We’ve made a small update to the Default vocabulary pronunciation setting inside WaniKani’s App settings. Previously, the options were Kyoko or Kenichi. Now, you can choose between Masculine Only, Prefer Masculine, Feminine Only, Prefer Feminine and Random.
We’ve also added a new female voice actor. Introducing… Miyuki!
There are a couple of reasons for this change. The number one reason is that the voice actor who recorded our audio for Kyoko for many years is no longer doing voice acting, and we needed to update the settings so that we can add Miyuki audio for future additions.
While we were rummaging around in there, we made a few changes to give you a little more control over your audio options.
In your settings, you can now choose between Masculine Only, Prefer Masculine, Feminine Only, Prefer Feminine and Random.
The default setting for new users is set to Random, but feel free to change it up.
FAQ
Q. What are the new settings?
- Masculine Only: Kenichi audio plays when it’s available. If Kenichi audio is unavailable, no audio plays.
- Prefer Masculine: Kenichi audio plays when it’s available. If Kenichi audio is unavailable, another available audio type plays.
- Feminine Only: Kyoko or Miyuki audio plays when one is available. If both are available, one plays at random. If Kyoko and Miyuki audio are both unavailable, no audio plays.
- Prefer Feminine: Kyoko or Miyuki audio plays when one is available. If both are available, one plays at random. If Kyoko and Miyuki audio are both unavailable, Kenichi audio plays.
- Random: Audio plays at random from the options available.
Q. Why are there two different voices for feminine audio now?
WaniKani audio is recorded by voice actors, and our Kyoko voice actor is sadly no longer doing voice acting, so our new voice actor “Miyuki” will be filling Kyoko’s 靴.
Q. Does this mean that a single vocabulary item will have two types of feminine audio?
It’s technically possible, but for the moment, we’ll only add Miyuki to items that do not have Kyoko audio, so there will still be only one feminine audio option per vocabulary item.
Q. What is the default audio setting for new users?
The default setting is now Random for new users. You can change this any time in App settings.
Q. Are there plans to add a wider variety of voice actors in future?
We’d love to, but it’s not on the cards at the moment. Hopefully one day. For example, Koichi’s dream is to support “extremely old man” and “extremely old woman,” one day.
Q. My current setting is “Kyoko”. What will my new setting be?
A. If your setting was Kyoko before this change, we’ve automatically updated it to Prefer Feminine. This means that, if the Kyoko audio isn’t available, you’ll be played our new voice actor Miyuki’s audio, and if that isn’t available, we’ll default to our masculine voice actor, Kenichi.
Q. Which items will have Miyuki audio?
A. Most new additions will have Miyuki audio. We do still have some Kyoko audio for unpublished items, so we’ll be using that, but you’ll be hearing more and more Miyuki audio as time goes on.
Q. What if I only want one type of audio?
A. If you don’t want Kenichi audio to play if feminine audio is unavailable, you just need to switch to Feminine Only in the settings. The same goes for the opposite case: if you only want Kenichi to play, switch to Masculine Only in the settings.
