Crunchyroll is in hot water following its announcement it will ‘need to recast some roles’ for the upcoming third season of Mob Psycho 100. The confirmation was made via an email sent by a representative of Crunchyroll to news outlet Kotaku.
The revelation drew ire from many anime fans, especially since Kyle McCarley, the voice actor of the main lead Shigeo “Mob” Kageyama, earlier revealed that he will be dropping out of the series due to disagreements over union contract.
In a video posted on Tuesday, Sept 20, McCarley explained why he will not be returning for the third season of the anime. According to him, the conflict roots from Crunchyroll’s refusal to meet with the union representatives of The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).
He explained that Crunchyroll initially reached out to him about working on the third season of the anime. In turn, he offered to work under a non-union contract but with the condition that the company will meet with him and other SAG-AFTRA representatives to discuss possible future contracts in other anime shows.
You can watch the full video here:
Meanwhile, Crunchyroll’s message to Kotaku reads as follows:
“Crunchyroll is excited to bring fans worldwide the dub for the third season of Mob Psycho 100 III as a SimulDub, the same day-and-date as the Japanese broadcast. We’ll be producing the English dub at our Dallas production studios, and to accomplish this seamlessly per our production and casting guidelines, we will need to recast some roles. We’re excited for fans to enjoy the new voice talent and greatly thank any departing cast for their contributions to previous seasons.”
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The latest development incited anger and disgust across many anime fans.
JoJo Stone Ocean voice actor Yong Yea said Crunchyroll should be ashamed, and its latest act shows its effort as a corporation to keep workers exploitable.
Crunchyroll received harsh criticism from many across Twitter. One person said Crunchyroll’s actions were similar to cutting off one’s nose to spite your face.
The news also brought into light other issues in the dub industry. Earlier, voice actor Sean Chiplock said most of the cast of Jujutsu Kaisen 0 only made $150 each for their work on the movie.
The third season of Mob Psycho is scheduled to premier on October 5 on Tokyo MX and BS Fuji.
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