Karai is Japanese, right? O_o
 

So, why does the IGN clip make her sound Chinese? I mean, I know her VA is Chinese, but still... :ohwell:

Yes she's Japanese but it's just that she has a Chinese VA. But she certainly looks Japanese:

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72...KaraiWint1.jpghttp://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72.../KaraiWint.jpg

She sounds and looks good to me.

Yeah, I noticed that too. It's nitpicking, nothing serious, but it's a little disappointing. She sounds a little weird in the clips.

Clearly a Chinese-English accent, rather than Japanese. Pretty distinct.

Perhaps, but I do admit I like how her voice has turned out nonetheless. Right now I think it's safe to say I prefer Ziyi Zhang's voice for Karai than what we've heard in the 2k3 show.

You don't have to go that far.

I actually agree. I like the new 'toon verson, but it's just not an authentic sounding Asian dialect.Chinese is far closer to Japanese than a whispery female Shatner impersonation.

Dun't Botha Me Nun...
 

I noticed that, too... she does sound Chinese rather than Japanese. I'm not too bothered because the actress herself is Chinese, and so long as they don't make a point that Karai is supposed to be Japanese, your average moviegoer won't care... just rabid fans like us. :trazz:

And yeah, I agree... I'll take a genuine Eastern accent over a fake TV show one any day (2k3 Karai was at least tolerable until the 4th season, at which point it became kind of ridiculous)

I don't think it's really ever been officially established that Karai is Japanese. Just that she's head of the Foot Clan in Japan.

Heck, Teng Shen is a CHINESE name that roughly translates to Immortal Beloved.

The name Karai sure as hell not Chinese.

Nope... it's Japanese.

Karai is a Japanese word commonly used to describe the flavor spicy/hot. However, karai can also mean extremely severe, harsh, strict or storm. Karai shares the same kanji as the word tsurai which means difficult, painful, or cruel.

If your going to answer your own question, what do you need us for?

Typical Hollywood. They always give Japanese roles to Chinese actors and vice versa, thinking that nobody will notice the difference.
But I'm not going to let it bother me. Shell, I'm Swedish (born, raised and currently residing), and I don't even know how to do a recognizably Swedish accent (I can do a few British and American accents plus a couple European and Asian ones), so I suppose anything's possible. Besides, Zhang Ziyi is a good actress, and judging from the clip, she seems to be doing a much better job with the character than Veronica Taylor did (no offense to Veronica Taylor, she's a fine voice actress, but Karai just wasn't a good character for her).

Does it honestly matter? You're better off wondering why the character is speaking English to begin with.

Not really, as English is a very popular second language around the world, and it would make sense for Karai to learn English before moving to New York.

Veronica Taylor was April, not Karai. But, you meant the lady who voiced Karai, right? BTW, where can I get a decent quality, uncensored version of 'Ninjas In A Half-Shell? :)