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The Idiot from Osaka

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In Japanese media, if there's a character from the Kansai region (Osaka especially), chances are they're the most crass character present. In stark contrast to the rest of Japan, Japanese Politeness (or even just basic concepts like decorum and "good manners") doesn't exist for these guys. The people themselves are portrayed as lacking any semblance of sophisticated culture, being idiotic, loud and passionate, alcoholic, gluttonous, materialistic, prone-to-violence, incredibly cheap (yet somehow always broke), and speaking with a characteristic Kansai accent instantly recognizable to native speakers of Japanese. As such, they tend to be portrayed as The Big Guy, or possibly The Lancer to contrast with the Kanto speaking hero. 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.

In anime it is not merely a trope but a Cliché. Truth in Television in the sense that it is a Real Life stereotype. Usually, when someone from Kansai comes to Tokyo, he adopts a standard Tokyo dialect. Someone who insists on speaking Kansai dialect in Tokyo will be looked at as if he were some sort of Lower-Class Lout. As Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe, this stereotype is such that Osakans (and to an extent people from the Kansai region) in general are portrayed as brutish, crass, vulgar, and uncultured, regardless of socioeconomic class.

Alternately, an Osakan character may be a jokester. This character may actually be quite intelligent, but presents to the world a comedic face. The Boke and Tsukkomi Routine is heavily associated with this kind of character thanks to a tradition of Kansai comedians.

The reason this stereotype exists is because Osaka's forms of industry and production are generally less demanding than many of the kinds found within Tokyo. This coupled with a much less crowded city causes the people of Osaka to not need to be in as much of a hurry to get anywhere as is somewhat required in Tokyo. As a result, the people on average (by Japanese standard anyway) tend to be more laid back, calm, and openly friendly in personality (which also makes Osakans on average more welcoming of foreigners than people from Tokyo). Being so distinctly different in personality from the capital's residents tends to make Tokyo perceive Osaka as a place that is too informal and doesn't take everything seriously enough. Which isn't true, but that's how stereotypes work.

Also note that the trope title can be a Sublime Rhyme in Japanese ("Osaka no Baka").

Compare Eagle Land (especially the Boorish variety), "Ugly American" Stereotype, Deep South, Everything is Big in Texas, Only in Florida, the Small-Town Tyrant, Good Ol' Boy, Half-Witted Hillbilly (especially the Country Bumpkin, Backwoods Bigot and Inbred Ignoramus varieties) and Southern-Fried Private for its North American counterparts. Potentially compare also Brooklyn Rage (plus the Big Rotten Apple), Joisey and Southies, as Noo Yawk goon or Bahstin townie translations are also fairly common. Also compare Crass Canuck, Violent Glaswegian, Oop North, Dublin Skanger, Football Hooligans, The Quincy Punk, Fighting Irish, Northern Irish and Nasty, Amoral Afrikaner, and The Bogan for the other Anglosphere counterparts. Other counterparts include Asian Rudeness, Rambunctious Italian and French Jerk. Polar opposite is Formal Characters Use Keigo (Quite humorously, Keigo actually originated from the Kansai Dialect, particularly the Kyoto Dialect that was the norm in the Meiji Restoration).


Examples

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    Anime and Manga 
  • Ai Kora: Tsubame, the boisterous, hard-drinking, and slightly irresponsible Harem Nanny, has a Kansai accent.
  • Azumanga Daioh: Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga, who was branded with the "Osaka" nickname by Tomo simply for being from Osaka. 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 who's prone to strange thoughts, not a brash money-grubber; and she also didn't even speak in the stereotypical Kansai dialect, until she caved under Yukari's stubborn insistence that there's no need to "force" herself to speak in standard Japanese. Osaka is often teased for not saying things that a stereotypical person from Osaka should say. To top it off, she's not even a native Osakan; she was born in Wakayama and only lived in Osaka for a year. In the ADV Manga English translation, "Osaka" is apparently analogized to working-class Philadelphia (the dub of the anime recasts the accent as Texan, and the Yen Press translation likewise gives her a Southern accent). They even lampshade the naming in the show. She is actually listed in school under the name "Osaka", and laments that people keep viewing her that way.
  • Beast Wars II: Thrust and Dirge, a comedy duo. Also Diver.
  • Burst Angel: Takane Katsu and the other Osakan characters. A southern accent is used for the English dub.
  • Captain Tsubasa: Mostly averted by Makoto Souda, who is NOT an idiot but a Combat Pragmatist. He does play up the Hot-Blooded and arrogant side of the stereotype, however. And pays dearly for it when Napoleon provokes him into getting himself kicked out of the Japan vs. France game.
  • Cardcaptor Sakura: Kero-chan, despite being an ancient magical guardian, speaks in an Osakan accent and has many of the mannerisms: silly, cheerful, stubborn, etc. Sakura points this out to him the first time they meet; he claims it is because the Clow book was left in an Osaka library for thirty years so the accent rubbed off on him.
  • Case Closed: Zigzagged 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 sword-fighting 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 his prospect girlfriend Kazuha are BOTH prone to occasional fits of stereotypical Osakan obnoxiousness. The VIZ Media translation of the manga gives Hattori, Kazuha, and the rest of their family and friends from Osaka stereotypical Southern U. S. accents. In the English dub of the anime, they're from Alberta.
  • Dagashi Kashi: Played with and subverted in one episode, in which Hotaru pretends to be from Osaka as part of one of her Once an Episode rambling rants about dagashi. She's even able to affect the accent, albeit only sporadically. The fact that she's an idiot to start with (or at the very least a Cloud Cuckoo Lander / Ditz) makes it a very believable charade.
  • Death Note: Misa Amane is from Kansai. Subverted because she doesn't speak in Osaka-ben, despite having lived in Osaka before she came into the plot; 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, and in Misa's case it's a vital necessity since she's a Teen Idol and needs to have a broad appeal.
  • Excel♡Saga: Sumiyoshi. Compared to his roommates Watanabe and Iwata, however, he's the smartest of Excel's neighbors and probably the most normal character in the series. Unusually, his accent is rendered in English (in the translation of the manga) as a Geordie accent, which doesn't quite carry the same connotations (it's more associated with crudeness). Also, in the manga version of the story, he is not from Kansai proper, but instead is from Okayama prefecture (which is slightly to the west of the Kansai region).
  • Fresh Pretty Cure!: Tarte is a Weasel Mascot from another world who speaks with a Kansai accent.
  • Fushigi Yuugi: Tasuki. And his Expy in Absolute Boyfriend, the salesman Gaku Namikiri.
  • Gai Gin: Mentioned when Gin is planning to meet some netfriends in Osaka. According to her sources they talk with a weird dialect and "Oh yeah, they are all completely insane." When we meet him, though, the Kansai-born Pyon is perfectly intelligent and nice, despite a childish sense of humour (he takes delight in learning the meaning of the English word "boogers").
  • Gantz: The Osaka team takes the "idiot" in the trope to the logical extreme. Almost all of them are Ax-Crazy Trigger-Happy bastards that behave far closer to Eagle Landers, and their complete lack of Team Spirit gets them brutally slaughtered.
  • Get Backers: Emishi Haruki, the "Fresh Blood Joker". Also Natsuki Amon, who, it is explicitly mentioned, fakes an accent to come off as a cheerful buffoon.
  • Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Invoked by Jameson, the CEO of a company that specializes in cloning organs for transplants, has a very exaggerated Osaka accent and "good old country boy" mannerism (rendered as a corny Texas accent in the English dub) that the Major immediately notes as being absurdly fake.
  • Ghost Sweeper Mikami: Tadao Yokoshima whose brain is mostly filled with girls.
  • Ginga e Kickoff!!: Erika is from Osaka, and proud of it. She's a loud tomboy and a natural comedian.
  • Hajime no Ippo: The brash and talkative Naniwa Tiger Takeshi Sendo. He's from Osaka, has a thick accent (and is voiced by an Osaka native), boxes because he loves to fight strong men, and used to be a gang leader in high school... to protect other people from harmful gangs. His grandmother's nickname for him is "idiot".
  • Hamtaro: Maido-kun/Howdy is the lower-class, goofy, practical joker of the group. He speaks with a Kansai dialect in the Japanese version and with a Southern American accent in the English version.
  • Hana-Kimi: Shuichi Nakatsu and his garishly dressed mother who is absolute comic relief.
  • The Hating Girl: Ryouji's ex, Towa Naoko. She's rather boorish and overbearing, and seems to enjoy taunting Asumi in the chapter where they first meet.
  • Hayate the Combat Butler: Sakuya Aizawa sees life as one huge Boke and Tsukkomi Routine.
  • Hetalia: Axis Powers:
    • Spain speaks and acts like this. Although he's definitely not from Osaka.
    • Actually averted with the guy who represents the Osaka prefecture, who is kind of a keet but not an idiot.
  • Hyper Police: Sakura the kyuubi-fox is both a trickster, since she is a kitsune, and moneygrubbing (homeless solely because it saves money). She also speaks with one of the thickest Kansei accents in anime.
  • IDOL × IDOL STORY!: Hibana Akagiri is a native of Hiroshima rather than Osaka, but she still has many traits of this trope. Although she hasn't had much focus in the series itself, her profile describes her as "unrefined", her self-described reason for entering the idol audition is written in a very rustic patois, she has red hair and talks about getting fired up, and her hobby is fighting games. The assessment also mentions some concerns she can't see things through to completion.
  • Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi: Sasshi is not just from Osaka — he lives in Osaka. When not hopping worlds back and forth, that is. He's still an idiot though.
  • Kill la Kill: Mostly averted. Kaneo Takarada lives in Osaka and fits the stereotype of a greedy son of a bitch, but he's also a tactical mastermind who gives Honnouji Academy's forces a run for their money.
  • Kodocha: Fuuka Matsui seems to be this since she's as hyper as Sana Kurata and she lived for years in Osaka (and even has the accent). But she's an aversion in the end, since she's also smart, athletic and popular enough to be The Ace of the story.
  • Love Hina: Downplayed with Mitsune "Kitsune" Konno, who's from Kansai but is more of a crafty trickster than an idiot. That said, she does fit the stereotypes of always being short on cash and loving alcohol to the point that she's almost never seen without her booze...except at one point, where it's replaced with vinegar. She isn't pleased.
  • My Monster Secret: Youko Shiragami is actually fairly smart (she does quite well in her studies), but can be surprisingly ditzy. On the other hand, the entire premise of the series is that every single character is "just a little dumb", so she's got plenty of company in that regard. But she definitely fits the cheerful, stubborn and competitive parts. Her father Genjirou also qualifies for the same reasons.
  • Neon Genesis Evangelion: Toji Suzuhara is a subversion. On the surface he fits the stereotype by being brash and short-tempered while having an obvious Osaka accent, but on the other hand it also turns out that he is amongst the most mentally stable and moral members of the cast (not a big feat, admittedly, but still). The English translation of the manga exchanges his Osaka accent for a Brooklyn one. Notably, the Self Parodying Audio Play, Evangelion: After the End, has Asuka outright insulting him by calling him a "country bumpkin".
  • Ojamajo Doremi: Downplayed with Aiko Senoo; while she's not an idiot, she's still a brash, Book Dumb tomboy who is known for her distinctive Kansai dialect and often complains when others imitate it. She has the Osaka comedy routine down and is a very smart bargainer.
  • The Prince of Tennis:
    • Played with. Kintarou Touyama is a very naive and over-imaginative Wild Child 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 and use the accent... 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. (Though it's highly likely that Yuushi was just playing along, as the tsukkomi to Dabide's bokke. And on the other other hand, Atobe does treat 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.
    • 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.
  • 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.
  • Real Bout High School: Shizuma Kusanagi 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.
  • Slam Dunk: Hikoichi Aida. His older sister Yayoi is much more savvy, but prone to silliness once in a while.
  • Transformers: Robots in Disguise: Gusher (Slapper).
  • Transformers: Super-God Masterforce: Browning, the comedic mascot.
  • Upotte!!: While not explicitly stated to be from the Kansai region, Ichiroku/M16A4 speaks in an Osakan accent and has many of the mannerisms: silly, cheerful, stubborn, foul-mouthed.
  • Urayasu Tekkin Kazoku: Noriko Nishikawa, Kotetsu's poor neighbor and classmate who can stand up being a tough kid and has just as bad grades as his.
  • Witch Hunter Robin: Yurika Doujima 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.
  • Yaiba: Spiderman is a living parody of Osaka people: Kansai dialect? Check! Very greedy and materialistic? Check! Likes a lot of Takoyaki?. Check!
  • Yakitate!! Japan: Kyousuke Kawachi 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.

    Literature 

    Live-Action TV 
  • Alien vs. Ninja: Nezumi is a textbook example, albeit a live-action one.
  • Gekisou Sentai Carranger: Minoru Uesugi, aka Green Racer, is depicted as hailing from Osaka. This may be an Actor Allusion as Minoru's actor, Yoshihiro Fukuda, is also from Osaka.
  • Kamen Rider:
    • 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 badass gear.
    • Kamen Rider Double: Akiko Narumi, whose foolishness comes more from being somewhat sheltered and being the Audience Surrogate, emigrating to Fuuto in the first episode. Her father Sokichi thoroughly averts this, though it's unclear if he was Osakan or if his family simply lived there. Making it even funnier, a Monster of the Week puts Akiko in an Imagine Spot which transplants the plot to Osaka, including Philip and Ryu Terui transformed into stereotypical lazy Osakans while Shotaro is the Fish out of Water transplant from the big city. In Philip's case it may be an Actor Allusion, as Masaki Suda actually is from Osaka.
    • Kamen Rider Hibiki: Nishiki from The Movie, in keeping with the five movie Riders' Location Theming.
    • Kamen Rider Den-O: Kintaros isn't actually from Osaka, but speaks the dialect. And while he's not an idiot, he is kind of The Ditz; in his spotlight story arc, his contractor wanted to become the best karate-ka he could, so Kintaros trained his body...with Sumo. And didn't realize it until a couple of preteen boys told him.

    Music 
  • Hypnosis Mic: Sasara Nurude and Rosho Tsutsujimori of Dotsuitare Honpo, boke and tsukkomi respectively (and Sasara is boke to Samatoki during their time as Mad Comic Dialogue). Sasara is the one who fits the trope best, having the most overt Kansai dialect, his occasional tendency to play the fool to lighten the mood and his beckoning cat/koban speakers bringing to mind the concept of someone who likes to make money. Rosho also tends to slip into a Kansai dialect when angered.
  • Kanjani 8, a boyband devoted to the stereotype.

    Professional Wrestling 
  • CIMA has sometimes dipped into this during his late babyface runs, emphasizing traits of this as his brash, lively and wily nature. His frenemy Gamma also counts, although he has done it even while heel.
  • Sumie Sakai has lived in Yokkaichi, Suzuka and Kanazawa but has been billed from Osaka more than once and been treated as a dimwit more than once while she was. Ironically the most extreme case was in the US based Womens Extreme Wrestling, though it did use the WEW initialism in reference to the Kodo Fuyuki era off Japan based FMW, which Sakai was also briefly a part of. After "returning" from "deportation" this was downplayed to Sakai "merely" not knowing what was going on because she knew no English. Most US promoters bill Sakai from Joisey instead.

    Video Games 
  • Deltarune: Susie is a loud, brash, and crass bully whose book smarts are implied to be well below ideal. Consequently, the Japanese translation depicts her as a Bokukko who normally refers to herself with the pronoun "ore" but switches to "atashi," commonly associated with the Kansai region, when trying to be polite around Toriel in Chapter 2.
  • Inazuma Eleven: Rika may count, considering her Stalker with a Crush and Self-Proclaimed Love Interest tract on Ichinose Kazuya. She's also a very unconvincing liar.
  • Mega Man Battle Network:, 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.
  • Pokémon:
    • In a meta-example, some of the characters' behavior in the Generation II games becomes somewhat amusing when you remember that Johto is Kansai.
    • Whitney has an Osaka accent in the Japanese version and, though she's not an idiot per se, she is a Genki Girl.
  • Sakura Wars: Li Kohran. Despite being of Chinese descent, she speaks in an Osakan accent, since she was 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.
  • In the Japanese version of Sonic Rush Adventure, Marine The Racoon is definitely this trope. In the English version, she has an Australian accent.
  • Tekken: Asuka Kazama. She can back up her bravado, to a degree, but is hot-headed to a fault and quick to jump to conclusions.
  • Like a Dragon: Goes without saying.
    • Invoked with Goro Majima, a Tokyo yakuza boss also known as "the Mad Dog of Shimano", and, as part of his mercurial, ultraviolent and goofy-in-a-the-Joker-sort-of-way persona, affects a Kansai accent thick enough to cut with a knife. However, this is very much a deliberate act; Majima is a complete nutter and approaches problems in ways that make no sense to anyone else, but there is method to his madness and his solutions, unorthodox and zany as they are, always work. Also, one of the first signs that things are about to get real is that Majima drops the accent.
    • Downplayed with Ryuji Goda, another Yakuza Boss, this time for the Go-Ryu Clan (he's also the very son of the 6th Omi Chairman Jin Goda). He's more Dumb Muscle at first glance, but he's suprisingly competent for merely being The Brute of the Omi. Subverted; He's actually a Korean born in the Jingweon Mafia, but as he's lived in Kansai since he was just an infant, he blends in remarkably well.
    • Yakuza 6 has Tsuyoshi Nagumo, who's actually more of "The Idiot from Hiroshima" due to being from Onomichi.
    • Lost Judgment: Kaito Files has Shusuke Kenmochi. He speaks with a loud Kansai accent, is an alcoholic, and loves to brawl. Both the Alcohol and the Brawling both cloud his head enough to make him forget about accidentally killing Mikiko's family by way of arson.
  • Yo-kai Watch: Babblong has an Osaka accent in the Japanese version. He is extremely talkative, prone to boring rambling, and has a Gag Nose. Anyone he possesses also begins to speak with an an Osaka accent. The English dub made him into a parody of Jimmy Durante.

    Visual Novels 
  • Ace Attorney: Oosawagi Natsumi (Lotta Hart in the localization) is a fiery tabloid photographer. Reportedly she was so much of an Osaka stereotype that one of the Osaka-born staff members took mild offense to her. In the localization she is from 'The Heartland' and speaks with an appropriate accent. Natsumi/Lotta often outright admits the fact that she is the walking embodiment of this trope and always fiercely tries to defend her homeland and de-power the stereotype by claiming that she's the only one who really fits the trope in Osaka/Rural America.
  • Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito: Ken-chan and Meirin. 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.

    Webcomics 
  • Krakow: Discussed:
    Boss: Tom, have you noticed that Yamaguchi-san speaks with an Osaka accent?
    Tom: She's from Osaka?
    Boss: No, she's from Kanto. But Yamaguchi-san is a very unrefined, gruff woman. She also drinks heavily and is overly obsessed with money.
    Tom: But... that doesn't make any sense!
    Boss: *thhk* It would seem you do not understand Japanese culture.

Foreign Dubs

  • In the Japanese dubs of the Shrek movies, the eponymous character (played with a Scottish accent in English), voiced by Masatoshi Hamada, is given a Kansai accent to match his violent, crude, and temperamental personality (as supposedly the Scottish accent does as well).

Alternative Title(s): The Baka From Osaka, Idiot From Osaka

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