The Voice Behind Beyblade Burst’s Conflicted Diago Kurogami
The days of animation being relegated to the prepubescent and tween market is long past. Sony’s Oscar winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has only stoked the fire of interest from fans, critics, and potential investors. The epicenter of the genre is undoubtedly Japan where the viewing demographics cover a wide spectrum. The irony of the rejuvenated grown-ups interest in animation is the bedrock foundation of the genre still lies in youth based storylines. Beyblade Burst is one of the most recent and most popular animated productions of the past three years. Originally airing on the TXN network (TV Tokyo, TV Osaka), it has made its way to international fame in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and numerous other countries. The half hour cartoon airs in America on Disney Channel Teletoon, Disney XD, and other Disney channels. The success of Beyblade Burst has spurred on subsequent productions including Beyblade Burst Evolution, Beyblade Burst Turbo, and Beyblade Burst GT.
Beyblade Burst is the story of a group of passionate elementary school Beybladers at the Beigoma Academy school in Japan. Committed to the game [Beyblade], Valt Aoi and his fellow Beybladers partake in competitions which test their skill and character. While fixated on the game, the stories also teach a great deal about respecting others even if you don’t agree with them. Choices in life are not always easy and this is well depicted in Diago Kurogami, one of the show’s most conflicted characters. Sporting spikey black hair and donning a skull necklace, Diago is an unobvious protagonist. Diago’s Beyblader is Dark Doomscizor, a character based on the Grim Reaper. During one competition, Diago cheats and struggles with the torment this decision causes him. Though Diago isn’t the main character, he provides more gravitas than perhaps any other. Diago confronts fans of the show with the idea that motives and actions are not always indicative of the good or bad in a person; a very mature concept for many viewers of this age. Zach LeBlanc is literally the voice behind Kurogami. The actor relates, “My favorite scene as Diego was early on in episode twenty-three. The episode revolves around Daigo who is struggling to feel like he’s good enough, and begins to contemplate cheating. In the middle of the tournament, his evil conscience convinces him to cheat. The struggle as he tries to resist, leading to him finally deciding to cheat, was one of my favorite scenes on any show I’ve done to date. Proving his diversity and talent, LeBlanc has also voice such characters as Blayder-in-training Sasaki, Raita (of team “The Beasts”), Ivan (Of BC Sol, and eventual trainer of the Royals) and others.
Animated productions have become fertile ground for feature films. The potent combination of suspenseful storylines, well-defined characters, and a preexisting fan base have been characteristics leading to big studios green lighting Lego, The Smurfs, and others animated fan favorites. The worldwide embrace of Beyblade Burst could result in it being the next in line. Characters like Diago Kurogami add a complexity that is quantitatively appealing.
