In Japanese,
Kansai-ben. Accent commonly associated with the Kansai region of Japan. Since most anime is made in Tokyo (the accents sound different even if you can't understand them), this is usually very thick and exaggerated. It's also usually the first variation to pop up. The Kansai region generally consists of Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara, as well as a few of the surrounding cities. While the dialects generally get lumped together as Kansai-ben because of their general similarities, there are distinctions between them.
Osaka-ben (Osaka dialect) is generally used to indicate a fun loving, impatient, loud, boisterous personality. (See also
The Idiot From Osaka.) Also, Osaka is considered something of a home to Japanese comedy. The
Boke And Tsukkomi Routine has its roots there. Recall, for instance, the scene in
Azumanga Daioh where Tomo learns that the new transfer student is going to be from Osaka, and wonders if she'll have an incredible tsukkomi. The comedy routine consists of the Boke, who generally says stupid things, and the Tsukkomi, who corrects the Boke though physical devices, such as a rap on the head.
Even though it is also part of Kansai-ben, Kyoto-ben is generally a much softer dialect. The Kyoto dialect has its roots in the courtly dialect from the time when the capital of Japan was Kyoto instead of Edo (later Tokyo). Recently in anime, Kyoto-ben has been reserved as a primarily female dialect. (See: Shizuru in
Mai-HiME, Konoka in
Mahou Sensei Negima, and Akesato in
Peacemaker Kurogane, amongst others.) This is possibly due to the fact that Kyoto-ben is softer, and thus sounds more feminine.
A few quick tips for catching a character speaking Kansai-ben:
- Look for the use of uchi as a personal pronoun.
- Replacement of desu or da with ya (or, in Kyoto-ben, dosu).
- The use of the -hen ending, instead of -masen, as in wakarahen versus wakarimasen (lit. "don't know").
- -han instead of -san as an honorific.
For a good explanation of Kansai-ben versus standard Japanese, see the following page:
http://www.nihongoresources.com/language/dialects/kansaiben.html
Depending on the country, preserving these dialects can be tricky. The usual British equivalent is Cockney. In American adaptations, Kansai usually translates to either a Southern or Texan accent (comparisons between Osaka and Houston as large, business-oriented cities with rowdy reputations in the southern part of their respective countries are perhaps not without merit), or a nasally New York or Boston accent (closer in terms of the actual nasal
sound of the accent, and New York's fast-paced reputation isn't far off from Osaka's). On the other hand, in China, the Shenyang dialect (a large city in Northeastern China) seems to be a clear Chinese version of this accent, being stereotyped with the exact same traits of Kansai. Of course, the Shenyang dialect becomes both a source of laughter and scorn for many Chinese.
Ironically, Kansai is sometimes so strongly associated with a certain personality traits that characters with those traits are given the accent even when they are not actually from the Kansai region, and would have no legitimate reason to have learned the accent. This includes foreigners and especially Americans, who would more likely have learned 'formal' Japanese, but are considered to have the brash, outspoken Osakan personality. Similarly, the association between Kansai-ben and
a specific character archetype is so strong, shows set in region (but where the setting is not immediately relevant to the plot) may go out of their way to
avoid giving the characters this dialect, even if it would technically be appropriate. (See
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya for a show set in the heart of Kansai, but where everyone speaks Standard Japanese.)
Examples:
Anime
- In the Sailor Moon English dub, the appropriately-named Osaka Naru was given a thick New York (specifically Brooklyn) accent. Despite the otherwise Macekre reputation of the dub, this is probably a fairly reasonable equivalent.
- Likewise Kouhei, the shopkeeper with the five o'clock shadow in Abenobashi Mahou Shoutengai. However, most of the other characters in the show (which is set in Osaka... sort of) are given coastal Texan accents.
- Tina Foster in Ai Yori Aoshi is an "American" who was raised in Hakata, Fukuoka, on Kyushu, southernmost of the main islands. She speaks in Hakata-ben, a dialect that sounds somewhat similar to Kansai-ben. In English, as in some of the other examples here, she gets a cornpone southern accent.
- Keroberos from Card Captor Sakura. It's explained that the magical book he protects was stored in Osaka for an extended length of time, and he picked up the accent.
- Ken-chan from Yami To Boushi To Hon No Tabibito
- Sumiyoshi from Excel Saga solves the problem of what to dub the accent as, since all of his dialogue appears as written text floating in the air next to him. (Interestingly, at one point in the series, he's turned from his usual vaguely ugly self to a handsome version... and loses his "accent" in the process.) In the English translation of the manga his accent is translated as a Geordie accent; the European Spanish scanslation by Swamp renders his accent as Mexico City Spanish.
- In the manga, however, his dialect is not Kansai at all, but Okayama (which happens to be much closer to the series' setting of Fukuoka, as well). His accent in the manga could even be considered a bit of Lampshade Hanging, commenting indirectly on the fact that everyone in Fukuoka is inexplicably speaking Standard Japanese, rather than Hakata-ben.
- In episode 18 of Keroro Gunsou, Kururu invents a machine to change one's accent to Kansai-ben in order to make them better at a Boke And Tsukkomi Routine contest.
- Kaolla Suu of Love Hina speaks in Kansai-ben as part of a Running Gag about her uncertain origin. It was later revealed this was because she was taught (shaky) Japanese by Kitsune, who is a genuine native of the area (and a good example of one of the classic Kansai character types).
- The American dub version of Osaka from Azumanga Daioh speaks in what the distributor claims is a Houston accent. (Note: Actual Houston residents deny this claim.) The translated manga version of the series actually portrayed her with an unwieldy Brooklyn accent ("Fughedaboudit!") in the first volume before inexplicably switching to a Southern/Texan one.
- Osaka herself is a reversal of the personality stereotype, and initially goes through the standard 'Not all Osaka folk are like that' speeches. When it comes to loud boisterous behaviour, Osaka herself ranks with Gentle Giant Sakaki, child genius Chiyo, and possibly bits of the architecture.
- The main problem with the dub is probably that native Houstonian Kyra Vincent-Davis is trying too hard to sound "Texan". Most Houstonians of this editor's acquaintance lack a noticeable twang when compared to the usual stereotype, and someone at (Houston-based) ADV Films decided they wanted to play to the cliché as far as the accent went, rather than leaving it natural.
- Mikan in Gakuen Alice.
- Lovely Complex takes place in Osaka, and the characters speak accordingly. This helps reinforce the two main characters being perceived as a Manzai comedy duo.
- Hazel from Saiyuki: Reload Gunlock is from "a land far west of India" (by his Old West themed appearance, implicitly America), but speaks in Kansai-ben. In this case, the "brash outsider" associations of the dialect contrast with the character's exaggeratedly gentle and friendly demeanor; the less confrontational he delivers "Sanzo-han", the more sarcastic it sounds.
- An episode of Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex has a character (actually a brain in a box) faking a Kansai accent. The English dub has him doing an overblown Texan accent.
- Something of a bit character, Cho of the Juppongata from Rurouni Kenshin receives a hilarious "southern" accent in the English dub. Take a listen.
- Mai-HiME's Shizuru (a Kyoto native) speaks with a soft "Southern belle" voice in the English dub, as befits her nature as her school's Ojou. Oddly, the Shizuru character from Mai-Otome uses the same speech pattern, despite the show not taking place on Earth.
- It's not too clear why Tentomon, from Digimon Adventure, uses this accent.
- Aspiring comedian Haruki Emishi in Get Backers.
- Ichimaru Gin of Bleach subverts this by being the total opposite of the type expected to use Kansai-ben — slimy, devious, and creepy. However, the English dub cancels that out by giving him not the expected Southern- or country-style accent, but a flamboyantly snakelike British one.
- John Brown, the Catholic priest from Australia in Ghost Hunt has this. However, he has a very meek and shy personality - he learnt Japanese in the Kansai region as he thought it was the "polite" version of Japanese.
- Hayate of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
- Nobody uses the dialect in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, even though they ought to: the series is set in Nishinomiya, home of the Hanshin Tigers. This phenomenon seems distinct from Not Even Bothering With The Accent, since the creator of the series was born and raised in Nishinomiya and wouldn't have to fake it. More likely, he sacrificed his native dialect in the text for the sake of broader appeal.
- Of course, Mikuru, Yuki, and Itsuki are excused from this by the fact that they're not actually from there, but at the very least, Kyon and Haruhi should be speaking full-on Kansai-ben.
- This can also be excused by the fact that Kyon is an Unreliable Narrator; he could easily be rendering everyone's dialect (including his own) as Standard Japanese, just because.
- Or, as said about, this may be to avoid having to fight the stereotype associated with the accent.
- Toji in Neon Genesis Evangelion uses Kansai-ben, rendered in the manga as a heavy Brooklyn "wise guy" accent.
- The Tigers team in Zoids New Century all have thick Kansai accents. However, they appear to have been engineered as a deliberate Shout Out to the Hanshin Tigers...
- Tasuki from Fushigi Yuugi.
- Amano Jyaku from Urotsukidouji. For some reason, though, his sister Megumi sounds nothing like him.
- Nicholas D. Wolfwood from Trigun uses Kansai-ben; in an audio drama listed in the second OST, the other main characters, who speak Tokyo dialect, even make fun of Wolfwood for this in his face.
Literature
People
Video Games
- In the Japanese, Ultros from Final Fantasy VI has an Osaka accent, to indicate his comic relief status.
- Likewise Cait Sith from Final Fantasy VII. On account of the game's lousy translation this ended up as the rare case of Ooh Me Funetik Aksents Slipping, with Cait Sith randomly developing and losing his Southern drawl. More recent works have it translated as an obnoxious Scottish accent instead, what with the character's vague origins in Celtic mythology.
