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Kansai Regional Accent: Difference between revisions
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{{Useful Notes|wppage=Kansai dialect}}
In Japanese, ''Kansai-ben''. Accent commonly associated with the Kansai region of Japan. Since most anime is made in Tokyo (the accents sound different even if you can't understand them), this is usually very thick and exaggerated. It's also usually the first variation to pop up. The Kansai region generally consists of Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Wakayama, and Nara, as well as the surrounding region. While the dialects generally get lumped together as Kansai-ben because of their general similarities, there are distinctions between them.
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* Saying "se ya naa" instead of "sou da ne" ("I know, right?"; "I agree."; "Is that so?")
* Using "meccha" (not [[Humongous Mecha|that mecha]], the "ch" is soft like "Charles") instead of "tottemo" as an intensifier.
* Listen closely to when they say something like "e~to" (uh; um; er...). The "e", which is pronounced "eh", will be pronounced ''a bit'' more like "ih" (IPA: ɪ). This is easier to pick out when singing, as it is more exaggerated, making words like "shonen" sound ''a bit'' more like "shon'''ih'''n" or "shon'''uh'''n".
For a good explanation of Kansai-ben versus standard Japanese, see the following page:
http://www.nihongoresources.com/language/dialects/kansaiben.html
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{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] ==
* Maeda, the main character of [[Rokudenashi Blues]], slips back into his natural (and extremely thick) Kansai accent whenever he gets mad.
* [[Ranma ½]] has [[Bifauxnen|Ukyo Kuonji]], an Osakan 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 from [[Itazura na Kiss]] has a very thick Kansai accent. He even uses the word "aho" instead of "baka".
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* Nanako Kuroi in ''[[Lucky Star]]'', and NOT from that region! In the English dub, they handle this by giving her a Southern accent.
* Mikan in ''[[Gakuen Alice]]''.
* ''[[Lovely Complex]]'' takes place in Osaka, and the characters speak accordingly. This helps reinforce the two main characters being perceived as a [[Boke and Tsukkomi Routine|Manzai comedy duo]].
* Hazel from ''[[Saiyuki]]: Reload Gunlock '' is from "a land far west of India" (by his Old West themed appearance, implicitly America), but speaks in Kansai-ben. In this case, the "brash outsider" associations of the dialect contrast with the character's exaggeratedly gentle and friendly demeanor; the less confrontational he delivers "Sanzo-han", the more sarcastic it sounds.
* An episode of ''[[Ghost in the Shell]]: Stand Alone Complex'' has a character (actually a brain in a box) faking a Kansai accent. The English dub has him doing an overblown Texan accent.
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** Hitoshizuku Amaō and Teletraan 10 in ''[[Kiss Players]]''
* Antonio/Spain from ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]''. Himayura [[Accent Adaptation|typically renders Spanish speaking countries speech as Kansai accents.]] Also, Berwald/Sweden speaks Touhoku-ben, Denmark speaks Ibaraki-ben, Belgium speaks Shiga-ben, and Feliks/Poland, like, totally speaks Nagoya-ben.
** 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 [[The Idiot From Osaka|personality]].
* Natsumi from ''[[Sketchbook]]'' speaks Fukuoka-ben, with its typical drawn-out vowels. It's weird that she is the ''only'' one who speaks that way, considering the series takes place in the Fukuoka prefecture.
* Averted in ''[[GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class]]''. Awara's accent, perceived as the Kansai dialect, is actually the Nagoya dialect.
* The Osakan characters (particularly Takane) in ''[[Burst Angel]]''.
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** 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 [[wikipedia:Shiga Prefecture|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]].
* 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]]''.
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* 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.
* The characters from the Nue story in ''[[Mononoke]]'' speak Kyoto-ben since the setting is near the capital. The ~han honorific is fairly prominent.
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== [[Literature]] ==
* [[Word of God|Her author]] has stated that Gamu of ''[[Kokoro]]'', who has a casual western accent, [[Translation Convention|actually]] uses a Kansai-ben, although her personal pronoun is "[[Bokukko|ore]]".
* "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.
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
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* 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 [[The King of Fighters|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, Kensou (Chinese) and Robert (''Italian-American''), curiously enough, do. There's also [[Last Blade|Akari]], and certainly others. Tsugumi 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.
* Asuka Kazama from ''[[Tekken]]'' speaks in Kansai dialect.
* ''[[Breath of Fire III]]'' actually had, in the original Japanese version, a character named the Kansai Dolphin which [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|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''.
* Kurt, Bill, Whitney, and a few other NPCs in ''[[Pokémon Gold and Silver|Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver]]''.
* 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" 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.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Useful Notes/Japanese Language]]
[[Category:Useful Notes/Japan]]
[[Category:Language Tropes]]
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