Fans are speculating that Kaori Mizuhashi, the original Japanese voice actress for Navi in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, may have reprised her role for the upcoming remake. Recent Japanese trailers for the game feature a Navi voice that bears a striking resemblance to Mizuhashi's original performance from the 1998 Nintendo 64 release.
Mizuhashi has remained an active voice actor, with recent roles including Eirika in Fire Emblem Engage and Mami Tomoe in various Puella Magi Madoka Magica projects. Her continued presence in the industry makes a return to her iconic role a plausible prospect.
A comparison shared on social media highlights the perceived similarity between Mizuhashi's voice work in a 1998 Ocarina of Time strategy video and the newly released trailers for the remake. The performance in the remake has been praised as professional and remarkably consistent despite the decades separating the recordings.
While an official confirmation from Nintendo regarding Mizuhashi's involvement and the identity of the English voice actor is pending, the resemblance is strong enough to fuel fan excitement. The article acknowledges the significant expansion of voice acting in the remake compared to the original and notes the practical considerations for voice actors working across different languages. It is suggested that asking a Japanese actor to voice extensive English dialogue, or vice versa, would present considerable challenges unless the actor is fully fluent. This might explain why a different actor performs the English voice work. Despite these considerations, the possibility of switching the game's audio to Japanese to hear the familiar voice has been raised as an appealing prospect for some players.