Beloved Voice Actor Billy Kametz Has Passed Away At 35

Billy Kametz, voice actor known for his roles in various anime and video games, passed away on June 9th after a long fight with colon cancer. The actor previously announced the diagnosis in a YouTube video posted on April 26th and stated that he would be taking a hiatus to focus on his health. A GoFundMe was set up on May 1st to help with medical costs, travel, and everyday necessities. 

Kametz was best known for his roles in English adaptations of various anime. Fans would remember him as Josuke Higashikata in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable, Galo in Promare, and Ren in Pokémon Journeys. For his performance as Naofumi Iwatani in The Rising of the Shield Hero, he won the Crunchyroll Award for Best (EN) Voice Performance. Kametz was involved in several video games, including voicing Takuti Maruki in Persona 5: Royal, Ferdinand von Aegir in Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Fire Emblem Heroes, Blue in Pokémon Masters, various roles in Marvel Avengers Academy, and Colt in Brawl Stars.

Several of his peers posted tributes to the voice actor, including his Beastars co-star, Sean Chiplock:

"There’s nothing I can say except I’m livid. I’m livid that someone so caring and creative was taken from us, livid that it happened so quickly and without warning. Livid that we have to try in vain to accept it.

RIP Billy Kametz. May we all strive to be as impactful as you were."

Others posted similar sentiments, including a thread created by fellow voice actor Kaiji Tang to celebrate the work of the loved actor.

His kind heart, infectious smile, and positive attitude would be greatly missed.