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Kansai Regional Accent

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In Japanese, Kansai-ben. Accent commonly associated with the Kansai region of Japan. Since most anime is made in Tokyo 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, Hyogo, Wakayama, Mie, Nara and Shiga Prefectures, and sometimes the surrounding region (Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori Prefectures). While the dialects generally get lumped together as Kansai dialect because of their general similarities, there are distinctions between them.

Osaka-ben (Osaka dialect) used to be the stereotypical villain accent until Osaka comedians performing with their accent became popular in the nineties. These days Osaka dialect is generally used to indicate a fun loving, impatient, loud, boisterous personality. Osaka dialect speaking comedians are common in Real Life and in anime, and 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 dialect, Kyoto dialect, otherwise known as hannari, is generally a much softer dialect. The Kyoto dialect has its roots in the courtly dialect from before the capital of Japan moved from Kyoto to Edo (later renamed Tokyo). Recently in anime, Kyoto dialect has been reserved as a primarily female dialect. (See: Shizuru in My-HiME, Konoka in Negima! Magister Negi Magi, and Akesato in Peacemaker Kurogane, amongst others.) This is possibly due to the fact that Kyoto dialect is softer, and thus sounds more feminine.

A few quick tips for catching a character speaking Kansai dialect:

  • More focus on the vowels than the consonants of the language. Single-syllable words get stretched out an extra beat, and the copula desu is pronounced in full rather than Tokyo's clipped "des". This also makes Kansai-accented English that much harder to understand to native English-speakers compared to Tokyo-accented English (loanwords are generally spelled with Tokyo pronunciation in mind, after all).
  • Pitch accent with a greater tonal range (sometimes described as "living" or "overly-emotional"), and often significantly different patterns from Standard.
  • If a female, look for the use of uchi instead of atashi.
  • Replacement of desu or da with ya (or, in Kyoto dialect, dosu).
  • Contraction of certain words, like chau instead of chigau.
  • Using donai instead of do. (Instead of "doshita?", a Kansai speaker will ask "donaishita?")
  • The use of the -hen ending, instead of -nai, in the negative present forms of verbs, as in wakarahen versus wakaranai (lit. "don't know"). Nai, the negative form of aru is arahen in Kansai dialect. Alternatively, -hin (dekihin) is also used.
  • The use of the -haru ending as an intermediate between plain style and the formal Keigo style.
  • -han instead of -san as an honorific.
  • The use of the wa sentence-final particle by all age and sex while it is used mainly by women in standard.
  • Using the word aho instead of baka ("idiot"; "silly"). The stereotype is that baka is a much more serious insult to a Kansai native, and is rarely used by one except in deadly earnest, akin to a Precision F-Strike.
    • In real life, some dialects just have their own word for this.
  • Using the word akan instead of dame ("No way"). It is also used as -tara akan ("must not do") and -na akan ("must do").
  • Saying se ya na instead of so da ne OR so da na' OR so ne ("I know, right?"; "I agree."; "totally")
  • -taru (shortening of -te yaru) for -te ageru E.g., Yondaru ("I'll read it for you"). (In standard, using yaru in this way towards equals is considered rude.)
  • Using meccha (not that mecha, the "ch" is soft like "Charles") instead of totemo as an intensifier. In specific Kansai dialects (Wakayama, Kobe, Osaka, etc.) words like gottsu (Osaka dialect) may be used. As traditional dialectal forms mutate or die off, some modern youth use forms such as sugee, which is Kanto/Tohoku pronunciation for sugoi.
  • Referring to the McDonald's fast-food chain as "Makudo", and regarding the term "Makku" exclusively as a computer brand.note 

For a good explanation of Kansai dialect versus standard Japanese, see the following page.

Depending on the country, preserving these dialects through translations and dubs can be tricky.

  • The usual British equivalent is Cockney, though a Northern accent might represent the geographic and societal differences better than a dialect of the capital (and for Osaka dialect specifically, Brummie might be more accurate, being that Birmingham is Britain's second-largest city, with a gritty industrial image and a local accent with markedly different intonation patterns and pronunciation from those of the southeast; Scouse and Geordie may be even more appropriate, since it combines the gritty industrial image with a reputation for good humour).
  • In American English, 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 nasal 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). The location of the company making the decision seems to be more than a little important in which gets chosen. (Both Funimation and Sentai Filmworks are based in Texas.) They're considered stupid like rednecks, but rude and brash like New Yorkers. A good approximation for a thick one would be a Brooklyn accent a la Tony Soprano, while a softer one might be good as a North Jersey accent (a real one, not the stereotypical and completely inaccurate "Joisey" one). New York-accented Yiddish as a Second Language also seems apt for Kansai characters who are explicitly comedic, given the overlap between shticky Borscht Belt comedy and the Japanese Boke and Tsukkomi Routine.note 
  • 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 as Kansai. Of course, the Shenyang dialect becomes both a source of laughter and scorn for many Chinese.
  • Koreans dub Kansai-ben with a Gyeongsang dialect (centered in the port city of Busan in the southeast) for the same reasons.
  • The Philippines' answer to Kansai-ben seems to be the Cebuano dialect as Cebu City is one of the country's major cities outside of Manila and Cebuanos tend to be stereotyped with more or less the same traits as the Kansai. However, the Philippine counterpart of Kyoto-ben would be the Hiligaynon dialect from Iloilo City as Ilonggos are usually stereotyped as people who are softspoken and speak in a very gentle and affectionate manner. Some Tagalog-speaking Filipinos contend that the Filipino equivalent of Kansai-ben should be the Batangueno accent from Batangas (with its most famous expressions being ala eh! (an interjection) and yaon (used as a proposition)) as Batanguenos have a reputation for being as rowdy, if not even more, as the Kansai. Unlike most examples, however, these don't get used often even for characters from the Kansai region.
  • In Latino Spanish translations, Altiplano Mexican Spanish (i.e. Mexico City Spanish) seems to be the the local version of this accent, since Mexico City's fast-paced reputation isn't far off from Osaka's. In Spain, Andalusian Spanish seems to be their own version, since the region's people have the stereotype of being loud, easy of manner and talented for jokes, just like Osaka natives. Cultural similarities are increased by Andalucia being traditionally a merchant region, similar to Osaka, during the times in which the Moors ruled Spain.
  • In German-language translations, Bavarian/Austrian German is the German answers to the dialect, being stereotyped with the exact same traits as Kansai.
  • In French translations, southeastern dialects (such as that spoken in Marseille) is used as the French counterpart for Kansai dialect.
  • In Italian pretty much any dialect from Southern Italy is used as a stand-in for Kansai, as Southerners tend to share the same stereotypes (particularly being fun-loving and highly temperamental) as the Japanese region. Roman and Neapolitan dialects are the most used by far though, especially the latter as Naples shares a similar image as Osaka for being a chaotic and loud city with a penchant for humor; a lot of Italy's most successful comedians also come from Naples, further reinforcing parallels between them and Osakans.
  • In Russian translations the Odesa dialect of Ukraine, with its colorful accent and slightly unusual, Yiddish-, Greek-, and (obviously) Ukrainian-influenced grammar, seems to be gaining popularity as a stand-in. Which has additional cultural benefits, as Odesa always was a center of grain trade and Odesans have a reputation for an innate comedic talent, closely paralleling other Osakan stereotypes (see below).
  • In Portuguese from Portugal, Characters are typically given a northern accent (most often a Porto one). Parallels can be drawn between cultural associations with Osaka natives and those of the city of Porto, particularly the jovial nature, humor, brash personality, lack of filter and simple-minded nature. Northern Portuguese people are stereotyped as bumpkins and yokels, but the people of Porto earn a more sophisticated distinction as they are separated from other northerners by being from the unofficial second capital. If the character is portrayed as dopey and ignorant, a Douro region accent might be used.

Oddly, Kansai is sometimes so strongly associated with 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 Americansnote , who would more likely have learned "formal" Japanese, but are considered to have the brash, outspoken Osakan personalitynote . Similarly, the association between Kansai dialect and a specific character archetype is so strong, shows set in the 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 suburbs of Kobe, but where everyone speaks Standard Japanese).

Despite the prominence of the dialect in Japanese media, it's still prone to being a victim of research failure, thanks to Tokyo-based writers who don't actually speak it. Depressingly common is the tendency for everyone in Kansai (apart from Kyoto) to use the dialect specific to Osaka, or a youthful character in a modern work to use vocabulary that's way out-of-date (for example, no teenager would use -han as an honorific except in jest).

See also: Tohoku Regional Accent, which is the other widely-spread Japanese accent aside of Kansai and Tokyo-ben. Compare "Brummie", "Cockney", "Geordie" and "Scouse" in British Accents, "Dixie", "Texas Drawl", "Noo Yawk" and "Boston" in American Accents, "Toronto", "Quebec English" and "B.C./British Columbia" in Canadian Accents.

Examples

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    Anime and Manga 
  • Here is a list of voice actors and actresses that sometimes use the accent in their roles and are from the Kansai area:
  • There are also voice actors and actresses who are not from the Kansai area, but have used the accent in at least some of their roles. Some are: Ai Nonaka, Juri Kimura, Yukari Tamura and Kappei Yamaguchi (Fukuoka Prefecture), Aki Toyosaki (Tokushima Prefecture), Shino Kakinuma (Setagaya-ku, Tokyo), Toshiyuki Morikawa and Nobutoshi Canna (Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo); Akemi Okamura, Atsuko Enomoto, Yuriko Fuchizaki, Saki Fujita, Kana Hanazawa, Yūki Kaji, Mika Kanai, Taeko Kawata, Yuu Kobayashi, Satomi Koorogi, Inori Minase, Daisuke Namikawa, Masako Nozawa, Ikue Otani, Akio Ōtsuka, Romi Park, Maaya Sakamoto, Yu Shimamura, Jun'ichi Suwabe, Minami Takayama, Mayumi Tanaka and Megumi Toyoguchi (Tokyo itself), Yui Itsuki (Aichi Prefecture), Tomohiro Nishimura and Hiromi Tsuru (Hokkaido Prefecture), Ayana Taketatsu, Chiemi Chiba and Mamoru Miyano (Saitama Prefecture), Nozomu Sasaki (Hiroshima Prefecture), Daisuke Hirakawa and Ryō Hirohashi (Niigata Prefecture), Takahiro Sakurai, Tatsuhisa Suzuki and Aya Hirano (Okazaki [Sakurai and Suzuki] and Nagoya [Hirano], both in Aichi Prefecture), Sanae Kobayashi (Shizuoka Prefecture), Megumi Ogata (Akihabara, Tokyo), Atsuko Tanaka (Maebashi, Gunma Prefecdture), Asami Shimoda (Tottori Prefecture), Tomokazu Seki (Koto, Tokyo Prefecture), Kenta Miyake (Okinawa Prefecture), Ryōtarō Okiayu (born in Fukuoka prefecture's Kitakyushu, raised in Osaka City), Junichi Kanemaru and Natsumi Takamori (Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture), Jun Fukuyama (born in Hiroshima Prefecture's Fukuyama, raised in Osaka Prefecture's Takatsuki), Daisuke Ono (Kochi Prefecture), Kōichi Yamadera (Miyagi Prefecture), Rina Hidaka, Hiroshi Kamiya, Megumi Takamoto and Aoi Yūki (Chiba Prefecture), Toshihiko Seki (Tochigi Prefecture), Susumu Chiba, Rie Suegara and Yuri Shiratori (Kanagawa Prefecture), Ayano Niina (Aomori Prefecture), Junko Minagawa (Ibaraki Prefecture), Go Inoue (Saga Prefecture), Tetsuya Iwanaga (Musashino, Tokyo).
  • Ryuuji Suguro, Renzou Shima and Konekomaru Miwa from Blue Exorcist speak in Kyoto dialect.
  • Maeda, the main character of Rokudenashi Blues, slips back into his natural (and extremely thick) Kansai accent whenever he gets mad.
  • Ranma ˝ has Ukyo Kuonji, an Osakan bifauxnen who averts The Idiot from Osaka by actually being very smart, cunning, and a workaholic (which is a different sort of Kansai stereotype). As is common in Western translations, her accent is translated into a soft, vaguely American South accent. Except for one scene in the anime, where her accent is thickened for comedic purposes.
  • Kinnosuke Ikezawa, voiced by the Osakanite Shuihei Sakaguchi, from Itazura Na Kiss has a very thick Kansai accent. He even uses the word "aho" instead of "baka".
  • The Kyoto Group from Code Geass originally hailed from Kyoto, however, they don't have a Kansai accent.
  • Makoto Mizuhara, the soft-spoken male protagonist of El-Hazard: The Magnificent World, speaks in this dialect.
  • Sakura the Kyuubi-fox in Hyper Police, voiced by Chiyako Shibahara, has one of the thickest Kansei accents in all of anime. Even non-Japanese speakers can pick it out.
  • Sailor Moon:
    • In the DiC English dub, the appropriately-named Naru Osaka (known as "Molly" in this version) was given a thick New York (specifically Brooklyn) accent. Despite the otherwise Macekre reputation of the dub, this is probably a fairly reasonable equivalent.
    • And in the original Japanese, Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury uses what sounds like a light Kyoto-ben. Her voice actress is the aforementioned Aya Hisakawa. The DiC English dub translated this as a posh English accent.
  • Likewise Kouhei, the shopkeeper with the five o'clock shadow in Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi. However, most of the other characters in the show (who all use Kansai-ben) are given coastal Texan accents.
  • Keroberos from Cardcaptor 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 scanlation 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.
  • Kill la Kill:
    • Takarada of the Naniwa Kinman High School speaks in Osaka-ben. In the English dub, this gets translated into Jive Turkey.
    • Kyuji Obayashi and Kenta Sakuramiya of the Kami-Kobe High School speak in Kobe-ben. In the English, dub this is translated as a Texan accent.
    • The four guardian students of the Abekamo Academy speak in Kyoto-ben. Since it's a high-class accent, the English dub makes them sound rather posh with a side order of Antiquated Linguistics.
  • In episode 18 of Sgt. Frog, 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. The English dub goes for a different tack, where it makes Natsumi "swear like a comedian".
  • Shunma Suruga of Re:CREATORS has one.
  • 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 Mitsune Konno aka Kitsune, who is a genuine native of the area (and a good example of one of the classic Kansai character types).
  • Ayumu Kasuga (better known as Osaka) from Azumanga Daioh speaks with a Kansai accent, but she's a reversal of the Osaka 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. Additionally, she generally refers to herself as "atashi" rather than "uchi", and addresses people as "-san" and not "-han". She later mentions that she was born in Wakayama and then lived in Kobe when she was in elementary school.
    • In the American dub, she speaks in a Beaumont accent (Beaumont being the place that hicks consider a hick town). The translated manga version of the series actually portrayed her with a Hollywood New England accent ("Fughedaboudit!") in the first volume before switching to the anime's Beaumont one.
    • In the Russian translation of the manga the "Kansai" phrases that Osaka uses in her first appearance are in Ukrainian. Considering the Russian stereotypes of Ukrainians as unsophisticated and greedy, the fit seems close enough. The translator also makes a side note to the effect of "Kansai-ben is not that different from standard Japanese, but Yukari probably thinks otherwise".
    • The Korean localization of Azumanga has "Osaka" come from the city of Busan which, like the city of Osaka, is a major southern port city, with the population having a reputation for being unrefined.
  • Nanako Kuroi in Lucky Star, and she is NOT from that region! In the English dub, they handle this by giving her a Southern accent.
  • Mikan Sakura 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. The main voice acting cast (with a few exceptions like Risa, since Akemi Okamura is from Tokyo) are actually from Kansai, as well.
  • 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.
    • Set in the same fictional city of Niihama in the Kansai region as GITS:SAC, everyone in titular police unit of New Dominion Tank Police speaks standard Japanese (understandably, as the tank police force is heavily staffed by foreign expats of military backgrounds). The lone exception are the the infamous Puma Twins, Anna and Uni, who frequently have very strong Kansai accents (and are given a Southern twang in the English dub).
  • Something of a bit character, Cho of the Juppongata from Rurouni Kenshin receives a hilarious "southern" accent in the English dub. Take a listen.
  • My-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. Shizuru Viola from My-Otome uses the same speech pattern. Both Shizurus are voiced by Naomi Shindo, who is from Kyoto.
  • It's not too clear why Tentomon, from Digimon Adventure, uses this dialect. To highlight his use of Osaka-ben, he is one of the few Digimon to use honorifics, appending the name of every human's name with the respectful -han (but not with his fellow Digimon). The English dub drops it more or less completely; Tentomon is distinguished primarily by his vocabulary, rather than his accent.
  • Aspiring comedian Haruki Emishi in Get Backers.
  • Bleach:
    • Gin Ichimaru uses Kyoto-ben. Since it's a high-class accent, the English dub makes him sound a little posh instead of going the standard Southern-accent route.
    • Shinji Hirako, Hiyori Sarugaki and Lisa Yadomaru of the Visoreds use Osaka-ben. In one of the anime's next episode previews Shinji tried to form some sort of Kansai-solidarity alliance with Gin, only for him to point out that their accents are different and spark a flame of Osakan pride in Shinji.
  • The Spiderman from Yaiba speaks with a thick Osaka-ben, since he's designed as a parody of Osaka people.
  • 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 Yagami from Lyrical Nanoha. This may be why some fanworks portray her as infatuated with the Boke and Tsukkomi Routine. However, despite spending her childhood in Uminari (a fictional city supposed to be located in the Tokyo area), no other character from Uminari speaks in Kansai-ben, which makes you wonder why and how she speaks with this dialect.
    • Sieglinde Jeremiah from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid is not even from Earth, but speaks with a Kansai dialect. Harry Tribeca wonders if she and Hayate are from the same place.
  • Aoi Nogami from Psychic Squad. Incidentally, Aoi uses the Osaka dialect, but she herself is from Kyoto (the one place in Kansai where the Japanese usually use the right dialect).
  • Like in the original novels, nobody in Haruhi Suzumiya's anime adaptation speaks any Kansai dialect despite the series taking place there. 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. Haruhi (voiced by Nagoya-native Aya Hirano) does call Kyon "aho" sometimes, as well as using some Kansai-ben grammar occasionally, but it's usually the "blink-and-you'll-miss it" type of usage. Tsuruya-san comes closest to having a Kansai accent; in the dub, it's rendered as a Valley Girl's dialect.
  • Toji in Neon Genesis Evangelion uses Kansai-ben, rendered in the manga as a heavy Brooklyn "wise guy" accent. Played with in Rebuild of Evangelion where his sister Sakura doesn't use the dialect in 3.0 but has an Accent Slip-Up in 3.0+1.0 where she calls Shinji "aho".
  • 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 normally speak Tokyo dialect) use Kansai while Wolfwood uses Tokyo, an invert of the normal. The others mock Wolfwood and say that his accent is going to make them sick. This is actually an odd inversion of the trope's application to localization. In keeping with the Wild West-influenced setting, characters are assumed to be actually speaking English, with the original Japanese dialogue chalked up to Translation Convention. Allegedly, creator Yasuhiro Nightow had Wolfwood speak in Kansai-ben because it was the closest approximation to the Southern US accent that he thought the character "really" had. Ironically, while this would have made the common decision to translate the accent as a Southern one in the dub uniquely appropriate, this was one of the few times where the English dub doesn't bother with the accent at all.
  • Case of an American using it for personality purposes - Eddy Tsukioka from Ask Dr. Rin!.
  • Played straight with Iincho Tomoko Hoshina in To Heart, as she grew up in Kobe. This was also used as a fairly minor plot point in the first Omake of To Heart: Remember My Memories.
  • The Black Tri-Stars, an Ace Pilot trio from the original Mobile Suit Gundam, though their case is somewhat inexplicable as none of them are Japanese. In the American dub, they're all given Southern accents.
  • Case Closed:
  • Pokémon:
    • Nanako (aka Casey) in the Japanese version of the Pokémon anime. This especially makes sense when one considers that her favorite baseball team, the Electabuzz, is based off the Hanshin Tigers. It also helps that she is native from Johto, which is based on Kansai. The English dub didn't bother to give her a different accent from the other characters.
    • Masaki/Bill speaks in Kansai-ben. In retroperspective, it's justified since his game counterpart is native from Johto which is based on Kansai. The English dub gave him have an English accent.
    • Akane/Whitney also speaks in Kansai-ben. She and Masaki are both from Goldenrod City which is based on Osaka. The English dub didn't bother to give her a different accent from the other characters.
    • And Yakeishi from episode 240. Team Rocket speaks Kansai dialect briefly during their catchphrase sequence.
    • Mâche/Valerie speaks in Kansai-ben, since she is implied to be native from Teak City which is based on Kyoto.
  • Pokémon Adventures:
    • Bill has a Kansai accent that gets translated as a thick southern accent in translations.
    • Pearl has the personality from the region as well, but not the accent.
    • Unusually, Whitney doesn't have a Kansai accent despite having one in the games (which is even thicker than Bill's).
  • In Magic Knight Rayearth, the main characters meet someone on the medieval fantasy world of Cephiro who has such an accent. They even ask why she has it, but this is never answered. (It's explained in the series' second part that the character is not actually from Cephiro, but rather Chizeta, an Arabian-style fantasy world. Only two other characters from that realm are given speaking roles within the series itself, and although they both appear to speak standard Japanese, one of them is faking it and lapses into Kansai-ben when agitated, so it may just be common there. Understandable since their voice actors, Yuko Nagashima and Aya Hisakawa respectively, are Osaka-born and thus fluent in the accent. How Chizeta arrived at that accent? Still a mystery.)
  • Several characters in Transformers:
  • Spain from Hetalia: Axis Powers. Himaruya typically renders Spanish speaking countries' speech as Kansai accents. Also, Sweden speaks Touhoku-ben, Denmark speaks Ibaraki-ben, Belgium speaks Shiga-ben, and Poland speaks Nagoya-ben, often rendered as Valley Girl speech in English.
    • The actual character of Osaka speaks in that accent, and his VA is from that region.
  • Seita and Setsuko in Grave of the Fireflies speak in the dialect, since they're from Kobe. This is solely for the accuracy of the setting, however, and definitely not Played for Laughs.
  • Kawachi from Yakitate!! Japan speaks with a Kansai accent, given his personality.
  • Subverted in GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class. Awara's accent, perceived as the Kansai dialect, is actually the Nagoya dialect.
  • Haikyuu!!:
    • The Inarizaki High School volleyball team from Hyōgo prefecture all speak with a Kansai accent; with the exception of Rintarō Suna, who originates from Aichi prefecture and uses the Nagoya dialect.
    • Members of Mujinazaka High's volleyball team use Kyushu dialect, as their school is located in Oita prefecture.
    • While more subtile, Koushi Sugawara from Karasuno has a heavier Tohoku Regional Accent than the others. Justified as he is from Miyagi, which is also where the school is.
  • The Osakan characters (particularly Takane) in Burst Angel.
    • In the Funimation dub, this is portrayed as a somewhat overdone Texan accent.
  • K-On!: Ritsu suggests that the girls should talk like this while on a school trip to Kyoto, and demonstrates by adding Kansai endings. Mugi on the other hand, shows that she can speak it fluently.
    • In the North American dub, this is unusually changed to Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe.
    • Most street scenes in the anime are actually situated in Kyoto (mostly in the Kamigyou ward), whereas the high school is modeled after an elementary school in Kansai's Shiga prefecture, right next to Kyoto, where people speak a similar dialect. So in theory the girls should be speaking full-on Kansai-ben all the time. Since the anime is by Kyoto Animation, the possible reasons why they don't are mostly the same as with Haruhi Suzumiya.
  • In the anime adaptation of Sound! Euphonium, the story takes place in Kyoto, and Asuka has the most marked accent of all the cast. Most of the cast hail from the Kansai region except Kumiko, who hails from Tokyo.
  • Juzo Naniwa from Combattler V
  • Scanlations of Yamatogawa's manga often have their characters speaking in colloquialisms such as "Didja ferget yer old friend?" reportedly as a reflection of this trope, either as a literal accent adaptation or as an indication of a character's personality.
  • Mako from Nerima Daikon Brothers, being The Idiot from Osaka, speaks with this accent. In the dub she's given a thick southern belle sort of accent which is pretty over-the-top—but the series itself is very over-the-top, so that was probably an intentional choice.
  • Aizawa Sakuya from Hayate the Combat Butler.
  • For reasons unexplained, Guu of Haré+Guu speaks like this to Haré sometimes to freak him out.
  • Hadzuki Nouge from Koe de Oshigoto! is from Kyoto and speaks Kansai-ben. While being somewhat airheaded, she is far from an idiot, having the second best grades in her class.
  • When the other people on the riverbank think Recruit is a leech in Arakawa Under the Bridge it serves as a Berserk Button. He becomes so enraged he starts speaking in a Kansai Accent.
  • Oddly not used in Death Note. Misa says that she's from Osaka, and has lived there until only recently, yet doesn't have an accent.
    • Not that surprising since many people from the Kansai region learn to speak in the "Tokyoite accent" so as to fit in or at least to not stand out. Even less surprising in the case of Misa since she's an idol, and thus needs to have a broader appeal.
  • The characters from the Nue story in Mononoke speak Kyoto-ben since the setting is near the capital. The ~han honorific is fairly prominent.
  • Watari Yutaka from Descendants of Darkness
  • Yuina from Hanasaku Iroha fakes this accent when she first meets Ohana at school, although Yuina fakes a different accent whenever she meets with Ohana.
  • Pretty Cure:
    • The ferret mascot Tarte (and the denizens of the Sweets Kingdom) from Fresh Pretty Cure! speak in this dialect. The accent is probably to make up with the fact that unlike other Pretty Cure mascots, he doesn't have a Verbal Tic.
    • Akane Hino/Cure Sunny from Smile Pretty Cure! is Osaka-born and comes complete with the accent.
    • Hariham Harry, Hugtan's caretaker in HuGtto! Pretty Cure, uses this accent when he talks, with the "ya" being used as a Verbal Tic for him.
  • Misaki of Angelic Layer speaks in Kansai-ben, as does Icchan, which may be a reason she first trusts him. Interestingly enough, his younger brother from Osaka does not, though this is later explained.
  • Yuuko of A Channel. It's mentioned that she moved from Osaka to Tokyo shortly before the series started.
  • Hinata Hino of Future Diary. Her father, the 10th user, also slips into the dialect during his last conversation with her.
  • Hime Onizuka from SKET Dance speaks this but addresses herself with "atashi" instead of the standard "uchi".
  • Hikoichi and his sister Yayoi of Slam Dunk. Subverted by Rukawa who refers to Sakuragi as "aho" instead of baka but doesn't speak in Kansai-ben otherwise.
  • Upotte!! has two characters who speak in Kansai-ben: 16 (an American) speaks in Osaka-ben, and Sako (Finnish) speaks in Kyoto-ben.
  • In Vampire Princess Miyu (created by the Osaka-born artist Narumi Kakinouchi), the three first OAV take place in Kyoto and some characters speak in Kyoto-ben. In the first one, a pretty and young House Wife who's in an old textile store uses "o-kini" to thank the owner for her good manners; the word is actually an abbreviation of oki ni arigatou, an old-fashioned way to say "thanks" in the Kansai area. Few seconds later... the poor woman is killed by the Monster of the Week.
  • Matsuko and Shige from My Neighbors the Yamadas.
  • Sorata Arisugawa from X/1999. He was raised in Wakayama, more exactly in the famous Buddhist shrine of Koya-san. In The Movie and the CD dramas he's voiced by Miyagi native Kōichi Yamadera, but in the TV series his voice actor is the Osaka-born Mitsuaki Madono.
  • Played for Laughs in Kirby: Right Back at Ya!. In "The Meal Moocher", King Dedede slips into a Kansai accent after refusing to eat a crab Demon Beast that has been defeated and cooked up by Kirby, nodding to the Kani Doraku restaurant in Osaka, which famously features a giant animatronic crab on its façade. The reference confuses Escargon, who is promptly pinned under one of the crab's claws.
  • Nori of Hidamari Sketch normally speaks with just as much of an accent as anyone else in the show—that is, little to none at all—but switches immediately and completely into Kansai-ben when speaking to her friends from home via the Internet, shocking her fellow residents.
  • Glass Mask:
  • Ikaruga from Fairy Tail, even though the series doesn't have a Japan.
  • In Saki, the members of Senriyama Girls' Academy, as well as their coach, Masae Atago, and her eldest daughter, Hiroe Atago, speak with this accent. The Achiga girls don't, even though Nara prefecture is also part of the region (there is a region in the south of the prefecture where the Kansai dialect isn't spoken, but the girls aren't supposed to be from there).
  • Shinobu from Chihayafuru speaks the Kyoto variety. Arata speaks the closely related but distinct Fukui dialect, and he was made fun of in his elementary school because of it.
  • Fat Gum from My Hero Academia speaks the Osaka-ben. He is shown to have a loud personality and hails from Osaka.
  • In Puni Puni Poemi, Mutsumi Aasu speaks with this dialect even though her other sisters don't, leading her to outright ask why she has a Kansai accent for no reason. The dub turned this to a New York City accent, to keep the joke of her having a different accent than her sisters.
  • In Kodocha Fuuka Matsui lived in Osaka for years and went back to Tokyo when she started juniorP high. Naturally, she has an Osakan accent.
  • Tasuku Senoo from Prince of Stride speaks in this accent, and is the only one in his team to do so.
  • Youko Shiragami from My Monster Secret; she starts the series speaking in Keigo in order to hide the fact that she's a Friendly Neighborhood Vampire (when speaking in Kansai-ben, her mouth opens wide enough to show her fangs); once she befriends Asahi and starts opening up to people, she switches back to her natural accent. The official English release translates her dialog into a Valley Girl style of speech, but Asahi does refer to it as a Kansai dialect and there's a footnote explaining that the accent is stereotyped as passionate and honest.
    • Her father Genjirou also has a Kansai accent; it's just one of the many signs that they're similar, despite the fact that Genjirou pretends not to care (and occasionally calls Youko an idiot).
  • Izumo Kusanagi in K speaks this way, though he's about the polar opposite of the stereotype - he's very calm, and he's The Smart Guy of HOMRA. In the dub, Todd Haberkorn plays him with a rather subtle Southern accent - you might not even notice it. But it goes so well with his suave bartender aesthetic (e.g. his conversation with Seri in episode 6).
  • Babblong from Yo Kai Watch has an Osaka accent and displays several stereotypes of the region. The English dub translates him as a parody of Jimmy Durante.
  • One Pop Team Epic inexplicably renders all of the dialogue in a Banshu-hei dialect; this English fanslation changes it to an exaggerated Southern accent.
  • Kazumi Schlierenzauer from Brynhildr in the Darkness speaks in Kansai-ben, despite she was never there. Her father comes from the Kansai region, so she copied his speech pattern.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh!: Dinosaur Ryuzaki (Rex Raptor) speaks in Kansai-ben and refers to himself with the pronoun "wai".
  • Hajime no Ippo has the East Japan Rookie King, Takeshi Sendoh, a Hot-Blooded Osakan boxer (nicknamed "Rocky of Naniwa", in a reference to the Naniwa district in Osaka where he's from) and one of Ippo's biggest friendly rivals.
  • Love Lucky has Kirari, an Idol Singer who comes from Osaka and most speaks in normal Japanese, but slips into her natural Kansai accent when she's tipsy.
  • Nisha from Princess Jellyfish is Indian, but she speaks in a heavy Kansai accent since her ex-husband was from Kishiwada.
  • Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out!: Fujio and his youngest daughter Yanagi speak Kansai-ben, but his older kids Hana and Kiri don't anymore.
  • Her author has stated that Gamu of Kokoro, who has a casual western accent, actually uses a Kansai-ben, although her personal pronoun is "ore".

    Fan Works 

    Literature 
  • "American Hijiki", a short story by the author who wrote Grave of the Fireflies, is for the most part in Kansai-ben. The main character lives in Tokyo, but grew up in Osaka during the Occupation, and still has some serious mental scars that manifest themselves when an American couple come to visit.
  • In the crime thriller Blue Light Yokohama by Nicolas Obregon, Inspector Kosuke Iwata is transferred to the Tokyo detective squad from a regional force. The fact he is not only from Kansai but is also classed, by the metropolitan cops, as The Idiot from Osaka, is something he realises he can take advantage of when investigating several seemingly unrelated murders.
  • The Devil is a Part-Timer!:
    • Rika Suzuki comes from Kobe and is shown to talk to her parents in Kansai dialect over the phone. However, she avoids using this dialect in her day-to-day conversations as she is annoyed when people ask her about the Kobe earthquake in 1995. In the English translation, it's rendered as a thick southern drawl.
    • Since the series revolves around a thinly-veiled stand-in for McDonald's, the first volume parodies the consternation over which nickname is "acceptable".
    The battle over how to correctly abbreviate the name “MgRonald” was intense and heated, cleanly splitting the nation of Japan in half vertically, with both sides doggedly sticking to their preferred version. Maou knew that, and as a resident of eastern Japan, he knew that “Ronald’s” was the only correct—the only sane—version.
  • Nobody uses the dialect in Haruhi Suzumiya, even though they ought to: the series is set in Hyogo Prefecture's 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.
  • Nanami from The Pet Girl of Sakurasou tends to slip into this whenever she is angry or flustered. The English dub of the anime adaptation renders it as a Brooklyn accent.
  • Anastasia Hoshin from Re:Zero speaks in Kansai-ben dialogue, or whatever the fantasy counterpart is.
  • The Kyoto variety is spoken by most characters in Sound! Euphonium, with the notable exception of the protagonist Kumiko, who had spent part of her childhood in Tokyo. The manga adaptation retains this, while the anime makes everyone speak standard Japanese instead, aside from Asuka delivering one line in an exaggerated and outdated Kansai dialect for comedic effect.

    Live-Action TV 
  • Kamen Rider:
    • In Kamen Rider Kiva, Kengo Eritate has a notable Kansai accent, which goes with his rocker/general fun-loving personality. After a crippling injury ruins his guitar playing and he feels betrayed by his friends and mentor, he takes on a badass persona, and drops the Kansai accent in favor of his natural Tokyo accent. When he realizes he sucks at being a badass and no one likes him, he takes a Heel–Face Turn and returns to his Kansai accent. There was much rejoicing.
    • Kintaros of Kamen Rider Den-O noticably spoke in with a Kansai accent likely to compliment his Samurai/Sumo Wrestler personality.
    • One live stage-show had the Imagin "losing" their voices, with Ryotaro and Yuto having to "recover" them by naming the voice actors. An impatient Yuto mixes up Kintaros and Ryutaros' actors, resulting in a Masaki Terasoma reading Ryuta's lines in Kansai-ben ("Can't hear yer answer!")
    • The female lead of Kamen Rider Double Akiko Narumi (portrayed by Osaka-born Hikaru Yamamoto) played up her native accent, as well as her love of takoyaki.
    • The Nightmare Dopant arc has Akiko put in a dream where she's back in Osaka, along with Shotaro, Phillip, and Ryu, all of whom take on stereotypical Osakan accents and personalities.
  • Super Sentai:
  • In GARO Gaiden, the usually mute Kodama speaks for the first time, and Kaoru thinks it's Kansai-ben... it's actually iEnglish.

    Music 
  • Dir en grey: Lead singer Kyo hails from Kyoto (deriving his stage name, written with the kanji 京, from the city itself) and his accent is so thick that Japanese speakers have a hard time figuring out what he's saying. It overlaps into his English as well, making him The Unintelligible at times
  • Miyavi was born and raised in Osaka's capital city, and has a heavy accent.
  • Morning Musume's "Osaka Koi no Uta" is the only song of theirs sung completely in Kansai-ben.
  • Loudness is a Heavy Metal band out of Osaka. You will occasionally hear whiffs of Kansai-ben in Minoru Niihara's singing, or in interviews with the band members, though they try for a more Tokyo sound in general.
  • 12012 is also Osaka-based, and Wataru managed to occasionally be The Idiot from Osaka.
  • Scandal. Tomomi and Rina grew up in Osaka and predictably have very strong Kansai accents, while Haruna and Mami grew up in Nagoya and thus have a more neutral sounding Kanto accent.
  • In "Nandemo Iukoto Wo Kiite Kureru Akane-Chan", Akane speaks and sings in kansai-ben, most notably the phrase "Seyana!" ("Right on!")

    Video Games 
  • Fujiwara no Michinaga from Akanesasu Sekai de Kimi to Utau, even though it's set in a parallel universe that doesn't have a Kansai region. Bonus points for his voice actor, Kengo Kawanishi, being an Osaka native.
  • Mr. Resetti from Animal Crossing series has a Osaka accent in the Japanese versions but it was replaced with a deep Bronx accent in the English language versions.
  • Bungo to Alchemist: Oda Sakunosuke speaks Osaka accent, Orikuchi Shinobu speaks hannari. Both are from Osaka.
  • Ageha Kurenai from Dankira!!! -Boys, be DANCING!- speaks hannari, but their voice actor Kazuyuki Okitsu is not a Kyoto native.
  • Final Fantasy:
    • In the Japanese, Ultros from Final Fantasy VI has an Osaka accent, to indicate his comic relief status. It's also a gag based on the fact that octopus is a food typically associated with Osaka.
    • 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 Aksent's Slipping, with Cait Sith randomly developing and losing his Southern drawl, though in the PC version translation, he doesn't use it at all. More recent works have it translated as an obnoxious Scottish accent instead, what with the character's vague origins in Celtic mythology.
    • Selphie of Final Fantasy VIII thinks in Kansai-ben, but speaks like the other characters. Interestingly, her younger Kingdom Hearts incarnation speaks with an unmistakable Kansai accent.
  • Yuel from Granblue Fantasy speaks with a Kansai accent courtesy of Kana Ueda. Translated in the English dub of Granblue Fantasy Versus as a Texan drawl.
  • Nikkō Bosatsu from Namu Amida Butsu! -UTENA- takes this accent in line with his interest in manzai comedy.
  • Momo-no-sei in Onmyōji speaks in stereotypical hannari dialect from Kyoto and is the only character who does this, even though the game is set in the area in and around Heian-kyō (present-day Kyoto). Bakedanuki and Tesso speak in Osaka dialect.
  • Pigma Dengar in Star Fox has a Kansai dialect. Word of God is that the name is reference to people with Kansai accents ending their sentences with "-dengar".
  • SNK (or SNK Playmore, as it's now known) has its headquarters in Esaka, Ōsaka, and they appear to like sneaking in references to Ōsaka stuff (e.g. the Japan Team theme song in the KOF series is titled "Esaka", and a few stages in the series are based on the area). While many SNK characters don't speak Kansai-ben, including ones canonically from the area (like Kyo Kusanagi and his direct/extended family, Shingo Yabuki, Yuki, Goro Daimon and his wife Jokyojo, maybe Iori Yagami and Benimaru Nikaido), Sie Kensou (Chinese) and Robert Garcia (Italian-American), curiously enough, do. There's also Akari, and certainly others. Tsugumi Sendoh from Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition is pretty much a walking Ōsaka tribute, and although she doesn't use Kansai-ben, Xiangfei's move names are mostly references to Ōsaka locations.
    • In the case of Robert, Word of God explains that he should be speaking English with a heavy Italian accent, and since there's no real equivalent in the Japanese language they went for Kansai-ben. There's no explanation as to why Kensou talks in Kansai-ben, but fandom speculates it's to accentuate his Butt-Monkey traits.
      • Actually, those who listen very closely to the Japanese voices in the Psycho Soldier game (the one Kensou and Athena come from) will notice that Kensou said oki-ni (an old-fashioned Kansai phrase used to say thanks) in certain occasions.
  • Asuka Kazama from Tekken speaks in Kansai dialect. Not only she's from Osaka, but Tekken 5 has her showing up in one of the most famous Osakan sightseeing spots: the iconic Tsutenkaku tower.
  • Breath of Fire III actually had, in the original Japanese version, a character named the Kansai Dolphin which not surprisingly spoke entirely in Kansai-ben. The English localisation took a rather unique approach in rendering the Kansai-ben in an extremely thick, "Crocodile" Dundee or Steve Irwin-esque Australian accent that actually had the option for translation into American English.
  • Not to forget the whole Manillo/Gobi race in general and Marlok in particular from Breath of Fire IV
  • Kurt, Bill, Whitney, and a few other NPCs in Pokémon Gold and Silver. This is justified as Johto is based on Kansai.
  • Catherine Kyohbashi from Arcana Heart 2 speaks fluent Kansai-ben. She was born in the U.S.A., but her grandmother is from Osaka.
    • Kyohbashi is, among other things, the name of a bridge across the Neya River (Neyagawa) north of Osaka Castle. The Kyohbashi commercial district around the bridge has a lot of bars and love hotels.
  • Persona:
  • Sakura Wars:
  • Senran Kagura:
    • Hikage speaks this courtesy of her voice actress, Ryōko Shiraishi.
    • There's also Karasu, but this is only discussed.
  • Mapo Tofu from Tale of Food is dubbed with an Osaka dialect in the Japanese release.
  • Fire Emblem:
    • In the Japanese version of Fire Emblem: Awakening, Brady speaks in Kansai-ben. The dub switches it to him speaking like a 50's greaser.
    • In the original Japanese version of Fire Emblem Fates, Mozu (voiced by Juri Kimura) talks in Kansai-ben to accentuate her Country Mouse traits. The localization didn't use any accent for her, save for two or three more rural-like phrases.
  • A rare western game example: DLC character Jiro of PAYDAY 2 speaks only in Kansai-ben Japanese.
  • Vire from The Legend of Zelda: Oracle Games also speaks with Kansai phrases in the visible text.
  • In Fate/Grand Order, Shuten-douji speaks in a breathy, sultry Kyoto variant of the Kansai-ben — with good reason, as Mount Ooe is located in Kansai, in Kyoto prefecture.
  • In the Japanese version of Splatoon 2, New-Age Retro Hippie Flo speaks in a Kansai dialect.
  • Zeke and Dahlia in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 have Kansai accents, separating themselves from the other characters' standard Japanese accents. In the English dub with its variety of accents, Zeke comes from Tantal (Received Pronunciation) but speaks in a London accent, while Dahlia is a Blade (standard American) but speaks with a Texan accent. These are reasonable ways to translate the Kansai accent, except that one sidequest puts a focus on both of them, including a character commenting on the two of them having the same unusual accent, which is lost in the English dub, replaced by a joke of Zeke doing a horrible job of mimicking Dahlia's accent.
  • Yakuza:
    • Goro Majima speaks with an Osaka accent thick enough to cut with a knife. However, it is implied that he didn't grow up speaking it, and in the end, determining how much is a result of working in Osaka for a long time and how much is part of a long-standing effort to mess with people around him is an exercise left to the player. Similarly, Taiga Saejima also uses the Kansai dialect, despite being born in Tokyo. Saejima's accent is a lot more authentic though (it helps that his voice actor was actually born in the region).
    • Yakuza 6 has Tsuyoshi Nagumo. If Majima's Kansai is thick enough to cut with a knife, Nagumo's Kansai is so thick you'd need an axe to chop it down.
  • Mika Kagehira from Ensemble Stars! speaks in Kansai dialect, possibly an Osaka accent, as he may be from there.

    Visual Novels 
  • Ace Attorney:
  • The Fruit of Grisaia: Amane normally speaks standard Japanese, but sometimes relaxes a little and speaks with an accent.
  • Natsume in Kara no Shoujo speaks in a weird manner that doesn't translate very well, but is noted instory as being based on the Kyoto dialect.
  • Yasuko Yamanouchi in Nurse Love Syndrome speaks very openly in her accent. She tried to hide it at first as Tokyo folks as she puts it (even though they're not in Tokyo) found it offputting but after a while she just dropped attempts to hide it.
  • Officer Ooe from Spirit Hunter: NG has a distinct Kansai accent that she uses to better pressure suspects into confessing. In the English translation, this is shown with her dialogue having more contractions than the norm, and replacing 'you' and 'your' with 'ya' and 'yer'.
  • Tokimeki Memorial:
    • Kijyo Madoka in Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 1 speaks Kansai-ben, and it's remarked upon several times over the course of his route. Kids at the park call him "Kansai no oniichan" ("Kansai bro") and tell the protagonist he chases away high school-aged bullies for them, which he waves away as the bullies being creeped out by his dialect; similarly, a guy who harasses the protagonist at the beginning of a date makes a run for it when he hears Kijyo speaking Kansai-ben. Kijyo also drops the dialect and speaks normally during the school play, which impresses the protagonist with how serious he seems.
    • In Tokimeki Memorial Pocket, the Game Boy Color version of the original game, Patricia McGrath (only when she's in Unstoppable Rage mode, though), as well as her brother and father, speak Kansai-ben.
  • Hideyoshi in Umineko: When They Cry frequently fakes a Kansai accent, proably to make himself look more approachable. The narration notes that he drops the accent when speaking to people who are actually from the Kansai region.
  • Atui in Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception has a rather slow and ditzy speaking style with a heavy Kansai accent. This is translated in English as her using Cockney-dialect speech, using diminutives such as "love" and "pet".
  • Gaulem speaks in a Kansai accent in Virtue's Last Reward. This was translated as a Cockney accent in the English dub.

    Webcomics 
  • Karin-dou 4koma: The three heavenly youkai of the west all speak various forms of Kansai-ben, with Sachi's being particularly thick.

    Web Original 

    Web Video 
  • From hololive:
    • Shirakami Fubuki speaks this, and it bears out with all the tells in her speech. Examples include some well-known phrases with her "Neko yanke" (猫やんけ, roughly "See, you ARE a cat!"), and "Kitsune jai!" (狐じゃい, roughly "I'm a fox, yo!").
    • Ookami Mio freely speaks in this dialect, with among the first things one will hear from her being that she uses uchi as her personal pronoun.
    • Oozora Subaru usually speaks in the neutral Tokyo-ben but she lets herself go and speaks with a Kansai accent when she's speaking one-on-one with Mio or her artist, Shigure Ui.
    • Yukoku Roberu's accent appears to be rooted in Hyogo and was then influenced by friends from all over the region, giving him a somewhat mixed regional accent. In one VTuber's Apex Legends tournament, he was part of a team called Kansai Noises.
    • Inugami Korone has a unique speaking pattern that was influenced by a number of accents from across Japan as she was growing up. The latest of these is Kansai-ben that melded into her speech after she moved in with her grandmother and the change is noticeable from when she debuted.
    • Sakamata Chloe's accent is rather subtle and doesn't really include any obvious tell, but she refers to McDonald's as "Makudo" in her The Radio Station stream, which is the chain's regional nickname in Kansai.

    Western Animation 
  • Star Butterfly in the Japanese dub of Star vs. the Forces of Evil slips into Kansai-ben at times, since her voice actress hails from there, albeit in later episodes she went into straight Kansai-ben without guilt. On the other hand, neither her parents nor Marco speak with that accent (except in a few funny scenes, at least in Queen Moon's case). This is especially relevant, because both Queen Moon and Marco are voiced by the Kansai-natives Aya Hisakawa and Kazuyuki Okitsu respectively. In fact, almost all the natives from Mewni speaks with this dialect as a way to make them sound more alien for both rest of the cast and the Japanese audience, and they're also voiced by people from Kansai as well.
  • Rolf speaks with a Kansai dialect in the Japanese version of Ed, Edd n Eddy, in order to emphasize his foreign behavior.
  • As a Cultural Translation to his original Scottish accent, Shrek speaks with the Kansai dialect in Japanese dubs to emphasize his rough and independent exterior.
  • Rubble has a Kansai accent in the Japanese dub of PAW Patrol.

Alternative Title(s): Kansai Dialect, Kansai Regional Dialect

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