Anime’s Top Stars Join Barbie Ahead of Its Premiere

The box office has beendismal this summer, but two films are hoping to shake things up. While Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer prepares to unleash its record IMAX reel, Barbie is looking to win the weekend in terms of revenue. The movie, starring Margot Robbie, features an all-star cast… and that now includes some of anime’s top stars.

Earlier today, Barbie unveiled its Japanese dub cast, and it is stacked with talent. A number of anime’s best voice actors have been roped in to dub the project. The list includes stars from shows like Vinland Saga, but one of its biggest surprises involves Jujutsu Kaisen.

Yes, you read that right. Jujutsu Kaisen is bringing one of its stars to Barbie. The voice actor of Sukuna, Junichi Suwabe, has been tasked with playing Ken. The actor will specifically voice the Ken played by Kingsley Ben-Adir, but don’t worry! Another voice actor is taking care of Ryan Gosling’s role!

Screen actress Mitsuki Takahata will bring Barbie to life while anime VA Shunsuke Takeuchi (Einar, Vinland Saga) will oversee Gosling’s Ken. Other stars like Romi Park (Hange, Attack on Titan), Daisuke Ono (Jotaro, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure), Ryotaro Okiayu (Byakuya, Bleach), Hiro Shimono (Zenitsu, Demon Slayer), and more will bring Barbie to Japan. Obviously, anime fans are curious to hear the foreign dub given all its VA talent, so here’s to hoping clips of the Japanese version surface soon!

Of course, Barbie demands top talent given its hype, and the Hollywood blockbuster is delivering in Japan. Actors like Suwabe are in high demand, and that goes doubly right now thanks to Jujutsu Kaisen. The anime just returned for its second season, and it won’t be long before Sukuna shows up with Yuji. Right now, the anime is working through Gojo’s Past arc, so the entire fandom is busy ogling Toji Fushiguro… but that will change before long!

If you are not caught up with Jujutsu Kaisen, you should know its anime is streaming on Crunchyroll and Hulu right now. For more info on the series, you can read its official synopsis below:

“For some strange reason, Yuji Itadori, despite his insane athleticism would rather just hang out with the Occult Club. However, her soon finds out that the occult is as real as it gets when his fellow club members are attacked! Meanwhile, the mysterious Megumi Fushiguro is tracking down a special-grade cursed object, and his search leads him to Itadori…”

What do you think about Barbie’s Japanese dub? Do you want to give the film a try in other languages now? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!