ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke to Blue Lock The Movie – Episode Nagi stars Bryson Baugus and Kamen Casey about the anime movie. The duo discussed their characters, Seishiro Nagi and Reo Mikage, and how it was getting to explore their backstories in the movie. Crunchyroll will release the Blue Lock movie in theaters on June 28.
“‘That’s a hassle.’ That was second-year high schooler Nagi Seishiro’s favorite phrase as he lived his dull life. Until Mikage Reo, a classmate who dreamed of winning the World Cup, discovered Nagi’s hidden skill, inspiring him to play soccer and share his outstanding talent,” says the synopsis for the Blue Lock movie. “One day, he receives 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.”
Tyler Treese: Bryson, I love the characterization of Nagi early on. He is like, “I wanna spend my life doing nothing,” “Working hard sucks,” “Living is the ultimate hassle.” He’s very much my spirit animal. We get to see a lot of the character’s early beginnings because half of the film is a prequel, so what do you like most about how the character starts off?
Bryson Baugus: What I like about him, and one of the challenges with Nagi, is that he does have that kind of aloofness. Like, I’m just kind of floating through life. I don’t really wanna try too hard, I just wanna play my games and do what I like. What I like about that is it just kind of comes off as unstressed. He’s not bothered by the world. He’s just kind of like, yeah, I’m just doing my thing, and I love doing video games. I love my pet cactus.
One of the challenges with that is just this cultural difference. Over in Japan, I feel like that kind of laissez-faire attitude is very, “Oh, he’s cool, collected and, and mysterious. I wonder who that guy is. He’s so cool.” In America, a lot of those attributes tend to be more negatively connotated with laziness and complain-y whininess. So trying to find that balance between just, again, being aloof and being whiny about like, “Nah, I don’t wanna try so hard. Why is everyone trying so hard?” I feel like we were trying our best to find that balance.
One of the things that Jonathan Rigg, the [voice] director of the movie, was trying to instill, and one of the things that I latched onto, was this imagery of Nagi being like a ghost wandering through the halls of the school, more curious about the humans around him as opposed to more like, “Man, these people are weird. Why are they working so hard?” But more like, “Hmm, I’m curious, like, what, what is it that makes people try so hard,” kind of thing.
Kamen, Reo has such a rich upbringing and he has almost everything that he could want. So he’s really searching for a purpose and we see him find that both in soccer and in this interest in Nagi — that he wants to really spur him on. What did you like seeing, uh, uh, about his character development through this film and the early arcs of the anime?
Kamen Casey: Yeah, I love to see it just fleshed out more from the show because there was so much there. I love that the writer thought so too. So it was somewhat cool seeing his upbringing, what drives him, the need to prove his parents wrong, where he can be so unlikable. Like, “Oh, you’re the rich kid. You have everything. Why do I wanna listen to this guy?”
But then you see, he has that drive to go, “I don’t want my parents’ dream. I want my own dream,” and then he bumps into a guy who has all the talents that he could do anything you want in the world, and you’re sitting there playing a game on your phone. No, let’s go play soccer. Play soccer with me. So it was so cool to just see all that fleshed out in the movie. It was so much fun.
Bryson, this is a really cool little stretch for you. We had Haikyu, now we have the Blue Lock movies basically back to back. Yeah. Uh, it’s been such a wild career point. Have you had any time to soak this all in? ’cause that, that’s incredible to have these two releases.
Baugus: I understand how rare something like this is, and so the past couple of months have just been overwhelmingly fulfilling. Being able to work on the movies back to back and the characters being such opposite energies, with Hinata being a character being like, “I’m hyped. I love volleyball! I wanna play volleyball with all my friends.” To Nagi, who’s just kind of like that complete opposite. He’s like, “Oh, yeah, cool. I guess my friend likes it. I’ll play with him.” At least where he starts off before he finds his own reasons for enjoying the game.
It’s just been overwhelmingly personally fulfilling just to see the work that I’ve been putting into becoming an actor over more than half my life at this point. I started wanting to be an actor at 14, and now I’m about to be 30 here in August or so. To have two movies in the theater that are going to be fully theatrically released, and not only that, so close together. I could talk forever about it, but I’ve been super grateful for it because I know that opportunity doesn’t come very often for anybody. It’s very much a once-in-a-lifetime thing. So yeah, I’m excited.
Kamen, I love seeing that friendship between Nagi and Reo because he has such a willingness to support, and he is like, “If I can’t be number one, I want to get you there.” There’s a very selfless quality. What do you like about that relationship? And him being able to put himself second, which most people can’t do.
Casey: Yeah. I was so glad to see that fleshed out more in the movie. Because it could come off as like, “Oh, I’m just gonna ride his coattails.” Who likes that guy? But to see that, “No, man, I can’t let you just play games on your phone. You can be great. If that’s the rules, then let’s see. I’ll find my dream as we go along.” So seeing how he will physically carry Naga around just go on this journey with his buddy. I love seeing that friendship blossom.
Bryson, this film’s coming out in an interesting spot because it’s before Season 2. So, it serves as this great refresher as you see the events of the first season through another perspective, and then it’s also this great prequel, as well. So it’s simultaneously this great starting point for new fans as well. What did you like most about the film’s format and how it works for both returning and new fans?
Baugus: What I do love about it is that it is, it is re-establishing the world, and it is showcasing a lot of the early stuff from season one, where even if somebody hasn’t seen the show, they can go in this completely blind and be reintroduced to it and still in a more truncated experience get an idea of what Blue Lock is all about. The fact that it is from this different perspective, you might see things, as a returning fan, again, from different perspectives and being like, “Oh, that’s what they were doing for the first six episodes before they actually showed up at the show.” So I feel like it has something for everyone in terms of approaching this film as opposed to the TV series.
I definitely do recommend checking out the series as well, as it’s all on Crunchyroll right now. Easy to check out. Because there will be parts in the film that are like, “Oh, I remember that from the show,” and very cool Easter eggs and stuff like that. So if you haven’t watched the show, I highly recommend watching it. But even if you don’t have the time to [do so] before the movie comes out, it’s definitely going to be something that you can jump into completely outta nowhere.
Kamen, I saw this really cool post on your Instagram, how you got to sign your first autographs at a convention and how you bought the Reo figure. What does it mean for you to be voicing this character that people really have a connection to and they really love? That has to make it all the more special.
Casey: Yeah, man, I can’t believe it’s happening. I’m trying to stay in the moment as much as I can and feel all the feels later. But it was just mind-blowing because you never know what’s gonna lead to what, right? You just never know when you’re cast in commercials, TV, film, pilot TV shows, voiceover. You don’t know if it’s ever gonna take off [and if they’re going to] latch onto the show. It felt like it was during Chainsaw [Man] season, so everyone’s “Chainsaw, Chainsaw…” and then these underdogs just kinda like the show came outta nowhere. Blue Lock just blew up in Japan during all the soccer that was being played and the national teams. Gosh, man, career-wise, it’s been an absolute blessing. It’s been an absolute blessing.
I remember not knowing anything about how to even get into voice acting or Crunchyroll specifically. I sent a friend of mine, Caitlin Glass, the most, something you just never do… I was like, “When are you gonna put me in a show?” Not even knowing how horribly disrespectful and stupid that was. But she got that I was completely ignorant and had no idea what was going on, how any of this stuff works. Then she ultimately, after two years of auditioning, and I had even done some side stuff like years before, but seriously auditioning for it, to see that, to get into the building and to ultimately end up landing a role like this has just been so awesome, man. I could talk all day about it.
Bryson, Nagi’s been a fan favorite from pretty early on in this series, but it’s pretty wild to see him get this spin-off manga and then get a film. What was your first reaction when you saw that they were really doubling down and exploring this character in all these other ways?
Baugus: I was super excited. I was made aware by some friends of mine, who were more familiar with the series before I got into the cast, and they had mentioned he’s a huge character. He’s awesome. I was like, “Oh, cool. No pressure.” I was super excited going into it.
Again, all I can say is that I feel super lucky that they decided, oh, this popular character will do his own spin-off and everything like that. There’s just a sort of luck of the draw at that point, but also he’s just such an intriguing character, too, that it’s no wonder he’s as popular as he is. He’s got all those different layers to him that they really showcase in the movie and in the manga. Yeah, I feel very lucky.
Kamen, you mentioned that this has really been a breakthrough role for anime and voice acting for you. What’s been just most rewarding about having that back and forth with the fans and getting that feedback, that love from them?
Casey: Yeah, it’s awesome. Anime fans, they’re different. They’re special, they’re energetic, they’re passionate, they’re opinionated, and I love it. It’s like sports. I have an athletic background. So seeing how hard they go for their art and in their fandom, man, it’s intense and scares me at times. I’m still not famous by any means. So I’m like, okay, I can kind of still chill out here on the outskirts of things, but seeing how intense they can be. I hope I do a good job. I hope they’re proud of my work, and I hope they know that I’m busting my butt to do my best to try to take care of any character that I play.
Thanks to Bryson Baugus and Kamen Casey for talking about the Blue Lock movie Episode Nagi.
