Billy Kametz, a voice actor who worked on popular anime and games such as Attack on Titan and Fire Emblem: Three Houses, passed away last week after losing his battle to stage IV colon cancer, according to an obituary posted over the weekend. He was 35 years old.
Kametz was born in 1987 in Lancaster in South Central Pennsylvania. He started in the entertainment industry as part of the Disney cruise line staff, before moving to California and playing Aladdin in Disneyland’s Musical Spectacular in 2016. He began voice acting around this same time, landing roles in series like the fantasy shōnen anime Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable as Josuke Higashikata, and the 2D crossover fighter BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle as Naoto Kurogane. He’s since appeared in many anime and games, from Boruto: Naruto Next Generations and Promare to Persona 5 Royal and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim.
There are a couple of works you may know Kametz best from, though. He did played Nicolo, a Marleyan who appears in Attack on Titan’s fourth and final season. He also voiced Blue in the 2019 free-to-play mobile game Pokémon Masters EX. Kametz won a Crunchyroll Anime Awards trophy in 2020 for his work as protagonist Naofumi Iwatani in The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 1. However, Kametz’ biggest roles were probably Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba as Rui, the main enemy of the anime’s fifth story arc Mount Natagumo, as well Fire Emblem: Three Houses as the playable character Ferdinand von Aegir. Ferdinand will also be playable in the upcoming Musou game, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, and serves as Kametz’s final video game performance.
Since news of Kametz’s passing began circulating, the internet has engaged in collective celebration and mourning. There’s fan art of him and the characters he played. Some are speaking about how “vibrant, compassionate, effervescent, and kind-hearted” he was. Others are simply heartbroken over this. But everyone seems to be honoring Kametz in the best way possible: reflecting on his body of work and the incredible talent he possessed.
“Anyone who has met Billy will tell you he is one of the most sincere, humble, and loving people they have ever met,” the obituary states. “His infectious personality and smile always lit up a room with so much joy and happiness.”
In lieu of flowers, fans who want to make memorial contributions to Billy Kametz can donate money in his name to the Colon Cancer Coalition. You can also donate to his GoFundMe, which will go toward funding his funeral.
May Billy Kametz rest in peace.