Priyanko Chakraborty
Jujutsu Kaisen’s popularity has skyrocketed in the last few days. Apart from releasing the much-awaited season 2, the manga is also at a great place. The first few episodes were Gojo Satoru’s past, which the fans have loved throughout. The hype surrounding Jujutsu Kaisen started to increase since the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie was released.
Even after such popularity and goodwill, the anime seems to be not doing well in certain aspects. There has been a constant buzz on the internet that the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie did not pay sufficient money to their English voice actors. Many took a stand on social media.
Jujutsu Kaisen 0 Paid Almost Nothing To Its English Voice Actors
Jujutsu Kaisen 0 was released on 24 December 2021 in Japan. After being deemed a hit, it was released in the USA on 18 March 2022. The movie has earned over $196 million in its lifetime. It became one of the top ten highest-grossers in anime movies. Jujutsu Kaisen 0 was the highest-grossing movie in 2021 in Japan. In the USA alone, it did a business of $30 million.
I also want to make it clear that I am not blaming the recording studio for this since they are given budgets that they must stick to. These changes need to come from the top. It’s hard to know if the people at the top even hear our requests or frustrations.
— Tara Jayne Sands (@TaraSandsVO) April 4, 2022
Even after such success, the English voice actors are getting low salaries. Tara Jayne Sands, the voice actor of Momo Nishimiya and Utahime Iori, posted on X, “I also want to make it clear that I am not blaming the recording studio since they are given budgets that they must stick to. These changes need to come from the top. It’s hard to know if the people at the top even hear our requests or frustrations.”
Out of those $196 million, Tara Jayne Sands was paid $150. She wishes that the recording studio would pay more in the future events. Sands knows that recording studios have fixed budgets and believes that changes should come from the higher authorities.
Other English Voice Actors Suffering The Same Fate
Not Only Tara Jayne Sands but others are suffering from the same problem. Satoru Gojo is a prominent character in Jujutsu Kaisen. So it is natural for his actor to receive more salary. But he too complained about the low salary policy. Kaiji Tang said that he does audiobooks and educational works, apart from doing voiceovers. This way, he can pay for his bills and live a proper life.
Other voice actors, Stephanie Sheh and Kyle McCarley, have asked the recording studios to opt for union dubbing. Since most studios are non-union, except Netflix and GKIDS, union dubbing will be the ray of hope for the voice artists. Jujutsu Kaisen has a large fanbase and is one of the highest-selling manga.
Source: X, Box Office Mojo