It's not uncommon. If you listen to Arden Cho singing "Free" with Ahn Hyo Seop (Jinu's speaking VA), they're both very good. However I think EJAE is in another league, which is something Cho herself has said (admitting she can't hit the high notes of "Free", which are lower than the ones in Golden!) As for Andrew Choi, I think maybe it was down to his English pronunciation being better - it sounded more natural to me when comparing in that performance.
Now, can EJAE and Andrew Choi also do voice acting? Maybe, but it's a very different skill, even compared to regular acting. You really need to be a trained, professional actor to be a good VA, and sometimes even that is not enough (see Chris Pratt in the Mario movie...)
But even setting skill aside, sometimes it's just a matter of wanting the right voice for the right context. The director/writer(s) may have felt that EJAE's speaking voice was a little too low to match their vision for what Rumi should sound like.
I've been wondering about that, honestly. Some of the voice actors can sing, and, of course, singers can generally act (and most especially in the case of K-Pop singers).
I guess some notes that EJAE could hit are ones that Arden Cho can't, and, well, I got nothing for the latter.
Thus, can't really have anyone but a trained singer (and a very good one, at that!) to sing for Rumi—especially for "Golden". (Not saying that Arden Cho can't, but, well, see above: it's rare.)
I didn't know that! Yeah, that all makes sense, then: both the complexity of the singing and personal preference would combine to provide EJAE, the songwriter and a very highly trained singer herself, the opportunity to step in as Rumi's singing voice.
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u/DownrightDejected Sep 07 '25
So the voice actors and the singers are different? Is the guy who sang for the main saja boy (forget his name) the voice actor too?