Overwatch’s Anran redesign is a massive improvement from Blizzard

Blizzard showed off a quick look at Anran’s redesign in Overwatch, following up on a promise made to do the character justice after her initial in-game reveal prompted widespread backlash.

Blizzard posted the announcement on Monday on the Overwatch X account with an image highlighting major changes and one showing the difference between her new and old model. Primary changes include widening her jaw and cheeks, raising one eyebrow to suggest confidence, and adding freckles and darker shading. She also assumes what Blizzard described in an accompanying graphic as a “more confident pose” in addition to a “more focused” expression.

Anran’s nose was originally a point of contention for how small it was (Anran’s voice actor Fareeha Andersen called it “Ozempic chic”) though that will, apparently, not be changed in the redesign. Blizzard also posted an image showing how Anran’s new look helps her more closely resemble Wuyang, her younger brother in the game.

Blizzard first teased Anran as a playable character in 2025 during a cinematic trailer, but her in-game model looked drastically different from what people were led to expect. It wasn’t just a disconnect between seeing the character in an animated short and seeing her 3D model. Anran’s original model closely resembled Kiriko’s and that of other “cute” characters, and while face-swapping isn’t unique to Overwatch (or Blizzard, for that matter), the design went against the confident warrior-in-training persona Blizzard wanted to build up for her.

Overwatch fans filled Reddit with proposed fixes. Fareeha Andersen posted a video expressing her disappointment and saying she had shared her concerns with Blizzard, too.

“I got to mourn Anran between the design I had hoped for her and the design we ended up with, because I think in her comic and her cinematic, there was a precedent set by it,” Andersen said at the time. “There was an unspoken promise that said, ‘We’re going to challenge the beauty standards plaguing, ransacking media these days.’ Because of that precedent, people feel understandably let down.”

Andersen hadn’t posted about the change at the time of publication, but the response on Reddit was quick and positive.

“Yay, they deJunofied her,” one commenter said, referring to previous posts that overlaid Juno with Anran to show how similar the two designs were.

“Hopefully this changes their perspective on female characters going forward,” another said. Stop with the generic female template.”

Anran’s redesign will debut during Overwatch season 2, which is set to begin after the end of the April Fools’ event on April 14.