English cast for The World Ends With You - The Animation revealed, to start streaming Friday

[Oracle Spockanort]

Funimation has announced that The World Ends With You - The Animation will begin streaming their English dub this Friday, September 17th. They also revealed the cast for the English dub.

Andrew Kishino returns as Kariya while the rest of the cast features all-newcomers to the franchise. You can view the cast and crew listing below:

Ben Balmaceda as Neku
Morgan Lauré as Shiki
Van Barr Jr. as Beat
Dani Chambers as Rhyme
Drew Breedlove as Futoshi
Brandon Potter as Hanekoma
Anthony DiMascio as Higashizawa
Andrew Kishino as Kariya
Christopher Wehkamp as Kitaniji
Marisa Duran as Konishi
Brent Mukai as Minamimoto
Jessica Peterson as Yashiro

Kyle Phillips is directing the English dub, Jessica Sluys is the English script writer, Jamal Robertson as the ADR engineer, Alyssa Dumas is the assistant ADR engineer, and Gino Palencia is the mix engineer. 

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[Sign]

Funimation gonna Funimation, I guess. We all knew it was going to happen but it's still disappointing, especially when SE got everyone back for NEO.

At least we still have Andrew

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

I've been training for almost a month. Every single day I come home drained, tired, mentally done...I have learned how to safely sedate a human, I can perform CPR now, I know a million new things that I didn't know before...

I've been gone so long that I barely remembered my password to this site...then this news happened...and this is what brings me back.

I'M NOT OKAY. THIS IS NOT FINE. WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS FUNIMATION!













lol I am being dramatic. It sucks that they didn't hire the cast back. They are all union, so it makes sense but it still sucks. They made it work for Tales of Zestiria, but I imagine it probably wasn't worth the money or hassle to make it happen with this show.

Joshua is the only one missing on the list SO I AM SUSPICIOUS

 

[Max]

I have held out for this! I wanted to watch the anime so bad when it came out, but I also wanted to wait it out and see if a dub would drop. I don't know how much longer I would have been able to wait before I gave in, but I'm glad the wait has paid off. Can't wait to watch this!

 

[rokudamia2]

The fact that Joshua is uncredited makes me hope maybe Aaron came back to voice Joshua but is uncredited due to union issues.

 

[Hamster Lord]

I've been training for almost a month. Every single day I come home drained, tired, mentally done...I have learned how to safely sedate a human, I can perform CPR now, I know a million new things that I didn't know before...

I've been gone so long that I barely remembered my password to this site...then this news happened...and this is what brings me back.

I'M NOT OKAY. THIS IS NOT FINE. WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS FUNIMATION!













lol I am being dramatic. It sucks that they didn't hire the cast back. They are all union, so it makes sense but it still sucks. They made it work for Tales of Zestiria, but I imagine it probably wasn't worth the money or hassle to make it happen with this show.

Joshua is the only one missing on the list SO I AM SUSPICIOUS

Funimation is really something aren't they. I think it's a real shame they didn't get the original cast but it seems like a lot of properties won't hire the union actors anymore.

 

[Chaser]

This cast/crew seems so sweet and excited to voice for TWEWY, and they love the series so I’m very excited for them to have this opportunity. I’ll give it a rewatch with the dub, can’t wait

https://twitter.com/x/status/1438619074431442946

https://twitter.com/x/status/1438596454227058695

 

[KudoTsurugi]

As long as there’s love for the series, that’s all I ask for. Plus having fans involved in the production is always nice

At first I was kinda bummed about them not bringing back the game cast for the main group, but I’m going to give the newcomers a fair shake. Besides, since it’s established TWEWY has a multiverse, who’s to say they wouldn’t sound a little different in alternate universes?

 

[Max]

As much as I think the original cast is great, I'm definitely willing to give the new cast a shake. It's especially nice to hear how many of them are already passionate about the series and so excited/honored to get to work on it.

I was bummed they replaced the voice cast of Final Fantasy 7 when they first announced that for Remake, but the new cast did an absolutely fantastic job. I like to think the same can be done here.

 

[rokudamia2]

First episode is out for premium Funimation members.

 

[2 quid is good]

I hate how recasts can cast fans in the worst light because if we complain about it it can get seen as diminishing the new casts work, when really everyone should just accept that the people who should be seen in the worst light are the company, Funimation in this instance. I'm still quite sore on the FF7R recast, and I do appreciate the hard work put in by the new one, but I don't really appreciate being seen as the bad guy for simply expressing my preference, and I'm starting to see the same pattern unfold for TWEWY

 

[LightUpTheSky452]

I'm not gonna lie. I'm definitely disappointed.

But I'm definitely going to give the dub a try. And I don't blame the new actors, of course, and am excited to hear how excited they are about the project

I've also heard from people who have already watched the episode, that there are more direct game quotes, which makes me happy.

Yeah, seeing this as another TWEWY alternate universe might be the best way to go.

But now I'm definitely thinking I don't want a KH show, because I don't want my voice actors from THAT changed. I feel like there's there's a chance people other than Haley Joel Osment might make Sora really annoying, rather than endearing. Or that if there is one, I don't want Funimation involved with it at all. And it probably wouldn't be, but you never know.

 

[Sign]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1438865095166156800

 

[LightUpTheSky452]

I saw some things that people have uploaded from the first episode, and the new voice actor for Neku and Shiki do a great job (particularly in the scene where Neku starts opening up to Shiki a tiny bit, after they defeat the bat Noise).

And I love Mr. H telling Neku, "Down, boy" when he's trying to strangle Shiki. Haha. So, I'm glad they added some of the humor from the game back in.

I still feel bad for all the original VAs, though Oh well. -sighs-

 

[Chaser]

I still feel bad for all the original VAs, though Oh well. -sighs-

Me too. It's unfortunate the way that contract work goes sometimes. Working one gig does not guarantee working on related gigs unless stipulated in the contract but that's a very rare stipulation.

I work freelance contract gigs and I get replaced on other seasons of shows I work on but I don't hold anything against my replacements. Voice acting is a different ballpark though, since there's the audience to consider when continuity isn't always upheld.

I never hold animosity against people booking a gig in circumstances like this, since at the end of the day we're all working for the paycheque. It's hard to not feel bad for someone like Jesse, or even Hayden Panettiere / HPO with KH3, not getting the chance to agree to a gig that they would have taken otherwise.

Sometimes it's pay related, scheduling conflicts, or a company just never reaches out. As fans, it sucks to not have continuity but I'm glad that someone is able to pay the rent and put food on their table.

 

[LightUpTheSky452]

Same, @Chaser Same. I feel the same way. And I've been trying to mention on places like Tumblr, that I of course don't blame the new actors for booking a gig, so they can put food on the table--and I am mentioning how great they are and how lovely they seem--because I don't want this to turn into a situation where the fandom starts harassing the new voice actors and starts blaming them. But hopefully people will have sense, and it won't at all come to that.

 

[Zetta slow]

I'm a little disappointed, especially since I wanted to hear Joshua and Minamimoto's og voices, but I'll still check out the dub! Hopefully they'll be just as good!

 

[KudoTsurugi]

I'm a little disappointed, especially since I wanted to hear Joshua and Minamimoto's og voices, but I'll still check out the dub! Hopefully they'll be just as good!

Technically we don’t know who’s voicing Joshua yet, as most of the cast listed are folks who show up in Episode 1.
Also, while it’s not confirmed, I expect Ryan Colt will be back as the Prince Eiji Oji next episode. Considering he’s in a few Funimation dubs already, including Moriarty the Patriot as John H. Watson, I could see those in charge sliding him in for a session or two.

 

[LightUpTheSky452]

Man, I feel really bad for Jesse. I know he was super excited about the anime and wanted to dub it. He even streamed Anime Expo--or whatever it was--where the anime was first announced... oh well.

 

[Sign]

Man, I feel really bad for Jesse. I know he was super excited about the anime and wanted to dub it. He even streamed Anime Expo--or whatever it was--where the anime was first announced... oh well.

Yeah, Jesse has been keeping up with everything TWEWY over the years and has been eagerly interacting with the fans since the revival. This series is very dear to him. Knowing that Funimation didn't even bother asking him to reprise Neku, when it's probably the last time we'll be seeing the character, grinds my gears so much.