It is not easy for an actress to adjust to a game she starred in when the medium itself is completely unfamiliar.
It is hard to be new at something, and even harder when five million pairs of eyes are watching every move, ready to judge. Despite this pressure, Konatsu Kato, the voice and motion capture actress behind Hinako Shimizu in Silent Hill f, attempted to play the game live on YouTube for the first time. Even the title of the stream reflected her anxiety: “The person from Silent Hill f plays the game”.
Although she was nervous that something might go wrong, as she does not consider herself a gamer or a streamer, reality exceeded her expectations. As she told GameSpark, she genuinely believed she would end up apologizing at a press conference, but the response was overwhelmingly positive. She explained that “the world saved her”, and now she feels like expressing her gratitude by shouting.
The streams began in October this year, and a total of 11 broadcasts have taken place so far, with the most recent one held last weekend. Each stream attracted hundreds of thousands of viewers, while the very first broadcast achieved a particularly impressive milestone with more than five million views. After several streams, an inside joke emerged in which Kato referred to her viewers as “affirmative bots”. What started as a joke later became a term of affection for her audience.
As for her opinion of the game itself, she told GameSpark that Silent Hill f is “insanely scary, extremely frightening, and very beautiful”, a description that perfectly fits the Silent Hill franchise. The series has been gaining momentum recently. Following Silent Hill 2 Remake, Bloober Team has begun working on a remake of the original game. At the same time, NeoBards Entertainment’s Silent Hill f also turned out to be a surprisingly pleasant experience. Hopefully, Konami will continue to take the franchise seriously moving forward.
