History UsefulNotes / GenderAndJapaneseLanguage

* ''UruseiYatsura'': Ryuunosuke Fujinami has been raised to be a man amongst men -- handsome, tough, and aggressive. Too bad ''she's'' against the idea. However, her father's training has been so thorough that she can't help but slide into the masculine role... a conflict personified when she angrily protests "Ore wa ONNA da!!!" -- i.e. "I'm a WOMAN", using the most masculine construction possible.

* One episode of ''TheWallflower'' features a photographer that for some reason begins to use feminine dialect when he gets agitated. The comments of his assistants indicate that it is a habit of his.

* ''{{Naruto}}'':

* Given how fluid gender is in ''{{Simoun}}'' what pronouns are used by what characters varies quite a bit. For the character of Yun in particular, when she [[spoiler:switches from 'ore' to 'atashi']]
* This is a plot point in the first ''[[StarOcean1 Star Ocean]]''. Phia Mell is a tomboy (and captain of the Astral Guards) who always speaks using masculine speech. Her childhood friend Cyuss is nonplussed when he sees her speaking to him using feminine speech, which clues him in that the Phia he's talking is a fake. Unfortunately, in the translated remake this was glossed over and substituted with a different clue entirely.

* On reaching the Hermit Social Link's fourth rank in ''{{Persona 3}}'', Maya tells you about a creepy man in Paulownia Mall (the Devil Social Link, [[spoiler:President Tanaka]]). "You'll know him cuz he talks like a woman" is how she sums him up. The idea doesn't quite make the jump into languages without such enforced masculine/feminine speech patterns.
* In ''{{Remember11}}'', where Kokoro (a woman) and Satoru (a man) have their [[FreakyFridayFlip minds swapped]] randomly throughout the story, their companions eventually learn to tell which personality is currently in control by listening to their manner of speaking.

* Sentence endings of "''wa''", "''wa yo''", "''wa ne''", "''ne''", "''no ne''", and "''no yo''" are usually feminine. "''Kai''", "''zo''", "''ze''", "''sa''", "''da''" and "''yo''" are more masculine.

* Sentence endings of "''wa''", "''wa yo''", "''wa ne''", "''ne''", "''no ne''", and "''no yo''" are usually feminine. "''Kai''", "''zo''", "''to''", "''ze''", "''sa''", "''da''" and "''yo''" are more masculine.

* In the ''KinosJourney'' prequel OVA Kino speaks in feminine patterns, using "''atashi''" for "I" during most of her stay in her Master's place, as well as wearing dress and keeping her hair long. After she returns from her first brief journey, [[ExpositoryHairstyleChange her hair has been cut short by the circumstances]], and she's shifted to masculine "''boku''" form, as well as finally being comfortable with her assumed name.

* Sentence endings of "''wa''", "''wa yo''", "''wa ne''", "''ne''", "''no ne''", and "''no yo''" are usually feminine. "''Kai''", "''zo''", "''to''", "''ze''", "''sa''" and "''yo''" "''da''" are more masculine.

* Sentence endings of "''wa''", "''wa yo''", "''wa ne''", "''da ne''", "''no ne''", and "''no yo''" are usually feminine. "''Kai''", "''zo''", "''to''", "''ze''", "''sa''" and "''yo''" are more masculine.

* In ''Superlink,'' the Japanese version of ''{{Transformers}}: Energon'', Alpha-Q's pale, smiling face speaks in a high (but male) voice and uses female speech patterns. Another face also refers to this face as an "oyama", the Japanese word for a male actor who plays female parts in kabuki. The Alpha Q entity, however, is considered male. (However, as [[spoiler: the combined will of everyone on his planet who died when Unicron consumed it, Alpha Q is probably not strictly male or female. [[note]]Its "true" voice in the Japanese version is that of a young girl - part of the idea that Alpha Q had a fifth, unseen face that was of the young, humanoid princess of Planet Q. This idea was not used - nothing of it was said and flashbacks show Planet Q to have had a Transformer population - namely, ''Terrorcons in different colors!'' The Energon version gives him the VoiceOfTheLegion to support the show's interpretation of Alpha Q as a gestalt entity.[[/note]]]])

* At the end of ''[[DotHackSign .hack//sign]]'', [[spoiler:Tsukasa's player, revealed to be a girl, shifts from 'boku' to 'atashi'.]] The English subtitles make no note of this in any way.

* In ''SpiritedAway'' the fact that Haku uses ''watashi'' rather than ''ore'' or ''boku'' is the first clue that he's something other than what he looks like.
** Or just that he's very polite and formal. ''Watashi'' is a gender-neutral pronoun, in itself. His use of rather dated court-Japanese is a better hint that he's OlderThanHeLooks.

* Similarly, Ranma in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' is neither feminine nor particularly polite, and tends towards rough, masculine speech under most circumstances -- even in female form.

* [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga Geragemona, the Japanese Cackletta]] uses "''atashi''" as her personal pronoun of choice with masculine sentence endings.

* Tomboy Ritsu from ''KOn'' uses masculine speech patterns, and is told to stop doing that when she's cast as [[RomeoAndJuliet Juliet]] in a school play.

* Ritsu Tainaka from ''Manga/KOn''. With the exception of using the gender-neutral pronoun "watashi" to refer to herself, Ritsu utilizes quite masculine Japanese in her speech patterns (e.g., using the "yagaru" suffix when she's annoyed, ending sentences with the informal suffixes "-e", "-n" "-da" and "-daro"; and never using feminine suffixes such as "ne" and "wa"). She does use feminine pronouns from time to time, but it's usually when she's being sarcastic and/or tries to play innocent after having been accused of something ("Who, me?")

* In ''{{Naruto}}'', the (male) character Orochimaru tends to speak in the feminine style. Unlike ''.hack//sign,'' the American dub addresses this by making him have a feminine voice.
** The titular character finishes his sentences with dattaba'''yo''', while [[spoiler: his mother finishes her sentences with datteba'''ne'''. This fits with the feminine and masculine; otherwise they basically talk the exact same way.]]

* Rukia Kuchiki in ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' speaks in a notably deeper voice than most of the other female characters.
** Also in ''Bleach'', Yoruichi Shihouin has both a male voice actor and speaks in a very masculine form when first appearing, making it all the more shocking to others when it is later revealed she is a (very attractive) woman. Her companion Kisuke Urahara is the inverse, a man who uses feminine personal pronouns.

* Similarly, Ranma in ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]'' is neither feminine nor particularly polite, and tends towards rough, masculine speech under most circumstances -- even in female form.

* The doll Souseiseki in ''RozenMaiden'' refers to herself as "boku" often (as opposed to everyone else's [[VerbalTic gimmick of sentence-ending words]]) so much that Shinku comments on it in the first part of the ''Ouverture'' {{OVA}}.
** Girls using the masculine "boku" are a [[{{Bokukko}} trope unto itself]].
** The doll Suiseiseki has gone [[MemeticMutation memetic]] for raising "desu" to the level of VerbalTic.

* [[Literature/KaraNoKyoukai Ryougi Shiki]] uses the masculine ''ore'' to refer to herself. [[spoiler:This is so she won't forget her alternate personality, which was male; he took her place when she died in a car accident two years ago.]]

* Women tend to use polite forms more frequently. For instance, they are more likely to say "''ocha''" rather than just "''cha''", making it more formal. However, in formal situations, such as at work, members of both genders would be expected to say "''ocha''".

* In ''Superlink,'' the Japanese version of ''{{Transformers}}: Energon'', Alpha-Q's pale, smiling face speaks in a high (but male) voice and uses female speech patterns. Another face also refers to this face as an "oyama", the Japanese word for a male actor who plays female parts in kabuki. The Alpha Q entity, however, is considered male. (However, as [[spoiler: the combined will of everyone on his planet who died when Unicron consumed it, Alpha Q is probably not strictly male or female. [[hottip:*:Its "true" voice in the Japanese version is that of a young girl - part of the idea that Alpha Q had a fifth, unseen face that was of the young, humanoid princess of Planet Q. This idea was not used - nothing of it was said and flashbacks show Planet Q to have had a Transformer population - namely, ''Terrorcons in different colors!'' The Energon version gives him the VoiceOfTheLegion to support the show's interpretation of Alpha Q as a gestalt entity.]]]])

* Yubel, the androgynous/hermaphrodite Duel Monster in the third season of ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh GX}}'', is constantly referred to (even by itself) with masculine constructions... which wouldn't be half as bad, except that most of the time, it uses a woman's voice and mannerisms to convey itself.

* Rukia Kuchiki in ''{{Bleach}}'' speaks in a notably deeper voice than most of the other female characters.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* CuteWitch Marisa Kirisame from the ''{{Touhou}}'' games uses masculine verb forms and [[VerbalTic typically ends her sentences]] with "''da ze''", but, in something of a twist, exclusively uses the gender neutral pronoun ''watashi''. (This fact has tripped up enough {{doujin}} artists [[MoneyDearBoy just looking to cash in on the series' runaway popularity]] that "Marisa-who-says-''ore''" has [[MemeticMutation become something of an in-joke]] with the Japanese fanbase.)

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<<|UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}|>>
<<|LanguageTropes|>>

As stated elsewhere, Japanese includes several words or word-variants on the same concept to address the culturally important concepts of politeness and formality. This comes strongly from Japanese culture (after the Tokugawa Shogunate period, which had a caste-based society) as a hierarchical and stratified society where class relations were paramount.

In real-life situations, there is considerable variation—and several outright exceptions—to the rules. However, in media, a character speaking in a manner that does not traditionally fit their sex adds a different dimension to him or her that non-Japanese speakers would miss.

In the recent years, linguists and social commentators in Japan have noticed a shift in women's speaking habits. Very few younger Japanese women use so-called ''joseigo'' anymore, and the speech habits of anime characters and drama characters do not represent modern-day Japanese women in real life (especially the relatively younger crowd). That is not to say that women's speech habits have become masculine; rather, they have become neutral.

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

** Girls using the masculine "boku" are a [[{{Bokukko}} trope unto itself]].

* In ''{{Naruto}}'', the (male) character Orochimaru tends to speak in the feminine style. Unlike ''.hack//sign,'' the American dub addresses this by making him have a feminine voice.

* In ''SpiritedAway'' the fact that Haku uses ''watashi'' rather than ''ore'' or ''boku'' is the first clue that he's something other than what he looks like.
** Or just that he's very polite and formal. ''Watashi'' is a gender-neutral pronoun, in itself. His use of rather dated court-Japanese is a better hint that he's OlderThanHeLooks.

* This is a plot point in the first ''[[StarOcean1 Star Ocean]]''. Phia Mell is a tomboy (and captain of the Astral Guards) who always speaks using masculine speech. Her childhood friend Cyuss is nonplussed when he sees her speaking to him using feminine speech, which clues him in that the Phia he's talking is a fake. Unfortunately, in the translated remake this was glossed over and substituted with a different clue entirely.
* In the ''KinosJourney'' prequel OVA Kino speaks in feminine patterns, using "''atashi''" for "I" during most of her stay in her Master's place, as well as wearing dress and keeping her hair long. After she returns from her first brief journey, [[ExpositoryHairstyleChange her hair has been cut short by the circumstances]], and she's shifted to masculine "''boku''" form, as well as finally being comfortable with her assumed name.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

<<|LanguageTropes|>>

** [[{{Squick}} It's still effective, though.]]
*** The titular character finishes his sentences with dattaba'''yo''', while [[spoiler: his mother finishes her sentences with datteba'''ne'''. This fits with the feminine and masculine; otherwise they basically talk the exact same way.]]

** In an anime episode where Lum finds herself traveling between several alternate dimensions, she finds one where everybody is a polar opposite of their original forms. Thus, Ryuunosuke is now a boy, wearing a girl's uniform, and angrily proclaims "Atashi wa Otoko yo!" A very feminine way of saying "I am a man!"

* Hinagiku aka Angel Daisy from WeddingPeach uses "ore" and masculine, rough Japanese in general, even in her frilly, feminine Love Angel form.
* [[KaraNoKyoukai Ryougi Shiki]] uses the masculine ''ore'' to refer to herself. [[spoiler:This is so she won't forget her alternate personality, which was male; he took her place when she died in a car accident two years ago.]]

* In the ''[=~Kino's Journey~=]'' prequel OVA Kino speaks in feminine patterns, using "''atashi''" for "I" during most of her stay in her Master's place, as well as wearing dress and keeping her hair long. After she returns from her first brief journey, [[ExpositoryHairstyleChange her hair has been cut short by the circumstances]], and she's shifted to masculine "''boku''" form, as well as finally being comfortable with her assumed name.
* Tomboy Ritsu from ''[=~K-On!~=]'' uses masculine speech patterns, and is told to stop doing that when she's cast as [[RomeoAndJuliet Juliet]] in a school play.