Matsuda Risae will be Kanda Sayaka’s sucessor for the voice of “Sword Art Online” Yuna character

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The official website of the anime “Sword Art Online” (SAO) was updated on July 31, and announced that the cast of Yuna, which was played by actress and singer Kanda Sayaka, who passed away in 2021, will be changed. Yuna’s voice will be voiced by Matsuda Risaee, but it has also been announced that the cast name for Yuna’s songs will remain Kanda.

「ユナ」のこれからにつきましてhttps://t.co/IkWoph0qd1

— アニメ ソードアート・オンライン 公式 (@sao_anime) July 31, 2023

On the SAO official website, after starting with, “This time, I would like to report on the future of the character “Yuna” played by Kanda Sayaka. In response to the sad news of Kanda, the SAO Committee still feel heartbroken. We don’t think anyone can replace Yuna’s music,” while understanding the weight of Kanda’s existence, in order for Yuna to continue to walk the same time with the work without change, He explained that the SAO production committee, including the original author Kawahara Reki, had repeated careful discussions.

In conclusion, the songs that Kanda has sung so far will remain as they are, and the voice cast will be changed to Matsuda when Yuna appears in new stories in the future.

Matsuda is also known for her role as Sawada Chinatsu in “Kageki Shojo!!”, as Masuko Kaoru in “Katana no Miko” and as Luca Esposito in “Astra Over there”.

Yuna, played by Matsuda, will appear in the video game “Sword Art Online Last Recollection” scheduled to be released in 2023.

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