Singer-songwriter and actress Masumi has entered the video game acting space with a bang, starring as one of the dual protagonists in Ubisoft’s newest AAA game.
Singer-songwriter, actor, and now video game voice actor Masumi is not new to playing a Japanese assassin grieving the loss of her father. She starred as a yakuza heir in 2021’s Yakuza Princess — her “breakout movie,” as she calls it. Then, she booked a new challenge: Naoe, the shinobi assassin protagonist in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the newest entry in Ubisoft’s AAA franchise, which was released Thursday.
Masumi’s performance as Naoe is the heartbeat of the game, alongside that of Tongayi Chirisa, who voices the other protagonist, based on the historical figure Yasuke. In the opening hours of the game, it’s Naoe’s voice that guides you around as you get your footing in feudal Japan. Polygon chatted with Masumi over the phone on Tuesday, just a few hours after reviews of the game were published here and elsewhere online. We talked about Naoe’s story, voice performing, and the challenges of mocap.
[Ed. note: This interview has been edited for concision and clarity.]
Polygon: Do you connect with the character of Naoe, or did you have to enter a different space for this character?
Masumi: Yeah, honestly, everything about Naoe really drew me in immediately when I got the audition. She’s such a powerful and layered character. She’s fierce and determined, and I mean, she’s carrying the weight of the world and the past that she has, and she’s also fighting for her future. So when I first got the story and learned about her journey, I felt pretty connected to her. And she’s not just a warrior, but she’s someone who has to navigate this really complex world of loyalty, revenge, and then also finding herself — like, personal growth. So there was a lot of points for me to really resonate with her.
Something I’m really enjoying about her is that she’s so small, which sounds like such a natural choice for an assassin character, but actually is not necessarily the case for Assassin’s Creed protagonists in the past. What is it like to play an assassin?
This is not the first time I got to play a female assassin character. I got to play [one in] Yakuza Princess, and she’s also an assassin, and that was kind of my breakout movie. So I feel like from the beginning, I’ve always [gotten] to play these really strong female characters that are complex, and they all go through this really emotional journey.
