Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Naoe on becoming a shinobi, authenticity and maple syrup whisky

Ubisoft Quebec’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows is finally out in the world, allowing long-time fans of the action-adventure series the chance to explore feudal Japan for the first time. Naturally, a key part of this experience is letting you play as a shinobi, also known as a ninja, and that’s where Naoe comes in.

As one of the two protagonists of Shadows (alongside historical African samurai Yasuke), Naoe’s journey from dutiful daughter to vengeful Assassin is a focal point of the narrative. To help bring Naoe to life, Ubisoft cast Japanese-American singer-songwriter and actress Masumi, who performed the character’s voice and motion-capture.

MobileSyrup sat down with Masumi shortly before the launch of Shadows to discuss the authenticity of both her character and the game’s recreation of Japan, the “deep questions” Naoe’s journey proposes, what she hopes players will take away from the game and what she loved most about recording mo-cap in Montreal.

To start, what drew you to the role of Naoe?

Masumi: Oh, we’re going right in, are we, Brad? [laughs] It drew me in because it was a Japanese story, for sure, and I get to be a Japanese person. Those two combinations don’t come that often. I want to say it was actually the first time that it’s set in Japan, and I’m Japanese. And honestly, it was a really happy dance moment for me that I got to do that.

And also, it doesn’t happen all the time that you get to connect with the character so easily. And when I got the audition the first time, I just felt like I understood this person immediately. It wasn’t needing to figure out what her motive was; I just felt like I understood her right away. And that was a gift.

Assassin’s Creed is a nearly 20-year-old franchise that’s super popular around the world. Coming into this project, how familiar were you with the series or even games in general?

Masumi: 20 years old, huh? I didn’t know that!

Yeah! The first one was in 2007.

Masumi: Oh, wow! So you’ve been playing for a long time, haven’t you?

[laughs] Yes.

Masumi: So for me, I actually didn’t know anything about it, because I don’t play video games. I honestly think that maybe it was a little bit of a blessing, because if I knew how big it was, then I might have gotten a little frightened by the scale. But I got to really focus on creating the character and making her authentic and connecting with the Ubisoft team. And we shot in Montreal — I heard that you’re based in Canada. That was really cool. I just got to really soak up the shooting moments in these two years. I really got to focus on that and that was amazing.

I know you’re no stranger to more physical roles like [Naoe] — for instance, you did your own stunts in Yakuza Princess. How were you able to bring that experience into the motion-capture process for such a big game like Shadows?

Masumi: I actually was training with a Japanese samurai sword fighting with [actor] Masa Kanome in Los Angeles for about a year. And I also had just started, about six months prior to getting this audition, training at a dojo called Katori Shintō-ryū, which is one of the oldest samurai sword forms. It was created in the Muromachi era [1336 to 1573]. And so I felt like accidentally, I was immersing myself into the samurai martial arts a lot. And in my Katori Shintō-ryū school, they talk a lot about the samurai spirit. So it felt very aligned when the audition came and I had to show my movements with swords. I was really lucky that I had that knowledge, because I had to audition with the moves as well.

But I didn’t know — because everything was sort of very coded and hidden until I really booked the job — that I was a ninja until the first time we had a cast meet. So I was like, “Am I a samurai?” So it was a huge surprise, but also a really cool surprise, because I wanted to do a ninja all along. So that was a really cool moment to find out that I was a ninja and having that experience.

What was it like working with the team at Ubisoft Quebec? Being a Japanese woman yourself, was there a lot of you guiding them in the right direction in terms of shaping the character, or was a lot of that already there in terms of the depiction of Naoe and the broader Japanese culture being represented authentically?

Masumi: Yeah, they really did a lot of research on Japan, which made me very happy — reading the stories and how a lot of details and things were incorporated. There were times in voiceovers or even in cinematics, I would talk about, “You know, in Japan, I think this is how we would say it, or this is how I would act,” and we always collaboratively talked about things like that. It was a very, very friendly, supportive space, which I’m really grateful for. Because I didn’t have any VO [voiceover] experience prior. I didn’t have mo-cap experience prior. So this was all very new to me, and having that much support from every angle, cinematics, animation, writers — all these people were present when we did the cinematic scenes, and to be able to really talk through everything was important.

That’s especially impressive, this being your first VO/mo-cap performance role. Congrats for that. Since you said you were shooting in Montreal and I am Canadian, I have to ask — what was your favourite part about shooting that here? That could be a particular food or place or whatever.

Masumi: It was gorgeous. I could walk around everywhere, and it just felt like every street was beautiful and the walks were amazing, and all the cute cafes. I loved it because it kind of reminded me of Japan. I can walk anywhere in Japan, and there’s a bunch of cafes and it’s just a very walkable area with all these shops. And it was nice. It didn’t feel like I was travelling somewhere all by myself and not being able to go out.

And the wines were amazing. I love wine, so that was a big plus. And I really got into maple syrup after. [laughs] Especially the maple syrup whisky! Have you had that?

I haven’t! I didn’t even know that was a thing!

Masumi: It is definitely a thing! I would buy a small maple syrup whisky every time, and that’s one of my favourite souvenirs from Montreal.

That’s great. Something I love about Naoe’s journey is there’s this great arc of her starting off very innocent and almost naive, in a way, but then she gets hardened by this trauma. And then you get the flashbacks to see her earlier years, but then that warmth comes back to her when she gets with Yasuke and her larger found family. I know when you film media projects, they’re generally not done in order. So what was it like for you to follow Naoe’s journey across all these different time periods and head spaces and across all these periods in her arc?

Masumi: That’s a really great point. I think it was especially tough in Assassin’s Creed Shadows because it would kind of jump around. And like you said — thank you for actually mentioning — how Naoe starts off young and very innocent, and she has a protector, and that changes massively, and she goes through all of this turmoil and suffering as such a young person who’s still finding her identity. So it was a lot of emotion — it was a lot to consider. And it was difficult in VO because there’s just so much to record, but then it’s not always clear where she is at in her emotional state and her maturity and everything. So those were the things that we had to really pay attention to and talk through it with the voiceover director and things like that.

But I also found it to be really rewarding, because I got to really play somebody’s journey. She goes through internal war and internal life-or-death moments, but then she’s also inflicting that and the whole world is going through that. And there’s such an intense internal dialogue that she goes through in so many different ways, and that was beautifully, beautifully written in the stories, and you really get to feel that throughout their journey. So I really can’t wait for you to experience those stories. It’s a gorgeous and heartbreaking story that’s packed in there.

I’m about 20 hours in so I’ve still got a ways to go. Something I’ve really been appreciating is having Yasuke there, an outsider character, as a main ally for Naoe — it helps differentiate Shadows from some other games that have shinobi or samurai. One of my favourite scenes was Naoe and Yasuke just getting to know each other over sake at a nighttime campfire, which was a beautiful scene. You [and Yasuke actor Tongayi Chirisa] both portrayed that so well. What was it like having that dynamic with Yasuke and getting to play off Tongayi and having that story evolve as the game goes on?

Masumi: Those light moments were amazing because the story really revolves around a lot of suffering and pain, and you don’t really get too much of those light moments, understandably. But when we got to have those light moments, it was really amazing, Because that’s kind of how we are in real life. He’s like one of my lifelong friends, and I found him through this project. We became really close friends through this project, and he’s always joking, and he’s just a bowl of a light.

So being able to put that energy into the video game world was really cool and exciting, because it felt honest. It felt honest and authentic to us, and I think that’s what we wanted, both of us. We have a lot of depth in the characters, but we also get to explore all these fictional moments, and all these possibilities that we could play. But we also wanted to ground it in something tangible, and I think we were able to do all of that because of the relationship that we had. It was fulfilling to me.

Something the Assassin’s Creed games have always done really well is meticulously bringing these worlds to life, whether it’s Rome or Victorian England or Greece, and now Japan gets that treatment. I was actually in Japan last month for Assassin’s Creed Shadows. And we went to Himeji Castle and the [Arashiyama] Bamboo Forest.

Masumi: Oh, that’s amazing!

It was a breathtaking experience. So I’m curious, from your perspective — what’s it like to see Japan brought to life in the game? Were there any particular elements that stood out or surprised you?

Masumi: I want to say that I haven’t gotten to really see much. I’ve gotten to see a tiny little bit throughout the game [development]. I remember seeing the sakura tree and the seasons changing a little bit. We didn’t get to see so much of it, but it was so beautiful, the amount that I got to see. It just makes you feel like you’re in there. I’m sure for you, you’ve been playing Assassin’s Creed, and maybe that’s the brand. But for me, it was so breathtaking with so much detail. I think they did a really, really good job of portraying Japan at that time, and the houses and all the details were there. It’s almost like a movie, and you’re going through it yourself. That was really interesting thing to see, because that was the first time I saw something like that. It’s a video game, but it almost doesn’t feel like a video game.

To that point that you mentioned, you’re going through it yourself. I think that’s something that’s really interesting about a lot of these kinds of games — they offer virtual tourism, where even if you don’t necessarily have the opportunity to go all the way to Japan, you can at least get a taste of it in the game. And to that point, there’s even a bunch of little “Codex” entries in Shadows where you can learn more about different objects and landmarks and customs and that sort of thing. So I’m curious, what do you hope players take away about Japan from this game?

Masumi: There’s so much packed in there. Even just the little small languages that you can pick up. The mannerisms. The way people treat each other. The way people talk to each other. There’s a lot of culture packed in there. And as a Japanese, it makes me feel really proud that somebody really wanted to understand and depict the culture and show it to the whole world. That’s really cool to me.

But I also find that the whole journey of Naoe goes through — the themes of life or death and revenge and forgiveness — those are something that, personally, I’ve heard a lot from my grandparents and my ancestors. When you take somebody’s life, there’s always a consequence. When you do something, there’s always a consequence. When you make a choice, it has some kind of consequence, and you have to know who you want to become. And I think Naoe goes through this beautiful yet powerful journey of realization. She’s very certain about herself, and she’s an amazingly skilled assassin, but where are these choices that she’s making leading her to, and who is she wanting to become? These are all really deep questions that you can ponder through the game. And it’s gorgeous. Everything is beautiful, but also it’s a very reflecting kind of game as well. And I think that’s something that I don’t have to really say because I think people are going to naturally experience it, but that’s something I want to highlight.

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This interview was edited for language and clarity.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Mac and Ubisoft+.

Image credit: Ubisoft