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It was reported on Tuesday, September 20, that Crunchyroll and the voice of Shigeo Kageyama in the Mob Psycho 100 III English dub were unable to agree to terms. Voice actor Kyle McCarley recently uploaded a video to his YouTube channel, explaining the circumstances leading up to the apparently foregone conclusion of his not reprising the role.
Essentially, conversations amidst the Mob Psycho 100 III cast regarding doing their dubbing work on a SAG-AFTRA union contract are what led to McCarley’s apparent all-but-announced departure.
McCarley explains that they are a member of SAG-AFTRA, and it’s presumed by many that his aforementioned imminent departure is a result of him starting said conversations.
Follow along as this article fully explains the current developing situation from the Mob Psycho 100 III cast, as well as speculates on how it may have come about.
Mob Psycho 100 III casting conundrums seemingly indicate recently-absorbed Funimation to still be in charge of dubs
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After providing context to the current situation, Mob Psycho 100 III’s apparently former voice of Shigeo Kageyama, Kyle McCarley, explains the situation further. McCarley explains that “over the past couple of weeks,” the cast and Crunchyroll had been going back-and-forth on potentially doing their work for the season on a SAG-AFTRA contract.
McCarley also explains that his departure isn’t centered around money, emphasizing that Crunchyroll was prepared to pay him at least the SAG-AFTRA union rate.
However, it became clear that they did not want to produce the season overall on SAG-AFTRA contracts, which McCarley says “with 99.9% of the work I do, that would be the end of the conversation” for him.
He credits his castmates for helping him see an opportunity in the situation, emphasizing the potential to get Crunchyroll over their aversion to SAG-AFTRA contracts. McCarley continues, specifying that his role in the show combined with the series’ popularity amongst fans made it seem like he may have been able to finally pull Crunchyroll through the knothole on this topic.
McCarley then specifies the offer he made to Crunchyroll, providing his services for Mob Psycho 100 III’s English dub non-union in exchange for the company sitting down with SAG-AFTRA.
He had expressed that the purpose of sitting down would be to iron out a potential union contract to use on future productions, rather than strongarm the company into a commitment.
McCarley spends quite some time emphasizing this point, clearly choosing his words very carefully. He then emphasizes that Crunchyroll’s size and need to get approval on the situation from many people has delayed responses in this matter.
However, he goes on to say that it appears as if the streaming giant isn’t interested in sitting down with SAG-AFTRA representatives.
He then ends by emphasizing that “unless things change, you’re probably going to be hearing at least one unfamiliar voice on Mob Psycho 100 season 3, maybe more.”
In his closing statements, he talks about his intent to not speak for another actor, or cast judgment or hold a grudge on anyone for doing what they feel is best for them in this situation.
The situation is certainly frustrating, as well as indicative that Funimation staff is still handling the dubbing side of the business despite their absorption by Crunchyroll. The situation goes back to David Lodge’s being recast as Kenpachi Zaraki by Patrick Seitz during the Fake Karakura Town arc of the Bleach anime.
While that situation was specifically about pay rather than union and workers' rights, there is an eerie similarity to Mob Pyscho 100 III’s situation in the willingness to recast key characters.
Although Zaraki isn’t particularly central to the Bleach plot, the character and his voice, when being played by David Lodge, were fan-favorite aspects of the English dub.
Be sure to keep up with all Mob Psycho 100 III anime news, as well as general anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2022 progresses.
