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No, that's The Idiot Called- oh, whatever...
In anime and manga, a comedy-relief character who is intended to be perceived as a foil for the protagonist will almost always be an idiot, may enjoy drinking and fighting, and will almost always speak with what is to a native speaker of Japanese an instantly recognizable Kansai Regional Accent.
(In North American dubs, a Kansai/Osaka accent is usually rendered as either a Deep South/Redneck accent or a heavy Brooklyn accent—the cultural connotations overlap sufficiently in either case that this works.)
How this stereotype arose is uncertain, but in anime it is not merely a trope but a cliche. This is, however, Truth in Television. Usually, when someone from Kansai comes to Tokyo, he adopts a Tokyo accent. Someone who insists on speaking Kansai in Tokyo will be looked at as if he were some sort of idiot.
Alternately, an Osakan character may be a jokester. This character may actually be quite intelligent, but presents to the world a comedic face.
Also note that the trope title can be a Sublime Rhyme.
Compare the Corrupt Hick.
Examples
- Sumiyoshi in Excel Saga. Compared to his roommates Watanabe and Iwata, however, he's the smartest of Excel's neighbors.
- Unusually, his accent is rendered in English as a Geordie
accent, which doesn't quite carry the same connotations (it's more associated with crudeness).
- Sasshi in Abenobashi Mahou Shoutengai.
- Sasshi isn't just from Osaka — he lives in Osaka. When not hopping worlds back and forth, that is. He's still an idiot though.
- Osaka
(of course) in Azumanga Daioh. Her name isn't even Osaka; it's Ayumu, but Tomo branded her with the nickname for being from Osaka. (Like Sakaki the Not Quite Tall Dark And Bishoujo, however, the humor in Osaka's character lay in how she doesn't act like her required stereotype; she's still not exactly bright, but she's an earnest, daydreaming airhead, not a brash money-grubber. Osaka is often teased for not saying things that a stereotypical person from Osaka should say.)
- She's actually quite smart when it comes to literal thinking. In an episode when she was able to answer some punny riddles, they suggested that she become a teacher. So when she told the teacher that that was her chosen career, the teacher was offended that the other students thought she was stupid! Poor, poor Osaka...
- This is a subverted trope, as Osaka isn't actually from Osaka- she was born in Wakayama, raised in Kobe and just lived in Osaka for a bit. Tomo, who doesn't know where Wakayama is, tells Ayumu to "just be Osaka".
- Aiko Senoo in Ojamajo Doremi.
- Kinnosuke from Itazura na Kiss.
- Toji Suzuhara in Neon Genesis Evangelion.
- Kyousuke Kawachi in Yakitate!! Japan. He is occasionally referred to simply as "Kansai-ben" ("Kansai dialect") and is at one point openly mocked as being a comical side character only good for being excessively shocked at every little surprise.
- Sakura the kyuubi-fox in Hyper Police is both a trickster, since she is a kitsune, and moneygrubbing (homeless solely because it saves money). She also speak with one of the thickest Kansei accents in anime. Even non-Japanese speakers can notice the accent.
- Kero-chan in Card Captor Sakura, despite being an ancient magical guardian, speaks in an Osakan accent and has many of the mannerisms. Sakura points this out to him the first time they meet and he claims it is because the Clow book was left in an Osaka library for thirty years.
- Ken-chan and Meirin in Yami To Boushi To Hon No Tabibito. The two even have a Lampshade Hanging moment over how great it is to meet other Kansai people, even though neither of them comes from our actual universe.
- Played with in The Prince Of Tennis. Kintarou Touyama is a very naïve and over-imaginative "Jungle Boy" of sorts who's also an excellent tennis player with fearsome physical strength and enough charm to befriend almost everyone he meets up with. The kid can even lift up small motorcycles with his bare hands, for crying it loud!
- On the other hand, this is subverted with the Oshitari cousins. Both Yuushi (from Hyoutei) and Kenya (from Shitenhouji, meaning he's Kintarou's sempai) are from the Kansai area... but they're fairly smart and more-or-less serious guys. Lampshaded when local Plucky Comic Relief Hikaru "Dabide" Amane tries to get Yuushi roped ino the typical Osaka humor routines with him, but Oshitari is VERY peeved.
- And on the other other hand, Atobe treats Yuushi as The Idiot From Osaka quite often (for instance, when he overheard Yuushi and Kenya getting into an extremely silly argument over the phone). In the spirit of fairness, other times Atobe turns around and acts as if he (grudgingly) respects Yuushi's intelligence.
- Also, in the example above, Yuushi was the tsukkomi, so he was actually technically playing along.
- Two of Kintarou's sempais, Data player Koharu Konjiki and his partner Yuuji Hitouji, actually use the "Osaka jokester" stereotype to their advantage in the courts; with their "Comedy Tennis" tactics, they manage to disrupt their rivals' concentration and get the upper hand.
- Shizuma Kusanagi from Real Bout High School is a pompous, Hot Blooded showboat and is actually a little dim... however, he's a Genius Ditz music virtuoso, being particularly talented at guitar and piano but capable of playing almost any instrument competently. And the fact that he's from Kansai only comes up once.
- Brutally subverted in Air Gear, in which the Trickster Mentor Sora Takeuchi, who speaks with a Kansai accent is revealed to be the Big Bad of the series. He was such a cool guy, too...
- In Ranma ½. Ukyou Kuonji has the accent but few idiotic tendencies, rather being a bifauxnen workaholic (itself a Kansai stereotype, but a different one) with possible yandere tendencies.
- Kanjani8, a boyband devoted to the stereotype.
- Emishi Haruki, the "Fresh Blood Joker," in GetBackers. Also Natsuki Amon, who, it is explicitly mentioned. fakes an accent to come off as a cheerful buffoon.
- Joker in Flame Of Recca.
- Benitora in Samurai Deeper Kyo.
- Possibly a subversion, since he's both a great deal more serious than he initially appears and the son of the Shogun; at this point in history, the Japanese formal capital was in Kyoto, which is located in the Kansai region. It's entirely possible he was raised there and plays up the accent just to annoy his dad.
- Kitsune, from Love Hina, who is almost never seen without her booze.
- Except at one point, where it is replaced with vinegar. She isn't pleased.
- Arisugawa Sorata in X/1999.
- Sakuya Aizawa from Hayate The Combat Butler, who sees life as one huge Boke And Tsukkomi Routine.
- Partially subverted in Detective Conan by Osaka detective Heiji Hattori, who is just as brilliant as the Tokyo-dwelling main character, and also has a number of special skills, such as swordfighting skill. He's also portrayed as a lot more amiable and prone to perpetrate practical jokes than the main character, though he is oftentimes a very serious character.
- Even so, Hattori and Kazuha are BOTH prone to occasional fits of stereotypical Osakan obnoxiousness.
- Yurika Doujima from Witch Hunter Robin. She comes into work late, leaves early, and generally acts like a complete goof-off. Subverted a bit in that it's later revealed to be mostly Obfuscating Stupidity — she is capable of acting competently when the situation requires it.
- Tasuki from Fushigi Yuugi.
- Caldina, the sexy Cool Big Sis and illusionist from Magic Knight Rayearth, speaks in an Osaka accent.
- Maido-kun/Howdy from Hamtaro.
- The brash and talkative Naniwa Tiger Takeshi Sendo from Hajime No Ippo. He boxes because he loves to fight strong men, and used to be a gang leader in high school. His grandmother's nickname for him is "idiot". He speaks in an Osaka accent.
- In Kamen Rider Kiva, the boisterous rockstar wannabe Eritate Kengo fits this trope to a T, until midseason when it is revealed that he was always a Tokyo native, taking on the Kansai accent to come across as more personable. He also goes through a major attitude overhaul at this point, losing the accent and the hair and shifting to full Bad Ass gear.
- Browning in Transformers Super God Masterforce, comedic mascot.
- Thrust and Dirge in Beast Wars II, a comedy duo. Also Diver.
- Gusher (Slapper) in Transformers Robots In Disguise
- Shuichi Nakatsu from Hana Kimi.
- And also his garishly dressed mother who is absolute comic relief.
- Also used in X/1999 for Sorata, one of the more 'cheerful' characters in the otherwise rather depressing story.
- Video game example: In Megaman Battle Network 3, Tora is so painfully stereotypically Osakan (despite being a literal, but not figurative, Chess Master) it even bleeds through into the English version of the game, even without any of the usual conventions of rendering a Kansai dialect.
- The Osaka team in Gantz takes the "idiot" in the trope title literally. Almost all of them are Ax Crazy Trigger Happy bastards, and their complete lack of Team Spirit gets them brutally slaughtered.
- Li Kohran, from Sakura Wars. Despite being of Chinese descent, she speaks in an Osakan accent, probably being raised there. An idiot mechanical genius who is prone to having her creations blow up in her face. In one episode of the OVAs, she even threw in a random "What the heck" just for the Osakan reference.
- Nishiki from The Movie of Kamen Rider Hibiki, in keeping with the five movie Riders' Location Theming.
- Takane Katsu and the other Osakan characters in Burst Angel. A southern accent is used for the English dub.
- Tadao Yokoshima in Ghost Sweeper Mikami.
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