As Mob Psycho 100 fans were getting all hyped up for the third season of the anime, this news comes rather as a shock because Crunchyroll, ahead of the scheduled October release, hasn’t come on terms with its English voice actor Kyle McCarley.
Kyle took to his Youtube channel to communicate the information to the fans in a video titled, “A Message to the Fans of Mob Psycho 100.”
In the video, Kyle talks about how he wouldn’t likely be reprising his role as Mob (Shigeo Kageyama), the title character of the anime. The reason… Crunchyroll, the anime streaming platform refused to negotiate with him under a Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists union contract.
“I’m making this video because I wanted to let you know that there have been talks over the past couple of weeks between the cast of the show and Crunchyroll, who’s producing the show, about potentially producing this season of the show on a SAG-AFTRA union contract. And as a result of those conversations, I’m making this video because it’s looking very-very likely that I will not be reprising my role as Mob,” said Kyle in the video.
Clearing the air on whether the pay grade is part of the issue with the streaming platform, he added, “And I want to put this little note in here to be very, very clear, it’s not about money. They were prepared to pay me at least what I would be getting on a union-scale contract, possibly more. They just don’t want to put it on a union contract.”
Kyle also explained Crunchyroll’s hesitation to work under the SAG-AFTRA contract even though he agreed with an offer that he would settle to work on Season 3 of Mob Psycho 100, non-union, on a condition if Crunchyroll meets the union representatives to discuss a potential contract in the future protecting the interests of the actor(s) working with union’s representation on their behalf.
Watch the full video here.
Kyle also posted a thread to his Twitter account, making people aware that as freelancers, the voice actors work for a lot of different employers in very short bursts and that it wouldn’t be financially viable for any of the clients to provide them with health and retirement benefits on their own. That’s where SAG-AFTRA comes in. The SAG-AFTRA union gives them bargaining power, making negotiations easier with a baseline minimum for everyone involved.
Following the repercussions of the matter, Crunchyroll also responded on how the company would be looking to recast some roles ahead of the third season of Mob Psycho 100.
Crunchyroll is excited to bring fans worldwide the dub for the third season of Mob Psycho 100 III as a SimulDub, on the same day and date as the Japanese broadcast.
They stated, “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,” said Crunchyroll in their official statement to Polygon.
Amidst all the heat that’s been generated among the voice actors and fans in the anime community, as Kyle’s dismissal from the project took place, a promotional video for Mob voiced by Setsuo Itou was released earlier today as season 3 of Mob Psycho 100 premiers on October 6, 2021.
Well, What do you guys think about this? Let us know your thoughts in the comment below.
