As you already know by now if you’re a JRPG fan, Square Enix announcedVoice of Cards: The Forsaken Maidenfor PC via Steam, PS4, and Nintendo Switch, coming on July 24, 2025, and there’s something quite amusing forBleachfans when it comes to the game’s cast.
The Forsaken Maidenis the follow-up toVoice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars, with the same staff: Yoko Taro as creative director, Keiichi Okabe on music, Kimihiko Fujisaka on the chara design, and Yosuke Saito as producer. The same usualNieRteam.
Voice of Cards, despite its cards game looks and gameplay, is a pretty standard JRPG at the end of the day. One particularity though is that the games have narrators: Game Masters. This is where theBleachanime connection lies.
Bleach’s Aizen is the new Game Master ofVoice of Cards:The Forsaken Maiden
Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden, in its initial trailer, revealed the narrator this time is legendary seiyuu Sho Hayami. He’s primarily known in the West as the voice of Aizen Sousuke, one ofBleach’s and anime pop culture’s most iconic characters.
Sho Hayami has a distinctive voice that any longtime anime watcher will immediately recognize, so it was quite a shock when hearing his voice in the Japanese version of theVoice of Cards: The Forsaken Maidentrailer. Especially when considering who the previous Game Master was.
Sho Hayami succeeds Hiroki Yasumoto asVoice of Cards' narrator
What’s even funnier is how the previous Game Master was Hiroki Yasumoto, who voiced Chad inBleach. Yasumoto also voiced Weiss inNieR, but this is Sho Hayami’s first time in a Yoko Taro game, making the whole situation hilarious forBleachand seiyuu fans.
Sho Hayami iscurrently sick with Covidand we wish him a speedy recovery. What did you think of the firstVoice of Cards, and are you looking forward to this sequel? Are you hyped for the newBleachanime? Tell me in the comments below!
