While Mob Psycho 100 Season 3 is coming to the streaming service, Mob’s English voice actor may not be returning due to union conflicts.
The hit anime, Mob Psycho 100, is coming back to the streaming service Crunchyroll with its third season. However, while this would be followed by an English dubbed version of the show, turns out that the main lead himself may not be returning.
Kyle McCarley, the English voice actor for Shigeo “Mob” Kageyama – the psychic-powered teenage protagonist of the show – has said that he likely will not return to the show, as Crunchyroll is allegedly refusing to negotiate a union contract.
This comes during the fall anime season, when big titles like My Hero Academia and Bleach will be dropping in October to compete with the show’s third season, which will be premiering on October 5.
Mob Psycho 100 voice actor addresses fans about not returning
Kyle McCarley recently uploaded a video to YouTube titled “A Message to the Fans of Mob Psycho 100.”
In the video, he stated that he will likely not be voicing Mob again after Crunchyroll, the main streaming service for the show and other anime, allegedly refused to work with the voice actor under a Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists union contract.
“I know for some of you that probably sucks to hear, and believe me that sucks a lot to say. I’m really really bummed about this,” McCarley explained.
“It has been made abundantly clear to me that in the case of Season 3 of Mob Psycho 100, Crunchyroll is not going to be producing that show on a SAG-AFTRA contract.”
McCarley told Kotaku that Crunchyroll seemingly took a while to reach out to him about voicing the third season, asking him on September 8.
“I thought it was odd they’d wait so long to ask me about that, given the season was announced in… January, I think it was? And the Funimation side of the company, pre-merger, had already replaced me in the Scarlet Nexus anime last year when I refused to work on that project non-union,” McCarley continued.
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In his YouTube video, McCarley explained that, as a SAG-AFTRA union member and a member of SAG-AFTRA’s dubbing steering committee, it was important to him that all the work he does is covered by a union contract.
He also stated that the issue wasn’t money, as Crunchyroll would pay him the amount that he would receive under a union contract – but he did ask for a union scale, to put towards health care coverage and retirement savings. This contract would also ensure benefits such as making sure that he won’t stress his vocal cords from screaming his lines for too long, which is a problem that many voice actors for shonen protagonists face.
McCarley claimed he approached Crunchyroll with an offer to work on season three under a non-union contract with the condition that the company meet with him and other SAG-AFTRA representatives to negotiate potential contracts for future animes.
“A good portion of the cast and I had a Zoom call that night to talk about it, which was when the idea of offering to do this job non-union in exchange for a meeting with SAG-AFTRA representatives was pitched,” he said.
But according to McCarley, he received a call from the head of production at Crunchyroll, which explained that Crunchyroll was not going to agree to his terms. After stating he was only asking for a meeting, he says he took another call from Crunchyroll that reiterated their stance.
“I could speculate about why they’ve taken this stance, but it would be speculation,” McCarley lamented. “I don’t know why they are so firmly anti-union that they won’t even agree to having a conversation about it. I felt like it was a pretty reasonable request, but you’d have to ask them why they appear to disagree.”
A Crunchyroll representative sent Kotaku an email in response to McCarley’s statements, which said: “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.”
Mob Psycho 100 Season 3 will premiere on Crunchyroll with English subtitles and dubbing on October 5.
