A newcomer to Overwatch’s expanding roster is receiving scrutiny for her derivative character design, and the voice actor behind the hero took to the web to express their support for a redesign.
Anran is one of five new heroes joining the game for Season 1, hailing from China and sporting a moveset centered around fire attacks. She appeared in a cinematic last year that introduced her brother, fellow Overwatch hero Wuyang. But fans of the game pointed out that not only does her final in-game design differ from her previous look, but her face looks very similar to that of other characters like Juno and Kiriko.
Fareeha, Anran’s English voice actor, spoke about the character’s design in a social media video post. Addressing the “elephant in the room,” Fareeha said they agree with criticisms while giving “grace” to the game’s developers.
I’m the voice of Anran in Overwatch!!! 🧡
I held off on posting about this because I wanted to make sure I could do this discussion justice. Here’s a shot at that!
Let’s keep rooting for the version of her that could be. I hope you have so much fun playing her!! 🔥🪭 pic.twitter.com/jbFbKHPVpb— Fareeha (@AskFareeha) February 8, 2026
“I got to mourn Anran, between the design that I had hoped for for her, and the design we ended up with,” Fareeha said. Stating that previous depictions of Anran set a precedent, Fareeha added: “There was an unspoken promise that said, ‘We’re going to challenge the beauty standards that are plaguing, ransacking media these days.’ Right? The Ozempic chic, the ‘contour your nose,’ ‘you have no nose,’ ‘the tiniest nose,’ And I think because of that precedent, people feel understandably let down.”
Fareeha opined that the design isn’t “congruent” with the character’s personality, adding that they shared these thoughts with the Overwatch development team. Saying that “this is a hill worth dying on,” the voice actor encouraged fans to campaign for a redesign “with boldness, with kindness, and with ‘hopium.'”
Though Overwatch Season 1 doesn’t launch until Tuesday, players have been able to try out Anran and her fiery abilities since February 5, shortly after developer Blizzard unveiled its soft relaunch of the venerable hero shooter. And the news of the game’s expansion seems to have revitalized the community, resulting in the highest Steam concurrent player peak since its release.
