Voice Actor Interview: Bryson Baugus and Chris Wehkamp, Rudo and Enjin from GACHIAKUTA
I sat down for a quick interview with Bryson Baugus (Rudo) and Christopher Wehkamp (Enjin), two main cast members from Studio BONES' anime adaptation of Urana Kei's hit dark shōnen manga, GACHIAKUTA.
GACHIAKUTA is an anime title I have been excited for ever since my friend recommended the manga to me in 2023. The story is written and illustrated by the brilliant Urana Kei, with graffiti designs by the massively talented Andō Hideyoshi. Urana is a mangaka whose trajectory is incredibly interesting as she went from being a massive fan of manga legend О̄kubo Atsushi’s Soul Eater, to being an assistant on his 2015 manga, En En no Shōbōtai (Fire Force) and even being named his successor!
When BONES was revealed to be the animation production studio that will be adapting the series, I was beyond excited for many reasons, mainly because the production studio is one of the best in the industry, and because BONES has been running fewer and fewer productions each year. In 2025, the studio has only released four anime projects, and two of those were My Hero Academia. So, you can just believe my excitement when I was offered the opportunity to sit down with the voice actors of two of the main characters from GACHIAKUTA, Bryson Baugus, who voices Rudo and Christopher Wehkamp, voice of Enjin!
Naledi Ramphele: What was your first impression of GACHIAKUTA?
Bryson Baugus: I really loved the artwork, the character designs, the worldbuilding. My very first introduction to the series was actually our castmate Zeno Robinson, who plays Jabber [NOTE: I interviewed him in 2023 for his role as Tendō Akira in Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead].
He was hyping it up really hard when it was announced as an anime, and so when the auditions came around, I read the first few chapters to help inform my audition and instantly fell in love with the art style, storytelling and the characters as well.
Christopher Wehkamp: Similar to me, I was introduced to the series through Zeno, and he was just really singing its praises and so I felt like I had to become aware of it, check it out – and I’m so glad I did. I think what stuck out to me were the character designs and once I started learning more about the power system it just really captured my imagination. Thinking about the idea of loving something so much that you actually imbue it with a power is just a really cool concept and it just captured my attention for sure.
NR: I find it really amazing that you were both introduced to the series, auditioned for it and went on to land such important roles, which leads to my next question: how did you obtain these roles, how did the audition process go?
BB: I went to the store and I bought it! (chuckles) Nah, I’m just joking
CW: It was on sale!
BB: (continues) We auditioned, the auditions went out pretty early for this series and a lot of people got them. In my case, I just tried my best to put my best foot forward, I had auditioned for Rudo and also for Zanka because I felt that they’re both in my range. I felt like I put a little bit of extra TLC into my audition for Rudo and it seems like it showed enough for them to be like, “yeah, we’ll get that guy”.
CW: Same story for me, I saw the sides and immediately was drawn to Enjin, both because his character design – he’s so cool, he just looks so very cool – and at the same time, reading the lines that were on the sides, I can’t remember exactly what it was but there were a couple of lines that were kinda goofy. I felt really drawn to this idea of bringing him to life as this cool dude, but who also is kinda impulsive and goofy sometimes, and can be vulnerable that way. I tried to find that balance as best I could, and sometimes it works – it worked this time!
NR: I have individual questions for the both of you – Bryson, a lot of your characters are a little bit brighter than Rudo and there’s a lot of variety in terms of the characters you play. How did Rudo challenge you as a voice actor?
BB: Like you said, most of the characters I’ve played tend to have that softness, brightness and optimism to them. With Rudo, I was just excited on a technical level to do a character that had a little bit of more a grittiness to him, his raspiness is something that I haven’t really explored in my vocal range. I was excited to do that from the exercise part of it – just as an actor, I like to show off different parts of my range whenever I get the chance to.
And from his attitude, I just like exploring the emotional side of characters that I’m not typically tasked with doing. I think a lot of actors, after a long enough time doing this kind of stuff, you tend to get pigeon-holed; type-cast and stuff. I feel like this was a good opportunity to show like, “Hey, I know I’m known for doing this type of character, but I would love to show the world and different directors that “Hey, I can do this as well!” It’s just very fulfilling to be able to pull off so many types of characters like that.
NR: It really does show, I really enjoy, especially the “emo-ness” of Rudo, you nailed that! Absolutely brilliant!
Christopher, you play a lot of what the internet would call “uncs” and some senseis here and there, how does Enjin differ from the other roles you’ve played?
CW: Yeah, I love that! I wanna be the King of the Uncs! (everyone laughs)
I want ‘em all, I wanna voice ‘em all! I think the big defining difference with Enjin and some of the other roles I’ve played is kind of that he’s the fun dad, he’s like the party dad. He’s the “Let’s stay up ‘til 2am and just eat ice cream on the couch” kind of dad. And so he has that sort of playfulness, that impulsiveness, that goofiness. Everything he does is in service of a mission, and we’re not 100% sure what all of that means yet. We know that as the head of Akuta Cleaners, he’s out here trying to get rid of the Trash Beasts – we know that for sure – protect people from them. But yeah, he just has a love of life, he wants to party too. I love that, I just latch right onto that.
BB: Would you say he’s the Func? The Fun Unc? (chuckling)
CW: Yes, he’s the F-unc! He brings the funk (chuckles) Yeah, I love that.
NR: Nice! One of my favourite lines by Enjin is in the second episode when he’s doing what they call aura farming and he’s just destroyed the first Trash Beast that Rudo’s encountered and he takes off his mask and he’s like “Hi, I’m Enjin” and he starts coughing because it smells so bad and the air is literally toxic and he’s like, “You made me take off my mask!”
(everyone chuckling)
CW: Yeah, right away he’s pulling the rug out from under Rudo’s feet. It’s such a great introduction because on the one hand, here he is basically screaming and yelling. We don’t really see Enjin engage in that a whole lot – you can tell that’s not where he wants to be with his character, he wants to be cool, composed. But he just succumbs to the vibe of the moment, and I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction for Enjin in that second episode, it was incredible.
NR: One of the most unique aspects of the series is how it twists the living object concept. What does the understanding of this premise add or take away from your approach to your voice acting performances and why?
BB: I would say it didn’t affect too much because I tend to go into every situation – every session – for different anime pretty similarly. I watch the scene as it plays out and get a feel for the energy for the scene with the music and the sound effects there to kind of, guide that as well. We also preview the original Japanese performances, and that informs what kind of energy to come at the line with. I try not to copycat everything I just try to make sure that the performance I give still fits with that original vision. I wouldn’t say that the particular or the specifics of how the power system works affects too much of that, but I don’t know if that might be the same for Chris or not.
CW: I mostly agree, I’ll just add that I do think it’s really interesting the way that their Jinkis reveal a side to their character that isn’t totally obvious at first, Specifically with Rudo and the way that his hands have been damaged – we’re not sure exactly how – but that the gloves kind of cover that up. I think from my perspective, I can see how his vulnerability is covered up by these gloves and it is always out in the open and he’s trying to do a better job of covering it up, y’know, in the way that he’s growing up.
The same thing with Enjin where it’s like, he’s protective – an umbrella protects you from the rain, from the elements. And so it’s not necessarily informing my voice acting per se, but it is absolutely informing my fun dreaming about these characters and like, my fun imagining this world. The way the power system plays into it is instrumental to what makes this worldbuilding so cool to me.
BB: I may have misinterpreted the question a little bit (chuckles) but Chris brought it back in a way that I agree with! I think that’s the best way to put it, yeah!
NR: I have one last question I sourced from a friend online, she’s big on fashion and wanted to know: since clothing is such a big part of GACHIAKUTA and the character design; since we’re talking about the characters and their Jinki, how did the respective designs of your characters affect or influence the way you thought about approaching their voices. What did the aesthetics do for the performance?
BB: I think since Rudo is always wearing – at least at the start – he’s wearing such rundown, downtrodden clothing, that informs the idea that he’s had it rough. You can visibly see that he’s been going through it for a long time. He even mentions that he’s been bullied and outcast since he was a child. That is the baseline for my decision to give him kind of that more, like (summons Rudo voice) raspy, down on himself kind of feel to himand he’s learned that when he’s not shouting, he needs to be quiet and just kind of like, “People don’t wanna hear what I have to say cause they’re not listening anyway.” (regular voice) That kind of stuff (chuckles)
CW: Absolutely! I think same idea. Enjin is cool. He dresses like he just walked off a movie set to me! I don’t think it’s an accident. When I, Chris, the actor imagine him getting himself ready, I don’t think he spends a lot of time, but I do think that’s part of his goal. He wants to look like he doesn’t care about how he looks.
I think he wants to look sort of, effortless, but you can tell that a lot of effort and taste goes into what he’s wearing and the choices that he made for his full-face mask with August. I think it’s just very interesting – you learn so much about these characters in a world where there’s so many mysteries that are yet to be revealed – you do end up learning a lot about these characters just at a glance, because their character designs are so detailed.
There’s a lot to take in. And I found myself when watching the show, sometimes I’ll just pause stuff and I’m like, “What is goin’ on here?” there’s a lot to dissect as far as the character designs go. Especially as we’ve met more Cleaners, there’s kind of different themes and vibes for some of the different Cleaners that have now shown up and getting to see those differences has been cool too. And yet through it all, the creator has created this unifying theme of like, they have uniforms, but within those uniforms they have so much flair and so much uniqueness that it really brings the characters to life.
BB: One of the things I love about the manga and now with the anime, is that it seems to have a very heavy respect for all different forms of art. They love to highlight the graffiti, the character designs and the fashion of the characters, and now with the anime they’ve showcased so many styles and types of music. I feel like the show and the source material as well both feel like celebrations of art and what art means, and what it can do, what it can convey!
CW: Totally agree, that nails it!
ABOUT THE INTERVIEWEES:
Bryson Baugus is an American voice actor from Texas, best known for his roles as Hinata Shōyō from Haikyu! [2014], Bell Cranel from Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon [2015], Takumi Aldini from Shokugeki no Soma (Food Wars!) [2015], Nagi Seishirō from BLUE LOCK [2022]. His anime dubbing career began in 2016 with the role of Hikaru from Re: Hamatora, and his career also features roles in video games, including Yu-Gi-Oh! Cross Duel and Duel Links as О̄do Yuga, the protagonist of the seventh generation Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series, Sevens.
Chris Wehkamp is an American voice actor from Georgia, best known for his roles as Aizawa Shota, a.k.a Eraser Head from My Hero Academia [2016], Takahata Isao from Kaiju No. 8 [2024], Nyanko-sensei/Madara from Natsume Yūjinchō (Natsume’s Book of Friends) [2008] and Gotō Ryūji from Solo Leveling -Arise from the Shadow- [2025]. His career started in 2012, bringing characters to life for studios like Since 2012, American voice actor Christopher Wehkamp has been bringing characters to life for studios like Funimation Entertainment, Sentai Filmworks, Big Fish Games and more.
ABOUT GACHIAKUTA:
In a floating city where the rich discard their waste—and people—Rudo is framed for murder and thrown into the Pit, where a hellscape of mutated trash beasts dwell. To survive, he must wield a new power and join the Cleaners. Rudo doesn’t just aim to battle monsters, but the corrupt who cast him into Hell. (from Crunchyroll). Watch the series on Crunchyroll, it updates every Sunday!
A big, big thank you to Stephanie Wong from Crunchyroll for putting this together, I’ve wanted to do a GACHIAKUTA interview from the moment I found out it was getting an anime adaptation, and for someone to give me this opportunity when I have no major publication backing me or giving credence to my work is a huge blessing. Thank you so much, Stephanie!
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