Self-Proclaimed Anti-AI Voice Actor Joji Nakata Under Fire Over AI-Generated Image — Deleting His Explanation Only Poured Fuel on Unreleased-Figure Suspicions

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The story

A Halloween costume image posted to X by voice actor Joji Nakata on October 31 is causing a stir after being flagged as possibly AI-generated. Since Nakata has long publicly opposed unauthorized generative AI, voices pointing out the apparent contradiction — “isn’t he the one using it?” — quickly piled up. Suspicion also arose that the image was edited from an unreleased figure, and when Nakata deleted his own explanatory comment, criticism intensified further. Opinions on the thread split over how to reconcile opposition to AI mimicking a voice actor’s voice with the act of using AI to alter a character’s artwork.

2026.11.05 21:00

In recent years, generative AI — used for writing, image generation, data analysis, and more — has become a familiar presence in many people’s lives. Now, a popular voice actor’s social media post involving an AI image is making waves.

It started with an image posted to X by voice actor Joji Nakata on October 31. Nakata is known for roles in anime such as “Sgt. Frog” and “Golden Kamuy,” and has over 470,000 followers. That day, he uploaded a Halloween-themed image.

Source: smart-flash.jp / Original article here

What people said

2AnonymousNov 5, 2026 21:49
Guess he's proving it 'through his own body' — well, sort of (a pun on the idiom 身をもって, "through one's own experience")
3AnonymousNov 5, 2026 21:50
Re: #2
It's 以て, not 持って, FYI (same reading, 'motte,' but the wrong kanji for that idiom)
52AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:35
Re: #2
Hates it when it's done to him, but apparently it's fine when he's the one doing it
4AnonymousNov 5, 2026 21:52
Love how he just keeps stacking bad moves on top of bad moves lol
10AnonymousNov 5, 2026 21:58
Re: #1
People who go around lecturing the world never seem to look in the mirror, huh.
11AnonymousNov 5, 2026 21:59
Seriously, 'turn yourself in already!' There's a huge event coming up, what is he even doing?
13AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:00
Everyone's making a fuss like 'AI voices sound just like mine!' but the real problem isn't AI mimicking voices that already exist — it's when the industry shifts to just making new anime with AI voices entirely.
There'll be no way to stop that once it comes.
14AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:01
Being anti-AI is your right, but at this rate even using the internet itself is going to get hard.
15AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:03
Oh, so this is the Joji Nakata known for playing Leonid in Victory Gundam.
19AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:11
Hates being ripped off by others but makes excuses when he's the one doing the ripping off — a glorious double standard.
24AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:15
Re: #19
Truly 'diversity' in action:
'Don't do anything that offends me'
but also 'I'll do whatever I want,' that type.
21AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:13
I've said this a hundred times, but getting mad when your own turf gets trampled while not caring at all about anyone else's — that's the fastest way to earn resentment. People really need to learn that by now.
25AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:15
Why are you twisting this into 'using AI itself is the problem'?
29AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:18
Re: #25
Then it just becomes 'so why is AI voice bad, then?'
40AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:24
Re: #25
No, what got AI-processed this time was an existing character's artwork.
The guy who says 'don't use AI to mimic existing voices!' is getting flak for using AI to mimic an existing character design.
27AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:16
He's an old man now, he really shouldn't be doing weird stuff.
30AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:18
So basically, the voice-acting world has to speak with one voice in condemning this? (pun on 声を揃えて, "in unison" — literally "voices aligned")
31AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:18
With generative AI, people really do live by 'bad when others do it, fine when I do it.' There's a real chance they don't even realize what they're saying.
37AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:22
Re: #31
More like it spread so fast that users' understanding hasn't caught up.
It's gotten too easy to use casually.
33AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:19
He claimed he 'AI-generated it from a random image he found searching for the character,' then deleted it once the unreleased-figure leak came out — he's really losing it.
It just drags down his fellow voice actors; maybe he shouldn't be waving an anti-AI banner he doesn't even believe in.
35AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:21
Being anti-AI is probably going to end up as unreasonable a stance as being anti-internet.
38AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:23
He always seemed like the type who'd screw up eventually.
41AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:26
Anti-AI, lol.
Just accept it already and move on.
42AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:26
This is basically saying 'ripping off a voice is unforgivable, but ripping off an artist is fine.'
His excuse isn't even an excuse at this point.
44AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:29
Wait, so are you all saying it's fine for your voice to be used without permission?
45AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:30
Just leave the veteran alone already.
58AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:42
I'm still not totally clear on the standard here — is it okay to use AI for backgrounds?
69AnonymousNov 5, 2026 22:59
Re: #58
There's no real standard yet.
That's exactly why everyone's confused.
73AnonymousNov 5, 2026 23:07
Re: #58
The safest approach is not training on scraped internet images at all, and only training the model on the user's own art style.
Even if you pay someone to draw for you, moral rights can't be transferred to you anyway.
76AnonymousNov 5, 2026 23:15
Re: #73
Even without training on internet images now, isn't it the same thing since the base model was already trained on them?
77AnonymousNov 5, 2026 23:18
Re: #76
How much are we even talking about with that 'base training,' though?

Background and key points of this story

Underlying this controversy is a movement within the voice-acting industry opposing “unauthorized AI mimicry of voices.” Joji Nakata was one of the public supporters of that movement, which is exactly why suspicion that his own post was AI-generated exposed a contradiction in his stance. What split opinion on the thread was whether mimicking a voice actor’s “voice” with AI and altering a “character’s image” with AI can be treated as equivalent — sparking debate over whether the standard should differ depending on the target, even when both fall under criticism of generative AI. Separately, the suspicion that an unreleased figure appeared in the image raised questions about the image’s origin itself, a different issue from whether it was AI-generated — but deleting his explanatory comment caused both suspicions to merge into a single firestorm. The fact that standards for generative AI use are still undefined even within the industry is the backdrop to this confusion.

*This article excerpts and summarizes a 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread titled “[Voice Actor] Joji Nakata, who publicly opposed ‘unauthorized generative AI,’ causes a stir with an ‘AI image’ post… suspicion of a processed unreleased figure, deleted explanation adds fuel to the fire [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★].”

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