[YukarinUniversalTraveler]

Hello, people. I'm here to ask a question.
This question probably may have been answered somewhere already, but I do not know what that answer is.
So, my question is pretty simple: who voiced King of Sorrow? I've seen some threads asking this same question(mostly on Tumblr), but I couldn't find any answers, and there seems to be no threads about this here on this forum, so I decided to start the topic myself.

I think everyone here knows that whoever voiced the King of Sorrow was not credited in Lunatea's Veil, not even in the Japanese version of the game, making it pretty much impossible to know firsthand who was it.
And of course, if the KoS's VA was not even credited in the game, of course it's not as simple as "just Google it". I actually had a hard time trying to find a lead that would guide me to the right answer, but unfortunately, I think that there is no "right answer". 'Cause I even looked into some Japanese websites, and when I found the list of the voice actors, the King of Sorrow's was labeled as "Private".


Screenshot from dic.pixiv.net

King of Sorrow   CV: Private
The lonely king of Lunatea's lost kingdom, the "Kingdom of Sorrow".
He has long ears, just like Klonoa.
Translation provided by Google Translate, and me.

Seeing this almost made me give up on my investigation, but I recently made a discovery that may or may not be a clue. The "Ballad of Sorrow". Which is a song included in the Klonoa Fan Discs (brought to you by the_darai). It's... beautiful.
But the thing I discovered is that the singer's name is right there in all caps...


Screenshot taken from my pc. Sorry, it's all in Spanish...

So, we all can see clearly that the singer's name is YUNA. But, Yuna who?
Yuna is a very short and common Japanese name; there's no last name included, and the name is not even in kanji, which could make it even easier to search up.
Apparently that's the only lead I have found. However, I would rather take this with a grain of salt. Again, because of the Fan Discs themselves. In each one there are at least 3 covers of Stepping Wind(no joke, there are a lot), some of them even sung in Phantomilian by a singer whose voice sound JUST LIKE Kumiko Watanabe, which is Klonoa's original VA. The first time I heard those covers I immediately fell for it and thought that it was Watanabe herself singing. Shortly after, I found out that it wasn't her, but someone named HINA.
Because of this, I have my doubts on whether it was "YUNA" who voiced King of Sorrow or not, since it could have been a very good imitation, just like what "HINA" did with Klonoa's voice.

So... that's where my research ends. I couldn't find the answer I was looking for, so I decided to share my doubts and opinions with y'all.
And I'd like to know if you have some sort of speculation on whoever could have voiced KoS?
I think there are many seiyuu's that have similar-sounding voices, but my personal speculation is that it could be Mariya Ise.
Mariya Ise is a Japanese voice actor known for her roles as Killua, from Hunter x Hunter and Reg from Made in Abyss; she also voiced Kenshin from Sengoku Otome and Stocking from Panty & Stocking.
I think I'm a weeb.

Welp! That was what I wanted to say. I'll see you, people!

[Meguumin]

That's interesting that they kept the VA private. My personal opinion is that it is indeed Watanabe and they kept that hidden in order to not spoil any of the story's undertones.

The Klonoa fan disc series was created by a circle dedicated to video game fan discs, which is a common practice in Japanese fan culture. I can only assume the vocalist was another fan involved with the project. It's very rare for people who worked on these franchises to get involved, and the only case for Klonoa was when composer Eriko Imura helped with some piano solos in a separate independent music project.

There is a karaoke sheet for Stepping Wind which is why it's so easy for fans to create covers in Phantomilian. I forget where exactly it came from, but I'm positive it's in some official material.

[YukarinUniversalTraveler]

Huuuuh. That's very interesting to learn, thank you, Meguumin! You really gave me a flash of insight. I'm pretty disconnected to Japanese doujin and fan culture's works, 'cause it's very confusing for me, despite the fact that I consume a lot of it.

I also share the thought that it is Watanabe, but I wanted to see if there was something more. I'm curious, you see.

[drowing33]

it's me