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There are many characters in anime that speak the dialect of a certain region.

Including the Kansai dialect well known through Manzai and variety shows, various dialects are spoken by the characters. There are even some characters that speak artificial dialects to liven up the anime. Among them, who is the character that has left the strongest impression on the fans?

We at Anime!Anime! conducted a readers’ survey asking “Who’s Your Favorite Character that Speaks with a Dialect?”, and received 253 votes during the survey period from March 7 to 14.
Most of the voters were female with a gender ratio of 25% male to 75% female, and the age range was on the younger side with 65% under 20 and 20% in their 20s.

■Various characters with dialects from Kansai, Tosa, Satsuma, etc. made the list!
1st Place
Topping the list was Hattori Heiji from “Detective Conan” with roughly 11% of the votes.

Hattori Heiji, the high school detective of the west, received comments such as, “I love Heiji’s Kansai dialect. It’s fun to listen to the dialogue between him and his childhood friend Kazuha. They make me want to use the words, ‘Nanyate’ and ‘Seyakate’, haha”, “The voice actor Horikawa Ryou-san comes from Osaka prefecture, so Heiji’s Kansai dialect is natural and ear-catching,” and “I think his dialect makes the dialogue between him and Conan even more interesting!”

2nd Place
Coming in 2nd was Kunikida Hanamaru from “Love Live! Sunshine!!” with roughly 7% of the votes.

Fans point out her cute way of speaking with comments like, “How she adds ‘zura’ to the end of her words is so cute! I think it matches her unflashy character,” and “It’s cute how she tries not to use ‘zura’ but it slips out unintentionally.” Her childhood friend, Tsushima Yoshiko, calling her “Zuramaru” is probably another reason why she leaves a strong impression on her fans.

3rd Place
Sakamoto Tatsuma from “Gintama” takes 3rd place with roughly 5% of the votes.

The leader of Kaientai has a distinct way of speaking like adding “zeyo” to the end of his words. Readers said, “His Tosa dialect isn’t accurate but it’s cool,” or “His laughter is so over the top.” A character from a title that came to the end with the 2021 film “Gintama: The Final” made it in the top 3.

■Here are some comments for other characters!

For Tentomon from “Digimon Adventure”, “I grew up in Kobe, so the character with a Kansai dialect left a strong impression on me. I was surprised when I found out that he was voiced by Sakurai Takahiro-san who comes from Aichi prefecture.”
For Ichimaru Gin from “Bleach”, “He had a shady vibe from his first appearance, but in the anime, Yusa Kouji-san’s sexy voice and the Kyoto dialect made the character even creepier.”

For Koito Otonoshin from “Golden Kamuy”, “Konishi Katsuyuki-san’s Satsuma dialect is so amazing. I was surprised to hear that he’s not from that region and learned it through practice.”

There were many comments in this survey not only about the character but pointing out the performances of the voice actors. The survey reconfirms that being able to enjoy the rare performances of the voice actors adds to the charm of characters with a dialect.

■Top 20
[Who’s Your Favorite Character that Speaks with a Dialect? ]
1. Hattori Heiji “Detective Conan”
2. Kunikida Hanamaru “Love Live! Sunshine!!”
3. Sakamoto Tatsuma “Gintama”
4. Miya Atsumu “Haikyuu!!”
5. Ichimaru Gin “Bleach”
5. Nurude Sasara “Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle”
5. Tsunashi Ryuunosuke “Idolish7”
8. Inuyama Aoi “Laid-Back Camp”
8. Toujou Nozomi “Love Live!”
10. Koga Tomoe “Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai”
10. Naruko Shoukichi “Yowamushi Pedal”
12. Aida Hikoichi “Slam Dunk”
12. Epel Felmier “Disney: Twisted Wonderland”
12. Kagehira Mika “Ensemble Stars!”
15. Ikoma Tatsuhito “World Trigger”
15. Uraraka Ochako “My Hero Academia”
15. Kita Shinsuke “Haikyuu!!”
15. Hakata Toushirou “Touken Ranbu -Online-”
15. Yatogame Monaka “Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki”
15. Wataya Arata “Chihayafuru”

(Survey Period: March 7-15, 2021)

※This survey was held to investigate the readers’ “interests and attention towards current anime titles and characters”. The results should not be used to determine the supremacy of characters and titles. We hope this article will help you find new anime/characters and deepen your understanding of them.