Interview: Bryson Baugus and Kamen Casey in BLUE LOCK THE MOVIE -EPISODE NAGI-

Crunchyroll is bringing BLUE LOCK THE MOVIE -EPISODE NAGI- to theaters on June 28th! This film focuses on Seishiro Nagi’s story as he connects with Mikage Reo in school and begins his soccer journey. We spoke with Bryson Baugus and Kamen Casey, the English Dub voice actors for Nagi and Reo respectively, about this exciting film.

What is BLUE LOCK THE MOVIE -EPISODE NAGI- about?

BLUE LOCK THE MOVIE -EPISODE NAGI- is a spinoff story from the action-packed series of the same name and based on the best-selling manga. It details Nagi (Bryson Baugus) and Reo’s (Kamen Casey) relationship with each other and their challenge to become Japan’s greatest striker.

Nagi Seishiro enjoyed his dull, quiet life playing games on his phone and doing the bare minimum. However, Mikage Reo, a classmate who dreamed of winning the World Cup, discovered Nagi’s hidden skill. Reo inspires him to play soccer and share his outstanding talent. One day, the two of them receive an invitation to the mysterious BLUE LOCK Project. What awaits him there is an encounter with the finest strikers assembled from across the country. Nagi’s dream of becoming the best, alongside Reo, will take this prodigy to a world he’s never known.

Discussing the upcoming film with Bryson Baugus and Kamen Casey

We ask both Bryson and Kamen what it is like to see BLUE LOCK reach the point of success that it now has a movie in theaters.

Bryson says:

“Been amazing. Honestly. The the thing with anime in general is it’s hard to tell what shows are going to blow up and and get their own films, especially theatrical releases. I feel like it’s become more of a thing over the past few years with with theatrical anime releases. But it’s still very like exciting to see when it’s something that you’ve worked on, and BLUE LOCK in particular. I think it had a lot of those early signs that like, Oh, this is gonna be really awesome because the characters are amazing.”

Kamen says:

“And mind blowing to be a part of it. I just remember growing up as a kid and my dad…walking to the to the living room and watch my dad watch Johnny Quest, and then Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. And I’m like these. These cartoons are so cool, you know, like these are so different than the other ones. And and now to be like, ‘Hey, dad, I want to go see my movie?’ How do we get here? Where did the time go? And it’s all amazing, and the feelings are catching up to the ads all the things that are going on, but cool, super excited.”

Preparing for a can be different than preparing to record for a singular episode of the anime. We ask Bryson and Kamen how it felt preparing for this film and what the differences were from recording an episode of BLUE LOCK.

Bryson discusses the way he was able to look deeper into both Nagi and Reo’s characters.

“So especially because this movie focuses more on Nagi and and and Reos relationship more so than the show does it…it feels familiar in the way that, like we’ve already established these characters. And we’ve been able to touch on their back stories a bit through the show. But to just sort of hyper focus. And…look even deeper into it. It’s it’s it’s been an amazing process. And I feel like, especially with Nagi, I was able to reestablish some of his earlier characterization. And I feel like when you come into a character in the middle of a TV series like you get the establishments of like what the character is…And with every character, there’s always gonna be some level of evolution throughout the series, like, ‘Oh, we’ve discovered new things.’ And I feel like being able to come in and do a lot of Nagi’s earlier stuff with some of the developments and discoveries we made about his characterization later on in the series.”

Kamen talks about how this is the most lines he has ever recorded for voice-over work.

“Working on the the 1st season. Absolutely amazing and fun, but less pressure. You know, there’s not as many lines. Even related to sports. You know you do. In you play a role. You get out, you get in hit your role. But now the microscope is on you. You’re the stars of the team. So it’s like, once I saw the line count and the reaction count, I’m like, ‘Whoa! This is the most lines and screen time I’ve ever had on anything voice over related.’ So I’m like, Okay, this is a chance to shine, but a chance to be careful to not drop the ball as well.”

Bryson and Kamen have very different thoughts about how they would do in the BLUE LOCK training facility

As a fun way to end the interview, we ask how Bryson and Kamen would do if they were the ones in the BLUE LOCK Project. Bryson laughs and admits he wouldn’t even get invited to show up. He goes on to say, “I would play a qualifying match, and like be knocked out 1st round, or something like…Working on shows and seeing shows like this, like it definitely makes me wanna be more athletic and and go to the gym more often. But I, I’m very sedentary.”

Kamen’s mindset is a little different. He talks about being cutthroat when it comes to competing with others.

“I know we all having fun here, but when it comes down to the business aspect of it? It’s competitive, so it’s I like to…say, that I give myself a mantra before I go into an audition. ‘Why not me? Why not my family?’ So I can hone in on, on, on my family’s gotta eat. This is my dinner today, right? Just, if you can get that cutthroat about it in that moment, and then let it go and then go back to life. But in that moment yeah, go hard. Be passionate. Don’t be afraid to stand in the light and say, I want this. I want this really cool thing. It’s okay.”

BLUE LOCK THE MOVIE -EPISODE NAGI- hits theaters on June 28th! Stream the BLUE LOCK series now on Crunchyroll.