Crunchyroll has angered fans once again, with reports of the company blacklisting the original Tower of God English VAs from being able to voice their characters in the mobile game.
While this may not seem like a big deal to some people, it’s certainly not a good look. Laura Post, a well-established English VA, took to Twitter to voice their concerns about Crunchyroll’s decision.
For more information about the upcoming mobile game, visit the official website.
The Initial Blacklisting
Firstly, Laura explains that the client who is making the game contacted a studio to organise recording sessions for the English VAs. However, Crunchyroll contacted the client themselves and said that they “owned the voice prints”. Laura then says that this is simply not true.
Take a look at the original Twitter thread written by Laura Post.
Crunchyroll continued by telling the client that they are not allowed to use any of the English VA cast from the series as it would be illegal to do so. In fact, they stated that the client cannot use the original cast for any role at all – auditions were not allowed either.
Laura Post goes on to say that this is factually incorrect. The VA has looked over their contracts to double-check the clauses and has gotten multiple lawyers to take a look too. They all came to the conclusion that Crunchyroll are lying and that the original cast are well within their right to voice their original characters or brand-new ones.
What This Means For the Future of Voice Acting
This perpetuates an unfair system within the voice-acting community. Professional VAs work extremely hard, and it is unjust that a group of talented individuals has been blacklisted for no reason at all.
Furthermore, this type of behaviour from such a large company as Crunchyroll should not be normalised. Understandably, the client making the Tower of God game chose not to get involved in a legal battle against Crunchyroll.
From a business perspective, the decision to blacklist the original cast could impact Crunchyroll negatively in general. Fans of the series aren’t happy, and this ordeal may put off VAs from working with the company in the future.
Laura Post finished off their Twitter thread with a statement regarding their own future with Crunchyroll, reading “I will not be working with Crunchyroll on any future projects without the protection of a union contract”.
