Summary
Yuta Okkotsu was first introduced in the movie,Jujutsu Kaisen 0,as well as the manga of the same name. After the death of his childhood friend, Rika Orimoto, Yuta’s trauma and guilt led to the creation of Rika as a cursed spirit. After meeting Satoru Gojo, Yuta trains becoming a jujutsu sorcerer at Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College, better known as Tokyo Jujutsu High. A more mature Yuta is seen at the end of the second season ofJujutsu Kaisenand will have an even bigger role in the upcoming third season that focuses on The Culling Game, a deadly event orchestrated by the powerful sorcerer and antagonist, Kenjaku, who currently has possessed the body of Suguru Geto.
GameRant recently had the opportunity to sit down with Kayleigh McKee, the English dub voice actor of Yuta Okkotsu ofJujutsu KaisenandPina inBeastars.McKee also lends her voice to other iconic characters, Kiku in One Piece, Rongshi, Chai Yi in Genshin Impact, as well as Scarab inAdventure Time: Fionna and Cake andKusunoki inLycoris Recoil.
The following interview has been edited for brevity.
GR: How did you first get into voice acting?
Kayleigh McKee: I always wanted to do voice acting. I was obsessed with cartoons and did theater and choir from a young age. Also, my dad playedtabletop role-playing gameswith a group since before I was born. I saw them role-playing and I just loved that you couldn’t see the characters, but they were being the characters. You have to imagine it all in your head. He let me sit in on the sessions and, in that group, he also had comic artist friends. I would watch them draw. And so, I became an artist and I was drawing and listening to this and watching cartoons and anime. I started practicing and working my way into doing small indie stuff while I still lived in the Midwest. Eventually, I moved to California, started doing work with commercials and businesses, and things like that. Eventually, I got an agent. And I booked my first video game [a couple of] months after that, which wasHearthstone.
GR: You’ve been in a lot of shows likeOne Piece,Beastars, Kotaro Lives Alone,The Adventures of Fiona and Cake,andJujutsu Kaisen.Do you have one character that you feel you identify closely with or one that you enjoy the most?
McKee: I wouldn’t say that I enjoy the most, but I have two characters that I most identify with, and that is Varden Dawngrasp, my character in Hearthstone and Yuta. When I got the audition for that, I saw Non-binary Blood Elf. I lovedWorld of Warcraftgrowing up and I played it. And whenBurning Crusadecame out, I immediately made a blood elf. I recorded the audition in like 5 minutes because I just knew exactly what this person sounds like. And then, I got it. They were just like, “Yeah, you’re perfect for this.” And similarly, Yuta is a person who lost people at a young age that he loved, which happened to me. I had trouble making friends for a long time, but then moved to this new school where suddenly, I started making friends. It was a completely different experience. The same for Yuta. He goes to [Tokyo Jujutsu High] and people are opening up to him and showing him how to use the unique parts of him in a way, like how to value those parts of himself. That happened to me, too.
GR: How do you feel like Yuta from the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie is different from the one we meetat the end of Season 2?
Release Date
June 21, 2025
McKee: So, I have been prepping for a long time for this version of Yuta. He’s a year older. He has matured way more, as a person, because he loves himself now. And that’s the biggest change for me. He loves himself and that allows him to be confident and more caring of other people. He always cared about other people. He’s a very loving guy. But, you’re able to’t truly show your love for others, as people always say, until you love yourself. And, he does now. And, he also knows how strong he is. So, I been prepping a voice for this version of Yuta for a while. And I was so happy with how it turned out. I feel like he’s really found his stride.
GR: So, no spoilers, but what can fans look forward to for Season 3 - The Culling Game Arc?
McKee: Don’t be too scared, at least in season three. When things are looking harrowing, you don’t have to run angry to social media immediately.
Q: Do you have a favorite character in JJK?
McKee: I love Yuta very much. But I think it’s biased for me to say he’s my favorite.Second favorite is probably Maki.
GR: Do you have a character that you absolutely hate? Like they could be a good character, but you’re just like “I hate this person.”
McKee: Mai.
GR: Do you have any other favorite characters from any other roles?
Scarab, of course. I love doing Scarab; being a part of theAdventure Time universehas been a full-on dream come true. I can’t even describe what it means to me.
Another one that I like a lot, just because I got to flex one of my British accents [is] Charles Augustus Milverton in Moriarty The Patriot. I really liked that. It was the first time I ever got to use a UK accent, and now I have a couple more roles on the way [because of] that. Doing that role made me feel more confident.
GR: A lot of stuff is under wraps, but do you have any roles or anything coming up that you may let us know about?
McKee: Yes.There are two new animethat I’m in and there are three games that I’m waiting to come out, but I can’t say what they are. I can just say that in these games, I got to be part of franchises that I’ve always dreamed of being a part of. So, look forward to that.
