From Kaggy to CyYu, Alejandro Saab\u2019s fingerprints are all over online fandom Twitter: CyYuAlejandro Saab\u2019s journey through content creation is a whirlwind of different faces and paths. But the voice actor and VTuber has remained true to himself through it all, forging a unique identity from any other online creator. Alejandro Saab. KaggyFilms. CyYu. Those are just a few of the names the energetic voice actor, content creator, and now VTuber goes by. All of those names represent an era of his very storied life. There\u2019s hardly a thing in the creative fields he hasn\u2019t done. He\u2019s got his fingerprints all over the anime you watch, the streams you throw on in the background, and the early days of YouTube you reminisce about. It all spurs from one nagging voice in the back of his head, wanting to \u201cplay pretend\u201d and make others laugh as a result. \u201cMy [voice acting] teacher, Richard Horvitz\u2026 described it [in a] way that made me realize \u2018oh this is the thing I want to do\u2019 and it\u2019s just playing pretend so well you get paid,\u201d he explained to Dexerto. \u201cAnd I was like \u2018Wow, I kind of love that actually.\u2019\u201d And while the early days were very heavy on the roleplay element, as time has gone on, Saab has opened up to share more parts of himself. It\u2019s now less about playing pretend all the time \u2014 he has his characters \u2014 but being genuine to the audience who has followed him for more than a decade. No matter the identity you know him by, Saab has likely had an effect on your internet life. And he was candid in sharing how they all lead to one uniform identity he holds today. KaggyFilms, the YouTuber Let\u2019s start back in 2010. Kaggy, as he was begrudgingly known (the full name was Kagmast3r, the shortened version took some time to get used to), was a high schooler with a dream. He was making machinima, a staple of early content creation online using video games to make short films. It was popularized by the likes of Rooster Teeth with their Red vs Blue series in Halo in the 2000s (which Kaggy also dabbled in), but its roots are set in even earlier titles like Quake. The format continues to this day through films set in Minecraft and Fortnite. After a few months producing under the KaggyFilms moniker, he got the opportunity to join the official Machinima network, then one of the behemoths of YouTube. As a 14-year-old, it was one hell of a way to earn some pocket money. \u201cThey were like \u2018Do you want to upload on our channel? We will give you money!\u2019 And I was like sure. It was depending on the views obviously, but they had this subsidiary called MachinimaRealm which was where all the fantasy stuff went up.\u201d Things really took off when commentary was looped into his content. It eventually overtook everything he did. KaggyFilms became a place for Dragonball Z reactions, and whatever flavor of the month games or anime took his interest. It wasn\u2019t a surefire success, given how back then reaction content was seen with more ire than it is even nowadays. But literally overnight, Kaggy\u2019s popularity skyrocketed. He went from 1,000 YouTube subs to 10,000, no small feat in the platform\u2019s early days. It was more than just pocket change for him too \u2014 those early YouTube payouts were giving him a couple thousand dollars a month. Instead of having to work a fast food or retail job, he could make these fun films and random reactions. \u201cA buddy of mine was like \u2018Have you tried doing commentary?\u2019 At the time there was a stigma to doing commentary if you were also making Machinima, like \u2018that\u2019s the lazy content!\u2019 You know, the stigma people have to reaction content. \u201cThen one day I did it for fun, I think it was parkouring in Minecraft, and people really liked it.\u201d This was creatively liberating for Kaggy, and the values are something he\u2019s carried with him throughout his journey through voice acting, VTubing, and beyond. \u201cI\u2019m the kind of guy who is like \u2018This seems like fun, I\u2019m going to try it out!\u2019 I get so many people being like \u2018How do I get into voice acting? How do I get into VTubing? How do I get into content creation?\u2019 And I\u2019m like \u2018Just try it.\u2019 Because that\u2019s what I do,\u201d he explained. \u201cI\u2019ve gone through different eras of trying stuff, and if I don\u2019t like it then I don\u2019t do it. If I love it, I keep doing it and I push for it. I started off with Machinima because I liked the idea and I was like \u2018Oh this gives me a creative idea to do this.\u2019 The commentaries I was a little against, but I tried it and I liked it. Same with reactions, same with streaming. \u201cThere was even a time where \u2014 I love animated stories on YouTube. Like JaidenAnimation, TheOdd1sOut, Let Me Explain Studios. And I was like \u2018I have stories to tell, let me try and use this failed animation degree I never got.\u2019 I did enjoy it. The problem was I didn\u2019t have the time.\u201d That\u2019s not to say everything he did on YouTube tickled his fancy. He tried puppeteering, which while he enjoyed it, the content matter of promoting dubbed anime didn\u2019t really click. He also tried putting the news anchor hat on, and while he could pull off the voice, it was soul-draining. \u201cThere was a time period where I was reporting on Dragonball news like \u2018this just in, they just announced a new Dragonball movie! What could it be? We don\u2019t know!\u2019 And I felt like \u2018This just isn\u2019t me.\u2019 I was clearly trying to play the algorithm.\u201d But this era of Saab\u2019s life, as Kaggy, is one filled with nostalgia. Content creation was simpler, especially before the YouTube \u2018adpocalpyse\u2019. While he\u2019s not rushing to turn back the clock \u2014 the new era of content online has been a boon for him personally and professional \u2014 there is a twinge in his voice highlighting a certain innocence he misses. \u201cIt was such a different time,\u201d he continued. \u201cI had this conversation with people that now a lot of bigger YouTubers \u2014 MrBeast, Ludwig, even CDawg \u2014 they make these bombastic shows, it\u2019s almost like TV. \u201cMrBeast right, It\u2019s like \u2018welcome to my crib\u2019 but times 20. Ludwig with his Chessboxing, CDawg with his auctioning stuff, and that\u2019s not even to include all the VTubers. There\u2019s a lot of tournaments with money involved, and I\u2019m like \u2018Wow, YouTube and Twitch has just become television, independent television.\u2019 There are sponsors, but it\u2019s crazy how different it is.\u201d Alejandro Saab, the VA Animation wasn\u2019t just a passion for Saab. It was his purpose in life. So it was a shock to him when he slowly fell out of love with the creation of animation. \u201cI have always been a sucker for animation. As a kid, I was a fan of Looney Tunes, Fairly OddParents, Spongebob, TMNT, so all these different cartoons and even anime. For the longest time, I thought I wanted to make the cartoons. \u201cUp until college I was studying animation, and on the side in high school I got into acting and I was like \u2018I really like this too.\u2019 And after a year of going to Savannah College of Art and Design, which is a really good animation school, I didn\u2019t have fun. \u201cFor me, when it comes to something I want to do with my life, if I\u2019m not having fun then I don\u2019t want to do it. So after a year of essentially animating a sack of flour and getting a B-, I was like \u2018I didn\u2019t have fun at all doing that\u2019 so I dropped out.\u201d It was perhaps the best decision he ever made. Kaggy didn\u2019t die the moment Saab went to animation school, but what sprouted was perhaps the thing he is most known for \u2014 voice acting. He could still \u201cplay pretend\u201d in those animated universes, but use his booming voice instead. Saab\u2019s credits are some of the most illustrious in English voice acting, especially in the anime dubbing sphere. My Hero Academia, Haikyuu, Tokyo Ghoul, Demon Slayer, Boruto, and Vinland Saga are just some of the anime he\u2019s lent his voice to. Games-wise, you\u2019ve heard him in Granblue Fantasy, Borderlands, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Fire Emblem, God of War: Ragnarok, and the Persona series. But there\u2019s a few gigs that stand out above the rest for Saab. \u201cEmotionally, I have a lot of projects that I\u2019ve had the honor of working on. \u201cHorimiya [where he plays Izumi Miyamura], to this day, is one of my dear favorite ones because it means so much to me,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about this high school kid falling in love and at the time I was recording the show, I was at the point in my life where I was about to propose to my now-married spouse [Hayden Daviau]. In the show they essentially propose and I was like \u2018Oh, I\u2019m in that part of my life!\u2019\u201d Then there\u2019s Genshin Impact. In the online sphere, this was probably the gig that catapulted Saab to true stardom. \u201cGenshin made people realize \u2018Oh I\u2019ve been hearing this guy for years,\u2019\u201d he explained. \u201cI\u2019ve had so many people come up to me at conventions, or on Twitter or my stream, and they\u2019re like \u2018Wait you voiced all these characters?\u2019 \u201cThe crazy part is voicing Cyno has made people realize \u2018Oh he\u2019s voiced my childhood\u2019 or \u2018he\u2019s voiced like 50 bajillion things I\u2019ve watched but it didn\u2019t register.\u2019\u201d It\u2019s no secret before he got the invite to become the rather blunt General Mahamatra, Saab was a massive Genshin fan. He was playing the game on stream, talking about it online. And in the background, he was desperately trying to get his voice into the game. He had read lines for Aether, Diluc, Kaeya, Ayato, and Zhongli, but \u201cnone of them stuck\u201d. This leads us to one very serendipitous audition story, where sometimes just showing up is all you need to do because life has a way. \u201cI was at a convention\u2026 I remember I got those auditions, my voice wasn\u2019t up to snuff, and I had to do it in the hotel room because they were due that weekend. This was in May 2022, I hear nothing. \u201cAugust comes around, Cyno is supposed to come out second week of September. I get a phone call, it\u2019s the director. He\u2019s like \u2018Hey, we\u2019re trying to cast this character. We\u2019ve been having a bit of trouble. And we\u2019re looking for someone who is Middle Eastern as well.\u2019 And I\u2019m okay, cool, that\u2019s me. And they\u2019re like \u2018Cool, we\u2019re going to have a callback for you next week.\u2019\u201d The callback went well, leading to \u201cthe longest week\u201d of Saab\u2019s life. \u201cIt was the last week of August, Friday morning, I get an email. And they were like \u2018Hey, congratulations, we want you as Cyno. We need you all of next week from 10AM to 2PM every day.\u2019 I remember when I read that email, I started crying. I really wanted this character and I really wanted to be in Genshin. \u201cThe moment we finished recording, the following days, they announced I was voicing Cyno, and they announced he was coming out the week after. And I had so many people go like \u2018Oh my god, how did you not tell me? You\u2019re the best at keeping secrets!\u2019 And I was like \u2018keeping secrets? I found out a week ago!\u201d However while Genshin Impact (and Honkai: Star Rail, where he voices Jing Yuan) have gained him online cred, it\u2019s Hell\u2019s Paradise which is giving him the chance to meet fans at conventions. \u201cWhen I was recording it, I was trying to get back to my partner because I was doing a lot of traveling and they were stuck in one place and I was like \u2018Oh man, this is life imitating art,\u2019\u201d he explained about the show\u2019s sentimentality to him. \u201cI love this show, and it can be a bigger title, but people don\u2019t know that it has an anime or even a dub. \u201cLook at Jujutsu Kaisen or Demon Slayer. When the Infinity Train saga came out, way more people talked about it than they did the first season. Same with My Hero Academia. It\u2019s a trend I\u2019ve noticed while working in the dub space and at conventions, usually when it comes to their first seasons, folks don\u2019t even realize it because folks are just waiting for more episodes so they can binge it.\u201d The evolution of English voice acting This led us down a tangent on the voice-acting space and how it\u2019s evolved since Cyyu got his break in 2015. He\u2019s seen trends come and go, opinions evolve. So let\u2019s get one of the more contentious ones out of the way: dubs versus subs. There are many purists who believe Japanese is the only language you can listen to anime (or anime-style content) in. Never mind the fact the medium has taken hold in China, Korea, and other nations. Early on in English-speaking anime fandom, dubs were cast aside. Even classic quality examples like YuYu Hakusho or Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood were neglected. However, audiences have slowly warmed up to them over time. \u201cFolks will complain but it\u2019s contradicting how they all feel differently. Some people will be like \u2018This guy\u2019s voice is too deep, this guy\u2019s voice is too goofy, it should be deeper\u2019 \u2014 all talking about the same character.\u201d \u201cOne of my buddies had to switch the Dragonball dub to Japanese. It wasn\u2019t because the dub was bad, but it was because he said \u2018I\u2019m sick and tired of hearing the same fighting line in loop every time.\u2019 And I was like \u2018interesting.\u2019 Because you can\u2019t understand it, even though they\u2019re saying the same thing identically, it\u2019s fine.\u201d That\u2019s where simuldubs \u2014 dubbed shows dropping at the same time as their original language release \u2014 come into play. Saab recounts one specific conversation he had with a director about why there was a big push towards making sure there were \u201csame-day dubs.\u201d \u201cHe told me it was all about first impressions. Because the first voice you hear out of a character, whether it\u2019s Japanese or English, that\u2019s the blueprint for that character. \u201cThere are people who prefer the Japanese or the English \u2014 hell some people will watch the Spanish dub, they\u2019ll still see the English subtitles. I don\u2019t think there is a wrong answer. You can watch it in any language, because it\u2019s your preference.\u201d This brought us to diversity in voice acting. Saab comes from a Middle Eastern background, something which has led him to be cast in roles like Cyno. But he\u2019s not been specifically pigeonholed to his identity. \u201cOne thing I\u2019m not a fan of is how folks are like \u2018Oh this is just a diversity cast for the sake of wokeness.\u2019 And I\u2019m like \u2018shut the f**k up.\u2019 If they\u2019re the best for the job, they\u2019re the best for the job, but you have to put some respect on their culture and the character.\u201d This issue is especially prevalent for LGBT (and even more specifically transgender) voice actors. It is notoriously hard in entertainment to be cast in a role that affirms your identity. More often, trans voice actors get typecast too. But the thing about diversity in voice acting isn\u2019t that more actors can be involved \u2014 it\u2019s that anyone can play any character. \u201cThe end goal wasn\u2019t that we limit actors to these specific generalizations. The point was everybody gets equal opportunity. Doesn\u2019t matter what your background is, everybody does. I know a lot of folks are like \u2018the best person is the one for the job\u2019, that should be it, but it can\u2019t be it if not everyone gets the same opportunity.\u201d We ended on AI in voice acting, something Saab has used his platform numerous times to condemn: \u201cI don\u2019t believe AI has a place in the arts. \u201cAs a tool? Yes. But creating stuff, stealing from artists or voice actors or sculptors\u2026 if it\u2019s stealing it\u2019s not right. If it\u2019s used as a tool [it\u2019s fine], like in animation with tweening where you place one thing here and then there, and then it\u2019ll automatically do the movement animation.\u201d That\u2019s not to say all voice acting is bad \u2014 CyYu cited an example with Ironmouse creating a text-to-speech program with Connor \u2018CDawg\u2019 Colquhoun which was \u201cconsensual\u201d. But it gets murky in the case of James Earl Jones. \u201cHe consented to AI being used for Darth Vader for the Kenobi show. And I understand the reason is probably because he got millions in a buyout and he\u2019s giving that back to his family \u2014 that\u2019s my headcanon. But you took the moment of passing the torch to a newer actor\u2026 it\u2019s a double edged sword because depending on who you ask, someone is selfish. \u201cUnfortunately in the future, it\u2019s going to be a bigger issue, but there\u2019s so much sh*t that\u2019s not cool. A lot of illegal sh*t. Taking people\u2019s voices, faces, art, their hard work. Hell, Despicable Me made fun of it! That was the funniest thing. So I\u2019m just like \u2018bro, get your sh*t together.\u2019\u201d CyYu, the VTuber Now let\u2019s flash forward to 2021. Saab is wanting to branch out creatively yet again, and here appears VTubers. He fires off a rogue tweet asking whether he should get involved, and the aforementioned Ironmouse finds him and eggs him on. While his mind was already semi-made up by the time he sent the tweet, the encouragement was a very wanted push. What came next was building the plane while it was flying. What would he use as his design? What did he need to set things up? Well it started with his cover band We.B. He had the CyYu character mascot as a frontman, and so why not turn it into a moving character like the dozens he\u2019s dubbed before? \u201cWorst case scenario I don\u2019t like VTubing and I have a mascot for the cover band. Best case scenario, I have a VTuber and a mascot for the cover band,\u201d he laughed. \u201cIt stemmed from there, and then I really enjoyed it \u2014 a lot more than I thought I would. I\u2019ve been doing this for almost three years, and in these three years, I\u2019ve found way more success VTubing than anything I did with IRL content creation.\u201d CyYu gave him the creative freedom he chased since he was 14 making those machinima back in 2010. No longer was his content tied to the algorithm game, CyYu could do what he wanted and people would be there for him. \u201cI enjoy it a lot more because a good amount of my audience doesn\u2019t care what I play or what I talk about, they\u2019re like \u2018I\u2019m here for you because you\u2019re funny\u2019 and I appreciate that. With Kaggy, it was either Dragonball, reactions, or nothing. \u201cI\u2019ve never hidden the fact that I\u2019m not who I am. People knew right away \u2018oh this is Alejandro, this is Kaggy.\u2019 Some people didn\u2019t, some people still don\u2019t know which is funny. \u201cBut apart from all of that, I feel like I can play and do whatever and people will listen rather than just \u2018oh it\u2019s not Dragonball? I\u2019m out of here. Or he\u2019s not reacting to so-and-so? I\u2019m out of here.\u2019 People actually want to get to know me, funnily enough.\u201d CyYu, as a character, also gave him the chance to branch out and build new relationships. \u201cI\u2019ve started collabing with different groups of people because my older friends \u2014 and we still talk \u2014 they\u2019re all in the Dragonball space and Yu-Gi-Oh. I definitely collab with VTubers, but the main group I collab with is Monarch, Jowol, and MissShadowLovely. \u201cThe benefit of that group with Liz, Jowol, Ama is I\u2019ve known them before VTubing. I\u2019ve known Ama for years, Liz I\u2019ve known for less than that, and while Jowol is definitely the newest we talked a lot prior and we\u2019ve hung out a few times so I\u2019m used to him. \u201cI can\u2019t remember who wrangled us together, but we all clicked and it was super fun.\u201d How three threads connect into a unified identity Whenever CyYu goes to a convention now, he can date his fans by the way they introduce themselves to him. \u201cI\u2019ve had people who will recognize me as CyYu. Some will know me as both CyYu and the voice actor, but some just know me as the voice actor and they had no idea I was a VTuber. Then there are some people who are like \u2018Oh I loved you as Kaggy, I remember back in the day\u2026\u2019 and I\u2019m like \u2018damn you\u2019ll bring back the past.\u2019 \u201cThere are a small group of people \u2014 well, a good amount of people will always be embarrassed to bring it up \u2014 but they\u2019ll be like \u2018yeah I knew you from your dark days\u2019 and what the hell are those? But I used to voice this character named Jean from the Aphmau series. \u201cAphmau is this YouTuber and she\u2019s very popular and she used to do essentially Machinima, roleplays of these Minecraft stories she\u2019d write. They\u2019re like \u2018I loved you as Jean, he was so mean\u2019 and yeah he was kind of a d*ck and I loved it. \u201cBut it\u2019s very interesting that after all these years it\u2019s come clashing into \u2018Oh, you\u2019re all the same person? That\u2019s really cool, I didn\u2019t know I was a fan of you for so long until I came up to the table and realized.\u2019\u201d Not only are his own personal worlds colliding, the industries he works in are as well. With the rise of TikTok, voice actors have hopped onto short-form content. What was once frowned upon within the community is now seen as a necessity. To CyYu, this a funny reversal: \u201cThis is going to be the most boomer-sounding talk ever \u2014 when I was starting out in voice-over, there was a stigma towards being a content creator when you\u2019re a voice actor. \u201cIt still happens. I got that because of Persona 3 Reload, where they\u2019re like \u2018Oh they got rid of so-and-so for a YouTuber?\u2019 Or it happened to YongYea for being the voice of Kiriyu. I used to get it from certain peers where they\u2019re like \u2018Oh you do YouTube? Okay, that\u2019s whatever I guess.\u2019 \u201cI do find it ironic because now voice actors are wanting to get into content creation or VTubing because it\u2019s like \u2018Oh I could make money from home and then I will be free to be scheduled.\u2019 I\u2019ll get messages about \u2018how do I start in VTubing\u2019 and I\u2019m like \u2018Just don\u2019t spend $10,000 at once.\u2019 \u201cI\u2019ve even had fans ask me \u2018to be a voice actor, do I have to make content on YouTube?\u2019 No you don\u2019t have to do that. Do it if you want to, but you don\u2019t have to.\u201d With all his lived experience, CyYu is now using his platform to share his insights on the industry \u2014 much like he did above on the hot topics in voice acting. \u201cThere are times where I want to treat this as an escape from the real world because the real world can be a bit scary, especially with the current climate. \u201cBut I try to educate them on the industry and once you get the ball rolling, how busy it is. I would stream for longer hours if I had the time, but my day goes from usually 9AM until 6PM. Recently I had to go from 10AM to 10PM just doing voice-over.\u201d If you ask CyYu now whether he would travel the same path he did, or whether he would just insert himself into one identity and finesse that, the choice is simple. \u201cI feel like if I didn\u2019t do the KaggyFilms stuff, I could not have done the voice-over stuff. I wouldn\u2019t have had the means to do the voice-over. And if I didn\u2019t do the voice-over stuff, then my VTubing stuff wouldn\u2019t have taken off as much as it has.\u201d And although he wears many hats and is known by many names, just don\u2019t call him a Peppa Pig fan. \u201cSo many folks give me Peppa Pig garbage and they know it will upset me,\u201d he laughed. \u201cOne of them gave me a heart-shaped bouquet with a Peppa Pig in the center. \u201cI enjoy the meme. If I didn\u2019t, I would not be a good sport about it. But so many folks give me Peppa Pig stuff that I\u2019m like\u2026 I can\u2019t be mad. I continue to tell the stories online. This is on me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From Kaggy to CyYu, Alejandro Saab\u2019s fingerprints are all over online fandom Twitter: CyYuAlejandro Saab\u2019s journey through content creation is a whirlwind of different faces and paths. But the voice actor and VTuber has remained true to himself through it all, forging a unique identity from any other online creator. Alejandro Saab. KaggyFilms. CyYu. Those […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43863\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}