recast in her legacy role after all. Upon hearing the news, Anairis received significant support from fans on social media, which Lee seemingly took grievance with.

Lee then began responding to several fans and voice actors, giving well wishes to Anairis, with her posts carrying a generally negative tone with them. Lee predicated many of her responses justifying her reprisal on the fact that she’s part of the “iconic” original cast, to use her own words. Lee also posted on X (formerly Twitter) that she had reached out and apologized to Anairis, who in turn acknowledged that she did get the message but chose not to respond.

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