Fans of the Haikyu!! manga and anime have been eager to see the final arc come to life on the screen and Haikyu!!: The Dumpster Battle is shaping up to be the can’t miss event of the summer. I got the chance to sit down with Bryson Baugus (Hinata) and Clint Bickham (Kenma) to learn more about this film, what inspired them, and so much more.
What Is Haikyu!!: The Dumpster Battle?
Haikyu!!: The Dumpster Battle is a coming-of-age anime film that follows the footsteps of Shoyo Hinata (portrayed by Bryson Baugus) as he and the team at Karasuno High prepare to challenge Kenma Kozume (portrayed by Clint Bickham) and Nekoma High in a winner take all event. Who will emerge victorious? Tune into this feature-length film to discover who the champion will be!
I was granted 15 minutes to speak with both Bryson Baugus and Clint Bickham about some of their favorite Haikyu!! memories, what inspired them to start working in the field, and so many other questions that were burning in my mind. Without any further ado, I’ll let the professionals take the reigns from this point forward.
What inspired you to start working in the field of voice acting?
Bryson Baugus: Oh, that’s a good question. I actually started off as a fan of video games, cartoons, theater, and movies. I wanted to be an actor, whatever medium I could find. So, early on in High School I was pursuing acting through theater and plays throughout the school, but also finding online projects I could just do on an amateur basis because I wanted to get into the voice-over side of things just as much as I wanted to get into the theater side of things. Luckily, the voice-over side of things kind of worked out. But, it’s always been inspiring to me to tell stories and just showcase characters that have amazing detailed character arcs and struggles that you can showcase them going through. I’m kind of word salading at this point (laughs), I just really love telling stories with good characters, and the opportunity to do that at any point is a dream to me.
Clint Bickham: For me, I’ve always been into acting since I was very, very young in school and stuff like that. I don’t remember how old I was, but quite young that I noticed the credits on cartoons I was watching, and I noticed names popping up, you know, again and again, and I’m like “This is a job?! This is a job that people can do?!”, you know, and so I was like, “I want to do that!” and honestly, I didn’t have a lot of courage. Because for people to really, really pursue acting, you need a lot of courage. You need a lot of courage, and a lot of determination and a lot of faith in yourself, and I don’t have any of those things (laughs). But, fortunately, AD vision did open-call auditions back then, and I had done a lot of video work just personally, I had worked on just like… film projects with friends and stuff like that. So when it came to audio recording, I was very used to that, so when they did an open-call audition, it was very natural for me so I made a good impression, thank goodness. So, you know, I do other things too, but I’m so, so happy that someone that doesn’t quite have the guts to totally jump in the water can still work in the industry because it’s my favorite, favorite thing to do.
Was there a particular season of Haikyu!! that was your favorite to act in?
BB: A particular season of the show to act in… I feel like this movie has given both of us a lot of amazing opportunities to portray what makes our characters who they are, and all sides of those characters. I would say that definitely recording this movie has been an amazing experience, and definitely one of the highlights of the series as a whole. There’s even a moment in Season 3, as well, that I always go to as, like, my peak, like, “This is another example of what Haikyu!! is about.” And it’s just… To avoid getting too much into spoilers, there’s a particular antagonist in the moment on the other team that Hinata and all of his teammates on Karasuno have to overcome. The way that they present it is just so impactful, where it’s just symbolically showing this antagonist holding me and Kageyama down, and then like throughout the scene, you see that we’re making plays and overcoming this obstacle. And in the presentation, like all of the teammates are getting in there helping us push that guy off of us. It’s just.. it’s a scene… I can’t help but cry every time I see it. (laughs)
CB: I mean, for me, you know, obviously I have to say I like the movie the most because it’s Kenma’s movie. (Laugh) And you know, I got to do so many different things with him. I got a lot of material in the fourth season, as well. But, I enjoyed the first season a lot just because it was a chance to get into the character for the first time, you know, that was really fun. But, for Kenma fans, and obviously myself, the movie is where it’s at.
What was your reaction hearing that Haikyu!! was coming back after such a long hiatus for two feature-length films?
BB: I was super excited! I was… there’s always like, a little bit of worry in this industry that like… because we’re adapting work from Japan and it comes over to America to be adapted into English and sometimes that can affect how licensing works and all that stuff — but there’s always that worry in the back of my head, my mind is like “is it going to go to the people that would want to keep the same original cast and all that stuff, or is it going to go to a brand new place where they’re just going to recast everyone?” So, there was a little bit of that hesitation and worry when they first announced it so far ahead in advance. But whenever I found out that they were going to get the original cast back for this film, I was super excited and relieved and I just… the fact that they announced that we’re going to be able to do a theatrical release as well, it was super, like I was over the moon. I couldn’t have been happier.
CB: Same! And it was really scary for me because I didn’t know… I adapted the English script, and I was working on the script not knowing if I was going to be in the movie. And that was just this… this emotional rollercoaster. But, it does happen a lot when series take long breaks, or in between seasons, and Haikyu!!, you know, has a really high quality of animation so they don’t do seasons back to back because they put so much work into them, you know, it takes a while. And so every time there’s a new season of Haikyu!! or any show, you’re always like… just… you’ve got your fingers crossed that you’re going to be able to come back to it because it could go to… yeah, like you said, the cast doesn’t always return, you know, it’s a little scary sometimes.
BB: I’ll just say this before we move on, I mentioned it in another interview, but I feel like the animation in this film also really speaks to the amount of time and dedication that they’ve put into it. The fact that it’s been a few years since season four, like, they definitely used all of that time to bring some of the best animation I’ve ever seen in, like, anime films, so yeah! (laughs)
Beside your voiced character, who is your favorite Haikyuu!! character?
BB: Kenma! Kenma has actually been my favorite since I met the character. He’s… I’ve never been the most athletic person myself, I’ve always been the kid… my brothers, I have three brothers, and two of them were either playing baseball, or tennis, I had another brother that would swim… I played T-Ball for a little bit, and then I stopped playing because I was scared that the ball was going to hit me when it wasn’t on a thing. So, I was the one in the bleachers always playing Game Boy in the stands, or just wanting to sit at home and play video games all day, and so Kenma, I really identified with. Like… man, I love that character. But, like, he loves to, Kenma outside out of that one aspect of him, also knows that like, when I need to like… when I need to get the stuff done, like, I’m going to get it done, and I’m gonna be reliable for the friends that need me to be there. So, I really love Kenma, as well. Tanaka is another close second. He’s one of those like, upperclassmen that, when you need him, he comes off as like, he can have that kind of cocky attitude, where he’s like “Yeah, I’m the best!”, but he’s not, he’s not really, he’s very much a team player, he knows that he’s really good, but he doesn’t let that give him too big of a head, if that makes sense!
CB: For me, um… Gosh, I feel like the fans are gonna be mad if I don’t say Kuroo but… (laughs) TOO BAD! I like Lev a lot, even though he’s not like a major, major character. I think what I like about him is he’s just like… lazy in exactly the way that high school boys are lazy, you know? And it’s like you feel like he’s this unreliable character because all the other characters are so into volleyball. And he’s just… kind of into volleyball, you know? And he always… he doesn’t always want to work the hardest. And so I just felt like he was really realistic in kind of like a funny way because of that, and I really like Kenma’s relationship with him and how he’s just like put out by him a little bit (laugh). So, yeah, even though he’s not like the focus of the series, I really enjoy him a lot. I like Bokoto a lot, as well.
How are you feeling now that Haikyu!! is wrapping up after these two films?
BB: It’s… it’s very bittersweet. Like I’ve already mentioned, we’ve been with these characters for such a long time, and I can only hope that they’re able to cover as much within those films as the fans are hoping for. I don’t want to get too much into like, spoilers again, but manga readers have been like, caught up with the series for such a long time, and I… I think the show, the manga has been finished for at least three or four years at this point, so I just really… I really hope that that part two can help us bring the finish in and cover everything that the manga readers have been looking forward to for such a long time because it is one of those shows where… It’s one of those types of shows, sports anime, it just feels so good to see the animation, and the fluid motion of everything, so I… yeah, I kind of got on a little bit of a tangent there, but I (laugh), but it’s bittersweet to see these characters that we’ve spent so much time with potentially… potentially having their final sendoff for us.
CB: I just… I feel so satisfied after this movie because… well, it’s the end of Kenma’s arc, but I feel like “Wow, this really went out with a bang!”, and I’m really interested to see how they handle the next movie, but I… you know, in a sense, it’s bittersweet. But it’s such a fantastic sendoff and I’m really, really glad that they were able to give this story what it deserved and to really, really show off. (laughs)
What are you most excited for people to see in “The Dumpster Battle?”
BB: Oh… like I said, just the animation is amazing, I hope that they… I hope that they find a lot of value in some of the… the PERFORMANCES that myself and the castmates, myself, Clint, and many of our castmates, have our time to shine in the movie and I hope that the viewing audience can appreciate that and I really hope the work we’ve put into this film shines through for them. And then I also just hope that for anybody who hasn’t seen is like a plus one for a long time Haikyu!! fan can see this movie and be like “Yeah, I really need to see this show!” after watching this movie.
CB: I don’t have anything to add, yeah! That’s exactly it! Nailed it!
Outside of Haikyu!!, what has been your favorite voice acting role?
BB: Outside of Haikyu!!, some of my recent favorites that I’ve been able to take part in is Nagi Seishiro from Blue Lock, the series that’s also on Crunchyroll. Wind Breaker is another really big one that’s been coming out recently that I highly recommend. And then, one of my all-time favorites, and I always have to pay homage to him, because he’s got a sweet spot in my heart, is Bell Cranel, from Is It Wrong To Try And Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon?, DanMachi for short, it’s a long title. Because just like Hinita, he just kind of came in an early part in my career and he, he really encompasses that like… I’m just starting off, I’m a rookie, I know what I’m doing, but I’ve got this hunger to improve and, so yeah, much like Hinata, I feel like his journey has paralleled a lot of mine over the years being in the industry. Those are just some of my highlights.
CB: For me, I think my favorite role is in Haru in Tsuritama, but I don’t think Tsuritama is legally available anymore (laugh). So, I certainly hope that one comes back because it’s my favorite, I like playing very cute characters, so having an excuse to just be like… absolutely insufferably cutesy was really, really good. Right now, I’m playing (Kyōtarō) Ichikawa in The Dangers in My Heart, which is very, very good, that show has a lot of buzz and I’m so happy it picked up with the second season. I see people talking about it all of the time, and it’s just an adorable show. Really funny, and… that one is really, really special to me. And, I’m really happy that it’s continuing.
BB: And another highlight for me also is Food Wars, in which I play Takumi Aldini alongside Clint here.
CB: Ah, yes!
BB: As Isami Aldini, my twin. So those are some good ones for us.
CB: Yes, love it!
Disregarding the skills of their Haikyu!! characters, who would win in a real-life volleyball game: Bryson or Clint
BB: Oh my Goodness… like I said, I’m not very athletic, I don’t know what your background is there, Clint…
CB: (Laughs)
BB: …but I’m biased to assume I would lose.
CB: Oh man… actually, so the thing is, I’ve got a very bad arm injury right now.
BB: OH NO!
CB: So, lucky for you… also, I think you are significantly younger than me, so I think (laugh).
BB: What do you mean?!?
CB: I think you’ve got it, I think you’ve got it. Uh, maybe 10 years ago, but yeah, no, with the arm injury… no, you would definitely, you’d get me now.
BB: I’ve got the bumpers up while I’m bowling.
CB: (Laughing)
No matter if you’ve been watching Haikyu!! since the first season, or you’ll be getting your first taste of the series by checking out this thrilling film, be prepared to watch the epic battle between Hinata and Kenma unfold before your very eyes.
Haikyu!!: The Dumpster Battle is in theaters May 31, 2024.
Published: May 30, 2024 02:00 pm