udon_tea | Wolfwood's Kansai Dialect

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I was writing a post on the personal pronouns used by characters in Trigun, but the section on Wolfwood started getting too long because I couldn't help adding fun facts about his dialect, so I decided to separate that into its own post!

(Disclaimer: this is not a linguistics post—I'm just putting together fun facts I’ve learned from reading interviews, articles, and talking with other fans and Japanese speakers. I’m not a native speaker, much less an expert on Kansai-ben, so please take everything with a grain of salt.)

For those who may not be aware: in Japanese, all versions of Wolfwood speak with a Kansai dialect (a.k.a. Kansai-ben). It is spoken in the Kansai region of Japan, which encompasses the cities of Kyoto, Osaka, Nara and Kobe. It differs from the Standard (Tokyo-based) Japanese that is taught to foreigners and that most characters in Japanese movies and TV speak, in intonation, vocabulary, and grammar. To speakers of Standard Japanese, it is said to sound more melodic, but harsher at the same time.

Map of Japanese dialects, from Wikimedia.

You may be familiar with other characters in anime and manga who speak Kansai-ben, whether because they're from the Kansai region, or, as the folks from kansaiben.com described:

It may be because creators expect to set a laid-back, carefree, happy-go-lucky (and sly or sneaky) character in their story, since these qualities are considered typical of Kansai-jin.

A other few well-known examples include Heiji Hattori from Detective Conan/Case Closed, Kero-chan from Cardcaptor Sakura, Ten from Urusei Yatsura, and Atsumu and Osamu Miya from Haikyuu. My personal favorite (other than Wolfwood, of course) is Shinobu, the reigning karuta queen from Chiyahafuru.

Here are some examples of characteristic Kansai-ben in Wolfwood’s speech:

masculine first-person pronoun わい (wai), usually rendered as ワイ in katakana in the manga.
the copula is や (ya) rather than the standard Japanese だ (da).
あかん (akan) = “no”, negative interjection. Used in a similar way as ダメ (dame) in standard Japanese. He says “akan” a lot!
ほんま (honma) rather than ほんとう (hontō) = really, truly.
おおきに (ookini) rather than, or in addition to, ありがとう (arigatou) = thank you.
ちゃう (chau) rather than ちがう (chigau) = wrong.
negative suffix へん (hen) rather than ない (nai). Example: わからへん (wakarahen) rather than わからない (wakaranai) = “I don’t understand”.

And finally, while the words are not different, there’s a reversal in how rude the insults バカ (baka) and アホ (aho), both meaning “idiot”, are considered between the East and West in Japan. In the East (Tokyo), “baka” is more common and often used playfully, so “aho” is considered more insulting. In Kansai, it’s the other way around; “baka” is the stronger insult. Wolfwood often can be seen calling Vashドアホ (doaho), meaning “total idiot”.

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According to Trigun's creator, Yasuhiro Nightow, Wolfwood's Kansai-ben stands for an unspecified English-speaking dialect [1]. Despite that, it leads a majority of Japanese fans to read Wolfwood as an Osaka man, even giving him particular Osaka-isms such as strong opinions on food—udon soup, takoyaki, and okonomiyaki are particular points of Osaka pride. Wolfwood can be seen eating udon soup at a few points in the manga!

Trigun Maximum v.6 ch.5.

A great influence towards Nightow's decision to have him speak that way may be that Wolfwood's model and inspiration (Tortoise Matsumoto, the lead singer of the band Ulfuls) is an Osaka native.

Kansai-ben is typically localized as a US Southern dialect in English [2], and there are some parallels—the Kansai (West) vs. Kanto (East) rivalry could be compared to US North vs. South, and Kansai-ben is sometimes used to code a character as rural, or an unsophisticated "hick" (and so are the dialects of Shikoku and Tohoku [3]...)—but it's not an exact one-to-one, and in my experience, the most common connotations of these dialects in their respective countries tend to be different. Many people find Kansai dialects attractive [4], and I think you can see a little of that with Wolfwood's 1998 anime voice actor, Shou Hayami... he's famous for having a smooth, "sexy" voice.

Technically, Nightow never specified that Wolfwood has a US Southern accent, so whatever accent or dialect you imagine him with is just as correct as any other. Neither of the official English dubs for the anime adaptations chose to give him a non-standard dialect, though.

Other stereotypes that Japanese people associate with Kansai and Osaka include: concern with money and stinginess (which may be related to Osaka being a historical commerce capital), good humor and comedy (Osaka is known for its famous comedians), friendliness, and a directness that goes against the expectation of Japanese politeness. [5]

According to many, a strong Osaka dialect sounds rugged and makes the standard Tokyo dialect seem delicate and "unmanly" in comparison. This was exploited in the skit "West Slang" from Trigun: The 2nd Donut Happy Pack (part of the Trigun 1998 soundtrack discs). In this skit, performed by the series’ Japanese cast, the roles are reversed and everyone speaks Kansai-ben except for Wolfwood, who is relentlessly bullied for his “girly” Tokyo speech. There’s an English translation of the dialogue in the comments section of the video.

(He also uses the first-person pronoun "boku" and honorifics for the other characters, which is uncharacteristically humble for him.)

Speaking of: both Vash’s and Wolfwood’s voice actors in the 1998 anime come from Kansai! Nightow insisted on casting a Kansai native for the role of Wolfwood. He initially thought that Vash’s VA, Masaya Onosaka, would make a good Wolfwood, and was skeptical of Shou Hayami, the actor who eventually played him. However, Hayami won everyone over with his performance. [6]

Hayami: See, it's a Kansai-dialect part, you know, and although I'm originally from Kansai, I've almost never played any parts like that. But once, just before Trigun started, I was out late drinking with (sound director) Honda, and he said, "Hayami, you're from Kansai, right?" and I said, "That's right," so I wonder if that was it. I can't think of anything else that could have led to it.

--So, Wolfwood was scouted in a bar in Shinjuku. (laughs)

Hayami: Sorry, everybody, for coming in in the middle, not being here from the beginning. (laughs)

Nightow: To me, Wolfwood makes a strong impression because he's so outspoken. Vash gets introspective all the time, doesn't he, saying, "I..."("Boku...") like he's going to curl up with his chin on his knees. (laughs) I brought Wolfwood into the story because I wanted someone to talk back to him. When I heard Onosaka's audition, I thought he'd make a good Wolfwood, but he ended up being cast as Vash, and then when I heard that Hayami had been cast as Wolfwood, I couldn't imagine it at all.

Nishimura: I think a lot of people felt that way.

Nightow: But then when I saw the acting in episode nine, he brought so much to the character that I hadn't imagined. I thought, I just can't bring out this seductive quality in my manga.

Nishimura: At the session, everyone was saying Hayami's voice was sexy. (laughs)

Nightow: "Mm, baby, you're nice and comfortable to sleep with"--what a stud! (laughs)

Hayami: Is that so. (laughs)

On the other hand, Wolfwood’s voice actor in Stampede, Yoshimasa Hosoya, is originally from Hiroshima, but he’s no stranger to playing characters with other regional dialects; among others, he also voiced Arata in Chihayafuru, whose strong Fukui dialect is a major plot point at the start of the series.

If you want to learn more about the differences between Kansai-ben and Standard Japanese, I recommend taking a look at kansaiben.com! They also include video examples of dialogue in both dialects so that you can hear the difference. Note that the website presumes a very basic knowledge of Japanese language and the ability to read hiragana. If that’s not your case but you’re still curious, the Wikipedia page for Japanese dialects is a good place to start.

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[1] 1999 Puff Magazine character profiles, translation 1 by Sumire-chan, translation 2 by uynumeotp and cerealandchoccymilk.

[2] [Edit 2025.02.18] While looking for information on other Kansai characters in anime, I came across this post by udaitenma discussing the way that Kansai-ben tends to be localized for an English-speaking (presumed USAmerican) audience, and how the status quo of defaulting to an exaggerated US Southern dialect (or, slightly less commonly, AAVE) can impart cultural connotations that the character did not originally have, and usually fails to communicate the nuances present in the Japanese text. It’s good food for thought and I recommend giving it a read!

[3] Why Japan’s Northern Dialects are Shorthand for “Hick” - Unseen Japan.

[4] Kansai Dialect vs Standard Japanese (Osaka-ben!) - Japanese Ammo with Misa.

[5] Japanese Regional Stereotypes - James Darnbrook.

[6] Trigun Roundtable Discussion from Monthly Satellite Times v.7, translated by Sumire-chan.