"Anime Characters Don't Talk Like Real Japanese People" Explained

[@ThatJapaneseManYuta]

I hope I covered the most important stuff in this video. It's a really fun topic to talk about and there are many subtle differences even many Japanese people are not fully aware of. You need to be fairly proficient in Japanese to fully understand these subtle differences. (The obvious ones are not hard to understand.) So if you want to learn Japanese with me, I will send you Japanese lessons where I teach you the kind of Japanese that real-life Japanese people speak. Click here and subscribe bit.ly/3skVj6q

[@startnetworkbabinski3036]

Hey, so where that animation language come from ? Were was it in use before animation existed ? japanese theater ?

[@idleeidolon]

is there any fictional japanese work in mass media that strives for realism in acting/speech? I noticed that in videogame motion capture as well, if it's a japanese game, the actors, instead of attempting to move realistically, move as if they were in a theater stage. it's really off-putting especially since the camera is close to their faces, but their emoting is exaggerated (as all stage acting tends to be since the audience is far away from the stage)

[@neohybridkai]

@Dexy Chan I think what Yuta means is depend on the context and frequency (which is also discussed in this video)

[@Spyduck]

Would you consider the use of some sentence-ending particles as verbal tics? As a reference, like how some old or deity-type characters tend to speak with the "ja" or "no ja", or how upper-class women characters end with "desu wa". Verbal tics are supposed to be involuntary sounds, but what's your opinion on such speak patterns?

[@NachtysDreams]

In languages, there are different tones and inflections to communicate genuine emotions. I side with Miyazaki's approach, because it gives his stories and characters such a huge connection with the audience. It's not just a one-off show that you'll forget in a few years, it's story-telling at its finest. Thank you for doing this series - as a polyglot who's just starting to learn Japanese, I appreciate your videos very much. ありがとうございます!

[@TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

I can't imagine a real life Japanese 17 year old boy with the muscles of a middle aged bodybuilder calling his own mother the B-word, and saying "yare yare daze" over and over.

[@rainyw1nd]

Haha

[@TheGreatAtario]

"The b-word"? Babushka?

[@phroggers319]

Hmm...Yes, you again.But thats funny too

[@dogestep64]

Brownie?

[@zanyskeleton5291]

Hello again

[@yeoboseyoitsrebel-metaloid]

Of course Dio doesn’t speak like a Japanese person, he’s Brittish

[@imian7133]

Actually he's Bri'ish 😂

[@kirbybie]

He’s a piss baby is what he is

[@lorddio2737]

I DIO aprove this message

[@avemotherlilith]

M-m-ma-marinette?! Lol

[@reinhardtsanchez7952]

Bri'ish!?

[@БутерБрод-ы8ш]

Regular Japanese people aren't typically witches, billionaires, princes, pirates, vampires.

[@cahallo5964]

WHAT DO YOU MEAAAAN

[@Sapphire_Jack]

True but thankfully Catgirl Maids are real

[@anak_kucing101]

Nor sayajins.

[@rinatennouji5988]

and my trip to Japan is cancelled!

[@johanrg70]

Really? *mind blown*

[@CarlosRios1]

Damn so people in Japan don't yell, "WRYYYYYY"

[@ero-senninsama1734]

If thats the case... *I REJECT MY HUMANITY!! JOJOO!!!*

[@kittyhkitty]

Good bye jojo

[@theplagueofpestilence8504]

I'll never forgive the Japanese!

[@TheMarg2012]

Japanese do yell like "OH MAI GAAAAAAAA!".

[@bigreimu1878]

No they do that in Europe

[@Luke-cu1hk]

Hoh? You don't talk like Dio? Even though his voice acting is awesome? Hoho, very well, it only makes sense!

[@달팽이-o1i]

Jojo fans disgusting

[@diobrando1836]

Totodile IsBlue HOHO!

[@jackmcslay]

"You thought it was a legit japanese guy, but it was me, Dio!!!"

[@IsaacFoster..]

Hohoho , you thought I was Dio But its me Santa 🎅

[@IsaacFoster..]

@Virtual Tentacle Monster hmm , very good theory

[@glenndiddy]

What separates anime Japanese and real Japanese is that in anime speech patterns are often used as a tool to convey someones personality at a glance. While in actual Japanese the way you speak is more dependant on your surroundings than who you are. They are fundamentally used for different reasons and I think knowing at least basic Japanese will make anime a lot more enjoyable to watch, that was the case for me at least. I think it's really fun to see what kind of speech patterns characters use and what it could mean about their personalities

[@anitaagarwal7486]

Yeah. Subs arent a 100% accurate anyways. If u know Japanese u will be able to understand stuff even more clearly. No offense to the subs doe

[@JustSpectre]

Well in real life, we usually try to hide our true personality, while in fiction drama the author aims to reveal the characters personality so the reader/viewer can make a connection (be it positive or negative) to the character.

[@theobuniel9643]

Yeah, using "ore" and "boku" in real life depends on the situation and context, but in anime a person saying "ore" or "boku" is "fixed" (i.e. even in formal situations they still use their pronoun of choice).

[@valhatan3907]

I Always noticed this. This became some sort of stereotype/trope/cliche in anime. For ex, before a cold and no-nonsense characters (kuudere) talk, we already having an image to how she/he would sounds like (Kanade, Violet Evergarden, Rei Ayami, etc..) I started wondering does this always in anime? What about other media in general? Does western animation voice-acting does the same? For me, this quirk can fall into "cliche" but also an unique trait. Idk.

[@OCTAMAN]

Yeah same. Anime speaks in wild ways. But so does western cartoons. I don’t hear anyone who talks like Homer Simpson, or Rick Sanchez, they’re characters. Theatrical embellishments of how real people would react. Anime is no exception. It’s theater, a performance that distances itself from reality in order to entertain. At least that’s how I always viewed it.

[@dartwada]

3:00 Rick and Morty is very much an exception, too. They do the episode recordings in what a theater scholar might call 'naturalist' style, which is to say they're definitely trying to capture the feel of real world people having a conversation. They also, as I understand, do only one or two takes, which is incredibly irregular for almost anything but an adult comedy cartoon in the west

[@geschnitztekiste4111]

I think Rick's actor is even drunk during recording. He's method acting, if you will

[@languagesstuffbyandrey2370]

yes! thank you:) it’s also a kind of rumbling stylization at times 🙈 still a great example 👌✨

[@nikvalinsky]

Literally the non-story driven speaking scenes are almost entirely improvised

[@Navinor]

Japanese language is like an onion. Everytime you remove one layer there is another under it. 😆

[@Esvald]

My japanese teacher: The more you learn about japanese language, the more you will realize how little you know. How true. But also fascinating.

[@tacoanime1711]

I thought this was going to be a Shrek reference for a second

[@Navinor]

@@Esvald It is one of this languages where you have a meaning under the meaning under the meaning even when the sentence can sound completely normal. In german we have formal and informal language of course too. But it does not go to the extent where you can outright switch from "San" to"kun" literaly in a sentence. Furthermore compared to japanese you can not bring so much undertone into the german language. Because you have basically often very long sentences in german. Some japanese people in germany told me "The germans talk to much". Yes because it is not possible to cut the sentence short like in japanese.

[@zbigbozbboy5245]

@@Navinor no way, isn't shortening sentence is basic technique.😣. I don't think i have formal language either.

[@Navinor]

@@zbigbozbboy5245 Well. Of course there is "Slang" in german. But it is impossible to shorten german to such a degree as japanese. For example. In japanese just to say hello is extremely complicated for german people. In Germany you could always say "Hallo" ="Hello" Or "Guten Tag". It does not matter which social standing. Furthermore you can not cut down " Hello" any further in german. Japanese sounds to germans as if words are just "cut out". Japanese people can talk in such a way, where other japanese people are reading the meaning without additional words. In german it would sound like this: Instead of " What are you doing" it would sound like "What doing? "

[@califilipino]

Imagine Japanese girls going around yelling "EKUSPROSION!!!"

[@martelo589]

perfect.

[@hikarinosekai7020]

I had that in mind while watching the video 😂😂😂

[@somguynamedpaul]

You telling me they don't do that?

[@haterodiadordeplantao.680]

if they did, I would already live in Japan.

[@firefly618]

WHY ARE YOU INSIDE MY DREAMS- WHO ARE YOU

[@Sapphire_Jack]

Yuta: Japanese girls don´t say " *Ara Ara* " in real life How to kill millions of hopes and dreams in less then a second

[@sztallone415]

just what we needed in 2020 goddammit

[@zbigbozbboy5245]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@ポッポ-i9d]

" Ara Ara " Both men and women generally use various ways.rest assured! It is used when you are surprised or when you make fun of the other person (when you look like a couple) Another example is' "Ara?" "Arara?" (interest) "Arara..." “Aryarya” "Araaaaaaa..."(Discouragement) "Ara!" "AraAra!" ”Araaaaaaaaaa!” (Happy surprise) etc..

[@aikslf]

* how to kill dreams of all hardcore otakus It's straight-up cringe to hear "ara-ara" outside of anime. Even in anime it's cringe sometimes.

[@plr2473]

I had a Japanese girlfriend before who always said ara ara when she was displeased with something

[@Vesacek]

"Real life japanese dont use words like Kisama, Yare Yare and Ara Ara" Well, there goes my japanese vocabulary.

[@ogatatsumi8594]

Yare yare daze

[@fridz66]

I heard my senior say “yare yare” one time though when he was frustrated af.

[@watsonwrote]

@@fridz66 I think it's one of those things where people use these phrases very rarely, but since they're in the cultural consciousness sometimes they come up. Like in English I'm not likely to use the phrase "my goodness!" with a friend because it's very dated, but there's been a few times where I did anyway because either stronger expressions didn't seem appropriate, it seemed funnier in that context, or it somehow fit the flow of conversation better. Like I would never present someone with the response, "Uh. My goodness. Fuck, I'm sorry" as an example of consistent or natural English but I've defintely responded like that before. It's an interesting topic--how do we choose these phrases in the moment?

[@trans_vincent]

@@watsonwrote I don't think that people put much thought into responses like that so sometimes will say one phrase and then think it didn't sound quite right so just add on another one that does sound right. I would rarely use 'my goodness' as a response to another person saying something, but more as an expression of frustration at a situation and I can only assume that other languages have phrases like that that started out as a response to someone saying something, but have over time had a shift in what context they get used to become more of an expression at a situation instead.

[@rayzhang7591]

I mean, imagine you everyday Americans speaking like Hollywood movie characters.

[@Carlos-ne3zf]

Or spanish speakers talking like soap opera's characters

[@artthenecromancer404]

Carlos Meza Perez or african people screaming “OOOHHHHHH” whenever they get insulted. Like, people talk like that because they’re voice ACTORS. Normal people will talk normally. Some people are idiots (this isn’t directed at you by the way, just saying)

[@Carlos-ne3zf]

@@artthenecromancer404 yes, I get what you mean we often get our perceptions on the way people talk other languages mostly from shows that comes from them which severly distorted their way of speaking in order to make the dialogue more interesting or easier to undestand between different dialects of the same language.

[@artthenecromancer404]

Carlos Meza Perez I’m glad we agree :)

[@DmitryB-153]

Being a Russian it's difficult to get it. Our actors in movies are talking mostly like real life people, and if it's not then we can call it bad acting :T

[@Riff.Wraith]

Do you think the high usage of "literary" Japanese in anime may also come from the fact that they are adapted from manga, a medium with written dialogue and narration?

[@seneca983]

But IMHO that doesn't fully explain it. Dialogue, even in written form, doesn't have to be "literary" and could be more colloquial, as that's how people tend to speak in everyday life. Going for one or the other is a stylistic choice whether it's made by a creator of a manga or of an anime.

[@AICW]

You may be onto something. Especially since more and more anime are adapted from light novels these days, a textual medium, not manga.

[@Murasame13]

@@seneca983 OP stated "may also come from..." meaning that it isn't the only explanation, but ALSO MAY include manga/literature adaptations as part of the reason, not the entire/only reason.

[@moondust2365]

@@Murasame13 Yes, although I feel the point of the reply is that a person saying manga adaptation is a reason might be assuming that all manga use literary Japanese, even tho that's not the case. Some manga use it, some don't. So emphasis on MAY since there's a chance that it doesn't come from that. Of course, I don't read manga in Japanese (or at all) so I can't really tell how frequent literary Japanese is used in manga or light novels.

[@the-real-zpero]

Reminds me of a running theme in the early 17th century spanish novel "Don Quijote De La Mancha" by Miguel de Cervantes. In the book, the main protagonist is a middle aged and somewhat ugly dude that has been reading a lot of novels of the time. When the book came out, a lot of novels in Spain revolved around heroic characters going on adventures and taking land, because Spain had been in a 700 year war known as the "Reconquista" (reconquest) taking back lost territories from the Umayyad Caliphate. So a lot of people were somewhat "brainwashed" by these novels that romanticized the idea of going on an adventure and taking land for the crown and whatnot. So the character of the novel "Don Quijote" is essentially one extreme case of someone who is completely mad and actually thinks he is living in one of these books. As a result, he speaks with a very old form of spanish that I assume sounded like the 12th and 13th century spanish that was common in novels writen during the "Reconquista". As a result, in the early 17th century spain that the characters are living in (when the novel came out) his spanish sounds completely comical and even the characters in the novel think he's a weirdo who talks funny. Most of the time they can't even fully understand what he's saying because he talks like a 13th century character from a heroic story. The author of novel, Miguel de Cervantes, liked to poke fun at certain stereotypes and tropes of the time. Unfortunately it's harder appreciate this humor now because a modern speaker of 21st century spanish would have to be able to distinguish the 17th century spanish from the 13th century spanish, and that's not easily done, so the humor doesn't come across well anymore. I thought it was relevant to this video as the author of the novel is more or less making fun of a similar trope. It would be like a modern novel written about a guy obsessed with anime who talks like an anime character, and everyone around him think he is weird because of it. Oh and in case you were wondering, the reconquista war in spain ended the same year Columbus set off on his first trip westwards across the Atlantic, so a lot of people signed up as "conquistadors" when he came back with news because they had grown up reading novels that romanticized going on adventures to unknown lands. These novels had been written more or less to glorify the idea of going to battle against the moors, but when the moors were defeated and there was no more land to take back from them, many people were left thinking "now what do I do?" And so when they heard of new lands that they could go explore, they essentially thought that was their chance to go live their own adventure. Interestingly, despite what english sources might say, most people who signed up were not gold thirsty butchers, and in fact many people bank rolled their own trip and spent fortunes just buying equipment for a long adventure. Some spent the equivalent of what today would be $1 million, so most of these people were doing pretty well already (many had become rich after taking stuff from the moors during the reconquista) and as such, had no need for more and only wanted to live an adventure and explore. If you're confused about the discrepancy, I advise you look into the "Spanish Blacklegend". Most history books in english are descendants of it.

[@cinnerman]

this is really interesting! thank you for the history lesson!

[@Valspartame_Maelstrom]

they also don’t have a giant tear appear near their head when they’re upset!

[@Valspartame_Maelstrom]

Euler's Identity uh huh sure okay yes good okay yep mhmm yea

[@sevenproxies4255]

I don't think they shoot blood from their nostrils when sexually aroused either.

[@Valspartame_Maelstrom]

Seven Proxies that’s the texas horned toad.

[@Webberjo]

A single sweat drop is more for showing confusion, exasperation or embarrassment. Cross-popping veins (or just "veins") are for showing anger.

[@Valspartame_Maelstrom]

Webberjo which are all synonyms for upset.

[@md_vandenberg]

Street interview idea: show some examples of "animespeak" in written form to elders and ask them what they think of these characters. For example, since Megumin always speaks formally, would elders think she's uptight?

[@amia7z]

One day it will happen......one day......

[@Murasame13]

@@amia7z ?

[@thomasdawe1837]

i have never seen this anime but i would guess it is because she looks like a witch, more in character

[@ericcheese7594]

I didnt notice until it was pointed out to me that even actors in american movies don't speak normally.

[@ericcheese7594]

@IceCola Was partially mentioned in the video, but people in movies like in the marvel cinematic universe may speak with few mistakes, make snappy back and forth dialogue quips. Compared to normal conversation everyone seems like they always know what to say (as though it were scripted). Just like native Japanese speakers have expectations for how anime should sound, westerners may have expectations of how movies are supposed to sound.

[@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714]

For my nation it was always obvious, our film actors act as if they where in theather.

[@БутерБрод-ы8ш]

I used to transcribe interviews of people who lived a century ago. They would make so many mistakes! Many people in real life start saying a sentence, then change what they wanted to say midway. Sometimes it gets funny.

[@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714]

@@БутерБрод-ы8ш Changing mid sintence is even stranger if you have many conjugations and declinations because f you change a sentence half way everything is wrong now.

[@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714]

@ Do you italians make films in regional dialects to make them more interesting and realistic?

[@Junosensei]

My grandmother used to say "ara" a loooooot. It's a real expression that Japanese people use, but it's probably better not to treat it the same way you see it treated in anime. Even "kisama" has its usage, but most people go their lives without saying it themselves. The only people you hear' speaking more anime-like are kids because they mimic anime speech a lot in both play and to mimic their heroes.

[@Sileithel]

The latter happens in Spanish too. In Latin America, many children speak "neutral Spanish" or Mexican Spanish as far away from Mexico as Argentina. This is because Mexico is where most cartoons are dubbed and they either use Mexican Spanish or "neutral" (a fictional dialect of Spanish used in fiction so that a dub made in one country can be sold to all Latin American countries; it's basically a washed-out dialect in which slang, which varies greatly among countries, is omitted in favour of more neutral sounding words, and sometimes there's censorship of cussing).

[@user-nx9qh1po1n]

@@Sileithel I really hate that Neutral Spanish for the dubs. It doesn't let the voice actors, or even the script really shine.

[@XenoflareBahamut]

There's a reason why they're called Voice "Actors".

[@captaintitus7711]

@ nah,it is acting,no way same as real life

[@haterodiadordeplantao.680]

depending on the anime, they speak more normally.

Theres no reason, in evey other language, voice actors sound normal.

[@Qbesent]

Exactly 😂😂😂 it's weird asf when you hear "I shall remove this item from this room" like bro chill this is real life not a movie.

[@TheGamingTeam101Tgt101]

Kyané ? What are u talking people in cartoons and shit don’t sound normal

[@plvmbvm513]

I mean, I can't think of a single time someone legit said to me, "nice weather were having, isn't it" in exactly those words but I've read/heard such a phrase countless times

[@thing4826]

I legit say that all the time... I am the fool of the English language

[@moondust2365]

I feel like that's more of a British vs American thing. Although modern younger brits might say "Nice weather we' havin', innit?" or just "Nice weather, innit?" Full on "Nice weather we're having, isn't it?" would be more something that the Royal Family would say.

[@qaywsxedcrfvful]

"oi mate, noice we'a, innit?"

[@chaolayluu]

Who else noticed that added kisama Yuta added in the Terrace House example? 😂

[@nengyang5664]

I love how kyuubey is just casually next to him.

[@ajshim]

I see characters' speaking in Japanese animation as the same as western animation. Over exaggerated & made to be more memorable for that distinctive character. If animated characters spoke entirely like normal people it wouldn't be as entertaining. I remember speaking with an American voice actor & he told how some of characters he played were encouraged to be over the top. Since many of the characters he played were on children's shows. Just goes to show that there are ways animated characters speak & how real people speak. Besides I have seen real people try to speak like anime characters & it is just not natural. Feel incredibly forced & unnatural. The same thing applies to comic books. Especially the golden age comic books like classic Superman or Batman.

[@charliekahn4205]

This cannot stand to benefit the good citizens of Gotham, but sometimes sacrifices must be made.

[@Me-io3wg]

@@charliekahn4205 I think I'd say it applies to fiction in general. I'm a non-native English speaker, (though I picked up the language at around ages 2-3 from watching other people speak it, so you probably wouldn't assume that if I didn't have a weird accent on top of a speech impediment) and a pretty common mistake I see my peers make is trying to immitate things they've read in books. While learning from books IS good because it helps you build a large vocabulary, you can’t just come up to someone and go "Pleasant afternoon, esteemed individual, pardon my English, for my lexicon is limited due to English being my second tongue, but I am in your vicinity to enquire about the location of the convenience store." That would make you sound like a Jane Austen character at best and a weirdo at worst.

[@moondust2365]

@@Me-io3wg True. I think it'd be better for non-English speakers to use cartoons as a basis for learning English (like what kids here in the Philippines do) since it's closer to everyday modern American English than formal British English. Watching KZbinrs would also be a good idea, especially for "larger" languages like English, French, Spanish, German, Chinese, Japanese, etc.

[@rollinghills9283]

did everyone forget that dio ist japanese but hes British right? so that means queen Elizabeth might just go WWRRYYY

[@charlieueueueueue6578]

Hahahaha lol JoJo funny nothing better than JoJo everything is JoJo England is JoJo

[@mreverything7056]

Tbf she probably is a vampire too

[@charliekahn4205]

HELLEAUUUUUUUUUUU!

[@ADeeSHUPA]

@@charlieueueueueue6578 uP

[@AConnorDN38416]

I've actually heard Japanese people say あらあら in real-life conversations a bunch of times. But they don't say it so dramatically like in anime of course.

[@HapricotsB]

Whats that

[@kozuta8858]

@@HapricotsB it means "ara ara" or "my my" in English or "oh my" as well if im not mistaken

[@ZombieSlayerTakashi]

@@HapricotsB Ara ara

[@AConnorDN38416]

@@HapricotsB ara ara is something Japanese people will say sometimes in response to something kinda surprising, like usually in response to something unfortunate happening. Like if you say oh I broke my phone today they might respond with "ara ara!"

[@HapricotsB]

@@kozuta8858 thank you so much

[@chloevitagliano9565]

Dio: is in the thumbnail JoJo fans: *who has summoned the homosexual one*

[@udveetpatil8002]

Ouch! Thats rude!

[@kayodagamer]

@@udveetpatil8002 there profile picture is of jolyen and the account so there insulting them selves as much as you

[@kayodagamer]

Oh and WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

[@kayodagamer]

And no it who summoned me

[@udveetpatil8002]

@Dinosaur Kira NOOOOOOO!(CRIES LIKE JOSEPH CRIED CEASAR)(BTW I am not against gay people, just writing so someone doesn't get agitated)

[@lerquian1970]

Yuta, can you talk about how Sasha from AoT speaks Japanese? She has an accent and because she's ashamed of that she speaks formal Japanese with everyone. In S2E2 she's teased and looked weird because of that, but it's not that clear why in the subtitles.

[@ポッポ-i9d]

She speaks the dialect of Oita prefecture in Kyushu (Isayama's hometown)

[@breezechen7149]

In the aot anime, does anyone know what is Sasha's nationality? (Like, which country do you think the character is from)

[@xxMapSyrxx]

I believe Sasha's father refers to her family's people group as a minority people group within the Walls due to their lifestyle with heavy emphasis on hunting, but it is not clear if her speech pattern is related to this or not. This was definitely in the manga, not sure how much of it made it into the anime.

[@ポッポ-i9d]

S2E2 (09:16) sasha:”they oughta leave ours.” normal:hayaku deteikeba iinoni sasha's dialect:hayo detekeba iin-ni kansai dialect:hayo detekeba eenoni (hayou detekyaa eenen) Sasha's accent is very unique.I also live in Oita, but it is a little different from the Sasha dialect. Sasha's dialect is very limited in area. It's less common than the Kansai dialect, so it might be hard to hear.

[@dumbox33]

you've probably seen by now but he discusses her at length in his dialect video!

[@Algray_]

"No one speaks like Eric Cartmann" Seems like you haven't met enough "Karen's" and their little angels.

[@TheBrew3]

It's funny cause that's what South Park is making fun of

[@dimanarinull9122]

was about to comment about that... never underestimate the power of sounding like Cartmann at all times.

[@HenryNWhite-zp5zp]

@masakasama i think he meant the voice

[@suezuccati304]

Their little (fallen) angels

[@andreiteo6883]

Didnt think i would see someone on the other side of the globe wearing the same tshirt as me right now.

[@BillyBob-qk6vy]

*WORLD WIDE*

fun fact: you explained that in japanese "mou ii no?" means "shall we go" informally, well coincidentally, "mo' iimo" means almost the same thing in the roman dialect of italian (it's more aggressive, like "we are leaving right now!")

[@Nyonics]

That's not quite right. It means that in the context provided in the video, but the phrase is literally, "already good?" mou is used to express, "already," for positive tense, and, "anymore," for negative tense. So, "mou ikimashita," is, "already went," and, "mou ikimasen," is, "don't go any more." The adjective, "ii," means, "good." So as you can see, there's a lot of subtext in Japanese conversation. Many things are implied or inferred. That character can say, "mou ii no," to ask if someone is ready to go, but only because it's clear that they know which conditions in that context needed to be met in order for the person they were asking to BE ready to go. He knew she had something she was working on that she had to do first.

[@JohnDoesSports]

When I hear people talk about non-native Japanese speakers talking like anime characters, I immediately think of a non-native English speaker trying to sound like Bugs Bunny or Elmer Fudd.

[@ekszentrik]

The infuriating thing is when non-Japanese learners tell Japanese learners "You can't learn Japanese from anime!" as if they knew what they're talking about. They literally think it's like a different language, rather than being comparable to the English spoken in cartoons. You absolutely do learn enough. And recognising when keigo is used and when not etc. is trivial for a learner.

[@Sileithel]

I mean I would rather speak Japanese in an anime way and sound funny rather than no Japanese at all lol. At least I guess I could understand conversations. But then again if I were able to speak like an anime character then why not go a bit further and learn how to speak normal haha

[@lynxaway]

Right, I don’t think anyone who’s serious about learning the language is getting their speech patterns from cartoons! I personally like to pay attention to the dialogue in anime just to learn common words, in much the same way I started to learn English as a kid. Another comparison I can make is Arabic cartoons, which I’ve also watched a lot of because it’s my parents’ language :-) most Arabic cartoons are in Modern Standard Arabic, which is never used in conversation at all (except in some very specialized contexts, like if you’re a newscaster or a diplomat). So it makes me crack up to think of someone talking like that in real life.

[@Sileithel]

@@lynxaway that is very interesting. "Modern Standard" Arabic sounds, because of its name, like the kind of language people would actually use in real life. So what do Arabic speakers actually speak, then?

[@Kurostyle21]

Like saying "You can't learn English from KZbin videos or it's Always Sunny. They're talking grammatically incorrect and use colloqualisms." Dude, that is part of the language used so let me watch my stuff, be entertained and learn something while I'm at it.

[@lynxaway]

@Sileithel we speak in our native dialects! Arabic is diglossic, meaning we use two versions, one for writing and one for speaking. Spoken Arabic is split into a lot of dialects across different countries and regions. Only on TV do people speak using MSA, because animated shows are meant to be accesible to all Arabic speakers, usually. Hope that answers your question.

[@ekusupurosion8931]

Look at these clips! *shows 3 Takahashi Rie clips* man of culture

[@leonardchung3825]

Ekusupurosion Ikr, for a non-anituber he’s the most cultured youtuber I know of

[@Chaiiuna]

I read the title as “exposed” instead of “explained” it confused me for a sec.

[@Odeon1970]

B-B-B-BREAKING NEWS! JAPANESE ANIME CHARACTERS EXPOSED!

[@juanpablorobayo9891]

"People don't really want anime characters to sound like real life people" Me after being embarrassing for years and trying to sound like anime men: *cries*

[@Angras_advocate18]

Love the vid! Definitely going to my “best of dubbed anime playlist.

[@dragtheserg]

We already knew that because of how dramatic they talk

[@user-Korpan]

and yet people still want to learned Japanese from anime even though its unnatural.

[@Etelvinicius]

dramatically

[@ProtagonistOfficial]

@@user-Korpan There is no such thing as strictly natural Japanese. Context shapes what is natural for a given situation. This is to say that as opposed to just discounting something as unnatural for being anime, it is far more productive to contextualize why someone is speaking the way they are and to see what that tells you about the expectations of a given situation. Anime does not exist in a vacuum, and as such Japanese culture and conversational etiquette is still heavily present within anime.

[@inendlesspain4724]

@@user-Korpan The language used in most anime is still correct and perfectly understandable japanese, made by native speakers for other native speakers to understand, so it's still fine to use as learning material. I think you should give language learners' intelligence more credit than not expect them to be able to tell that people in the real world don't speak like cartoon characters, because I don't know anybody who reached fluency in japanese by doing nothing but watch anime.

[@danielantony1882]

@@inendlesspain4724 Exactly? Like... What's bad about sounding stupid sometimes if you can make someone laugh? It's not like you always do it XD

[@aegonthedragon6341]

"kisama", Vegeta's favorite word.

[@georgejoestarii9469]

Vegeta: KISAMA!!! Dio: WRRYYYYYYYYYY!!! *Gatling punches.*

[@AhJauBut]

It's pronoun.

[@aleee641]

@@AhJauBut So what? It's still a word.

[@justajobro1266]

That's the only thing I was thinking Vegeta's favourite words Kisama Kakkarotoo Kuso Baka Nani? Buruma

[@yuy2375]

vegeta no waza da

[@VictorBillordo]

I like the expression: "are you aware of your own defect" 😁

[@HelloHamburger]

Victor Billordo I see you’ve heard of the Japanese Educational system, so have I. I think I heard this from the KZbin channel “Life In Japan”.

[@timmyturner327]

@@HelloHamburger ah, a fellow intellectual.

[@azminek7154]

@@HelloHamburger Wasn't it Abroad in Japan?

[@yogeshghadge5748]

Abroad in Japan

[@EgnachHelton]

12:59 Yuta's dejected expression when he realized that he has to imitate a cat girl on screen...

[@trainsandmore2319]

That’s Kyube from Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

[@brianlewis6774]

Hey Yuta, terrific video yet again! Perhaps you could do a video about how the Japanese language has changed over the last hundred years or so. That would be fascinating!

[@kristinejamieg.austria4655]

i second this!

[@БутерБрод-ы8ш]

Yessss that would be great

[@finthechat5257]

I would enjoy that too!

[@aikslf]

That would trigger a lot of people. Because the history of the language is tied to the country's cultural and political history as well. Since it would cover some events in recent history, it could become a controversial video

[@aikslf]

you know how easily people are triggered nowadays

[@MrDedpool1]

From the clips you cited you have really good taste in anime

[@Bloodyshinta1]

this lowkey is just Yuta's excuse to show everyone his favorite anime

[@agushendra5766]

Weebs: wait, it was all different in real life? Yuuta: 🔫 it always has been

[@badlittlewolf2606]

kingdom of predators *intensify*

[@PaperiLiidokki]

2:18 he definitely should not hire professional voice actors, the ''non professionals'' make the characters sound more life like and bring the animated character more alive so to speak

[@BygoneT]

That's really not the case. I've watched passion projects, they're fun but bad. Emotional moments are really bad for non professionals to replicate, though I can give you one thing, professionals tend to find one good way to do something and stick to it.

[@seneca983]

@@BygoneT In Miyazaki's case the impression I got was that he only hired non-professional voice actors for lines/characters that are easy for them. I think the more realistic speaking style fits in Miyazaki's films.

[@realkekz]

>Who would want to watch an entire episode about tests? Azumanga Daioh fans I guess.

[@Gooberpatrol66]

The chuunin exams are tests, right?

[@chowderismyboyfriend]

😂 I love Azumanga Daioh

[@JoJoboiWav]

We Never Learn gang

[@SumeaBizarro]

"Anime characters sound like anime characters, because we want anime characters to sound like anime characters" Deep, truth, justice.

[@FHBStudio]

I highly recommend Ranma 1/2 for the sheer amount of different dialects and speaking mannerisms.

[@SEGAClownboss]

I'd love to hear more naturalistic-sounding conversations in anime and cartoons in general, I don't see why it is considered an unpopular thing, lol

[@tzukishiro]

There are tons of that though. Slice of life, high school stuff, etc

[@emismith4655]

@@tzukishiro not even close

[@nyft3352]

One could make an argument for that DIO clip, you see, he knew he was getting spied by the people he hates so... no wonder he would be pissed off and be disrespectful.

[@Carlos-ne3zf]

4:52 to be fair if you constantly said "Oh dear, oh dear" you would sound like british grandma in a romantic novel xd

[@reiikyuu]

When u go to japan but u dont see any buffed 17 year olds. *BIG KUSAAAAAA*

[@muajin]

Apparently you've never been to a Japanese spa house. :P

[@darreideamos2309]

Is that a hololive reference?

[@muajin]

You do..just very very few. lol It's like saying *you dont see Japanese guys with big peckers* but if you go to a public bath house..you'll see. lol

[@overalldubs3463]

*those fuckers lied to me*

[@lundoren5240]

Ywah only in America

[@FakeProfessionalYT]

Literally every anime character that Takehito Koyasu has voiced sounds recognizable in any voice tones...

[@nohbdy1122]

His voice is very distinctive, but Dio doesn't talk exactly the same way as Roswaal L Mathers or Claudia Hodgins

[@MrShadowThief]

Hiroshi Kamiya tho

[@EgnachHelton]

For me it's Hanazawa Kana. Her voice has a unique undertone that's quite distinctive in almost every character she acted. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing professionally but I like it.

[@n-extrafries-surprise]

I found this bloke on video games twice now... And I don't remember much about the video games I've played. I think he voiced the Persona 2 protagonist and one guy in Yakuza Kiwami 2.

[@creaturesoul4469]

Interestingly enough Koyasu’s natural speaking voice sounds different though, he speaks a lot softer. If you look up an interview of his he really sounds different, it surprised me when I first heard it XD.

[@darreideamos2309]

I always love the self promotions in your videos. The way you sneak it in there is always so smooth

[@helRAEzzzer]

I had a Japanese language teacher in 2009, who I think was a native speaker (I'd be surprised if she wasn't) - she definitely was not a native English speaker at the least, and she had told my class that watching subbed anime to practice wasn't a bad thing to do. HOWEVER, the next semester, a new teacher was hired - she was a native Japanese speaker and talked a bit about living in Japan. This instructor was incredibly amused, surprised, and horrified to hear a few of my classmates speaking as if they were odd Yakuza members (they enjoyed Yakuza anime primarily). Situations like that in class were definitely extremely amusing and made for memorable learning experiences with our teacher. Another funny bit of confusion that happened during class was when a few of my classmates were trying to ask Sensei for assistance with some class work and tried to ask for help in Japanese by using the vocabulary dictionary in our textbook - the textbook listed the word to use when needing help for an emergency rather than help with something relatively unimportant. Sensei panicked thinking someone got hurt until the misunderstanding was voiced (our teacher was teaching multiple skill levels at once that semester and had suggested to the lower-leved class to use the dictionary more often without realising that grammar difference wasn't made clear in the dictionary).

[@DeViceCrimsin_]

This actually answered a lot of passive questions I had over the years. Thank you

[@GenkoNoMiko]

Thank you for this video. :) For me, as a foreigner without any fluent Japanese-speaking family or friends, anime was my first Japanese teacher. Eventually I learned that anime is not an accurate portrayal of the language but it was a good starting point that piqued my interest.

[@myriamdhaiti2935]

In french it is even worst, there's no way you would speak like the "cartoons". I'm trying to picture a person who would speak like the french dub version of Johnny Bravo. It would be hilarious 😅

[@lucaspelekis3195]

I see DIO, I click

[@Heli-draws]

3:53

[@ThatJapaneseManYuta]

きさま!見ているなッ!

[@awangsyahmiaimanagsulaiman4792]

@@ThatJapaneseManYuta ああ

[@theopulentone1650]

Don't let him get away, Jotaro!

[@lucaspelekis3195]

@@theopulentone1650 I WILL NOT

[@MCNeko6554]

I think it's important to know when a character is being rude or when they are 'acting' with their voice, versus when they are using words that you would need in business. The example at 5:18 to me would be learning grammar and certain words, like "my bar" (ore no mise). If you're learning Japanese from anime, it's probably a good idea to learn a lot of basic Japanese first so you know what's polite/rude, professional/kid-like, or what's been changed for improved listening comprehension (like 6:50). Also the example at 8:03 where the cloud is speaking very stilted is specifically trying to convey the omnipresence of the cloud. These kinds of theatrical elements are important in language learning to me. When you are able to differentiate between conversational, unnatural, and theatrical speaking and understand the nuances, you've really become fluent.

[@RealBelisariusCawl]

I’m learning so much, but **wow** Japanese is complex. Like, I taught myself to read, speak, and understand some Russian, but Japanese is a whole new level of hard. I’ve gotten to the point that I can start to pick out familiar words in anime (where I hear Japanese most often) and in your videos. The thing that worries me the most is with conversational flow; so many of the words just flow together for me in a way that I have trouble picking them out. Then there’s writing! Katakana and hiragana? I’m pretty sure I can learn those relatively easily, but the Kanji… The Kanji scare me.

[@HestiaBestia]

I'd really like to hear you talk about wordplay in anime, specifically in something like the Monogatari Series.

[@RVNT9OE]

Of course they don't. Daddy Frank of the Filth taught us that already.

[@frankmasih5367]

Papa Franku is our 1st teacher

[@nobodywatchesnooby]

*was our only teacher ;-;

[@TylerSolvestri]

Hakujin 🙄🙄🙄

[@ldes5283]

echhi shiyou ze

[@icanwatchthevideos]

That's Francis of the Filth to you

[@mat2468xk]

Finally, I've always wanted an answer to this question I always had. How come nobody really has drastic negative reactions to "I've learned English via cartoons", but it isn't with "I've learned Japananese via anime." Anyways, I know he answered a lot in this video already but might as well state the questions and assumptions I had. I've always known stuff such as omae, kisama, and the other 2nd person pronouns being an anime only trait. But still, is Japanese in anime really that different from its real life counterpart as opposed to cartoon English? The best "western equivalents" to this that I could think of are Peppa Pig, and the way characters used to talk in those old, black & white American movies, which I believe is modelled on the Mid-Atlantic accent. To be fair, I guess it's not really a fair comparison. It wasn't just cartoons that taught me English, which is co-official language where I'm from, and I also communicate a lot with the internet. Although I think some native English speakers might find my way of typing their language a little too formal or structured. Also, I really don't want to be nitpicky since this is a really well-made video. But I kinda wish he used more cartoons other than Rick & Morty as an example. Like SpongeBob, since I grew up with that. Oh well.

[@cassieberringer7427]

~[M], I agree with what you've said. In American cartoons (I can't really speak to other English speaking media) there are I guess two major categories: comedy and everything else. I would say the comedy cartoons use exaggeration and non-normal ways of speaking to make it funny. The aim is humor. However the rest of the cartoons I think tend to aim to make their characters relatable and human-sounding. The point is to make this piece of art come alive. The only time the cartoons sound less realistic is when they are in non-normal situations. Like when a superhero and a super villain clash in a kiddie cartoon. Foreigners would have no reason to talk like a super villain because it has no real-world application. And some vocabulary is unrealistic because it's for a PG audience. But generally, I'd say American cartoons use normal (PG) English language and don't break any language rules that it seems like anime does. I wish Yuta would have continued to make more comparisons to English cartoons as well because I really don't see it. And ~[M], your English is great. You certainly don't sound like a cartoon... whatever that might mean.

[@Luckingsworth]

As an English native I can defintly confirm that cartoon dialogue has its own unique quirks that are uncommon in everyday speaking. But a lot of it has to do with timing and emphasis placed on words, not so much the grammar itself. Anyway to answer the question, the truth is people who are not native English speakers are incredibly easy to spot and the majority of the time use very awkward expressions that sound wrong or jarring. But because English IS so widely spoken, we have just become accustomed to ignoring it and we are quite good at understanding poorly spoken English.

[@TlalocTemporal]

@@Luckingsworth -- I think you've touched on the real reason weird English is more acceptable than weird Japanese. English has been accumulating so many different bits of grammar, breaking and jury-rigging it's oen rules that brocken English is almost the proper way to speak it informally. Japanese, with the exception of loan words which are usually easy to pick out, is very homogenized, with small grammatical differences often being a specific dialect from a specific place. With English, it can be difficult to tell with hemisphere someone's from, let along country.

[@moondust2365]

@@cassieberringer7427 True. The only real differences between cartoon English and real English is stuttering, repetition, and tangets. And even then, for cartoons directed at tweens and teens, there seems to be more and more of the former two. It's even started to appear on kid's cartoons, especially British/Aussie ones, it seems.

[@koletonnelson6310]

What I want to know is why Japanese VA’s only have 8 voices that they ALL do. 1. The stoic male protagonist. 2. The stoic female protagonist. 3. The stereotypical over the top anime girl. 4. The sultry seductress. 5. The over the top flamboyant effeminate man. 6. The grizzled samurai. 7. The heroic youth. Always male. 8. Old person. Seriously. 99.99% of characters in ALL anime have one of these eight voices. And any character with, say, voice #6, WILL sound EXACTLY the same as EVERY other character in ANY show with voice #6, regardless of who actually did the voice. You could have 100 actors play 100 different characters, and if it’s a “#6 voice” character, ALL 100 WILL SOUND LIKE THE SAME PERSON. I really don’t get it.

[@oryxified1430]

I like how you feel the need to act out the highlighted lines on screen. Extra points for dedication.

[@quintrankid8045]

Now you've made me curious about other fictional characters. Do characters in movies, jdramas, and books speak natural Japanese?

[@georgiaburkhart285]

Thanks for explaining this. I noticed that while listening to anime vs. japanese lessons.

[@bshibishi5889]

Very interesting, what does happen the other way around? Do they "Japanify" western characters like... certain company did.(4kids, do not google do not summon them)

[@D4rkn3ss2000]

Cool video. I have an idea: formal and military terms in anime like what you would hear in Gate, black lagoon, jormungand, kantai collection, strike witches or any anime with military focus. That would be cool

[@autisonm]

I think I understand the difference. Speaking the way anime characters speak would kinda be similar to how stage actors speak when doing Shakespeare plays. Its kinda overly dramatic and incorporates useable words that arent used often in normal conversation.

[@xsomeoneh8245]

Japanese speak normal and polite in real life

[@WanukeX]

7:28 This isint just contractions in English, alot of Cartoon characters or Actors will use less vowel reductions than a real person as well. For Example, when you contracted “Want to” to “Wanna”, it isn’t just shorter, you also vowel reduced the “oo” sound at the end of “To” to just “uh”. Reducing to “uh” on vowels is pretty common in regular speech in english, but less so in cartoons or Acting.

[@headphones2308]

"People may talk about irrelevant things for 20 minutes before they start talking about what they really want to say. Anime characters are not like that" Monogatari series: *head tilting intensifies*

[@almarc]

It's a good catch. But characters in Monogatari, while seemingly talking irrelevant rubbish, make every single word count. To a point where missing a single key word can confuse you watching the episode further down. While in real day-to-day dialogue, 95% of things said are usually completely arbitrary.

[@charlieueueueueue6578]

@@almarc even then, you're not bored by their seemingly mundane conversation. You get to see their defining personality shine through.

[@Omlet221]

10:22 Thats a pretty cute detail I never noticed

[@christopherluke9658]

People should go see Matt vs Japan's video on this if they are interested in this subject.

[@MrMickeei]

Indeed.

[@tzukishiro]

No thank you, he's trash

[@elisenpai287]

Your vidoes have helped me learn and understand japanese so much better. The way you explain it really helped me connect the holes in the language i couldn't figure out. Arigatō

[@xXSamir44Xx]

I feel like a lot of this comes down to either fluid storytelling, conveying a characters's personality or a story just not being set in modern day Japan. For example you wouldn't expect characters in a medieval European setting to speak English the same way a modern day person would.

[@SoniCraft98]

This is the most comprehensive explanation I’ve seen on this topic. Well done, and thank you!

[@MadMax22]

I would say that the stuttering thing in english voice acting is actually something that’s newish. I remember listening to egoraptor as a child for the first time including pokémon stuttering and thinking it was absolutely hilarious and then seeing it also on rick and morty. still excellent for funny and hilarious moments.

[@hkoxnw]

Evangelion is my favorite anime and I loved Anno-san's performance in The Wind Rises. His understated performance works well with the tone of that film.

[@stephenrio2086]

"Anime characters want to sound like anime characters. . . Because that's what we look for in an anime character." *Ah yes, the floor is made of floor hmmm*

[@stephenkneller9318]

To say "do you want to go out" would be either a more formal way of asking (which would rarely be used, or an exasperated (the speaker being annoyed) way of asking. Maher latter would be more akin to "DO YOU WANT TO GO OUT". "Want to go out" would be more colloquial.

[@SuperSaiyanDate]

19:00 ...So basically this fictional japanese often used only for imitating a flashing out some cardboards of a characters. Got it.

[@206lbs.hercules5]

Even though I am not learning Japanese, and don't watch anime, I found this video very interesting. It is cool to see how language can change so much depending on the context it is used in. This makes me very happy that I decided to take Latin in school because I don't have to worry about any of this shit.

[@Daemonpool65]

This is it Yuta! This is the video that finally made me click on that Japanese with Yuta link after so many years!

[@__dane__]

“The director of Evangelion” _sudden 2B appearance_

[@HUWATAHEK]

Why tho?

[@ahmedmt1418]

The author of NieR is a fan of Evangilion, and you can see alot of references in NieR to Eva's universe

[@HUWATAHEK]

@@ahmedmt1418 I see. tnx for the info.

[@firefly618]

Ohhh. I was puzzled by that cameo too. Is 2B inspired by Ayanami? I mean, other than being the cold/distanced female character trope...

[@AICW]

@@firefly618 Yeah. Hell, the room full of 2B clones in the Tower made me instantly flash back to Evangelion.

[@SuperSaiyanDate]

3:25 That's actually the thing I DON'T like about anime dialogues in many instances. They're oftenly just straight, specific and robotic, it's hard to rely for a character who only says pre-recorded speeches. And changes his intonation only in one direction according to one character trait he's having, if he is "funny char", "serious char", "angry char", etc... That's why I really like OG "Dragon Ball" trylogy acting! It's very diverse and Goku can change from a happy-go-lucky to serious or even to a menacing one! Not in a way "happy-go-lucky guy trying to be serious or menacing" but for real!

[@FruitsChinpoSamuraiG]

i feel like this is going to be like last time (the "world = warudo" in the thumbnail) with jojo fans owning the comment section lmao

[@giogio_1895]

I see

[@scribblecloud]

the rick and morty example actually is kinda specific to that show though, and in the example shown the repeated ''were you'' seems like less just making them sound natural and rambly and more so to express surprise

[@ambiention]

I'm not really into anime, but I always thought western movies dubbed in Japanese sounded ridiculous. They seem to use many of the same cliches. I suppose the voice acting tradition is pretty unrealistic in general, which crosses over to fukikae.

[@epiceagle2050]

I really appreciate that you're holding a real life English conversation lesson in this video as well. What a nice educational video !

[@MrGhozt]

Japanese people: *trips over* ouch, gotta be careful next time Anime character: *trips over* , *slow motion of zoomed in face* , *falls over* , "GRRRHHH-"

[@alangdm]

I love the anime selection for the examples, top notch

[@kirakoraawesome]

my mom is convinced that Japanese people do those weird little gasp, sighs, and food noises irl

[@user-xh6ju3pg8c]

Make sit racist ..

[@Murasame13]

@@user-xh6ju3pg8c bruh

[@user-xh6ju3pg8c]

@@Murasame13 really..that sounds racist

[@pedrojesusfigueroacovagome6968]

@@user-xh6ju3pg8c bruh

[@ph1l0phob1a]

@@user-xh6ju3pg8c yall say everything is racist

[@Sushila..]

I literally was searching for this video. Thank you! I knew the explanation will be fun and I also learned something. Didn't expect that 😅.

[@SuncloudSaddleback]

"Anime characters want to sound like Anime characters because that's what what we look for in an Anime character"....tru

[@zionistgoddessofstars]

This was very informative! Nice to know the differences between how real Japanese people speak versus anime characters.

[@Durabele]

Honestly, this is why I enjoy shows where the characters act less like anime characters and more like real life people. It's way mor relatable, and I'm actually able to immerse myself in the show

[@Noobixm]

You were expecting another random anime frame for the bottom right of the thumbnail, BUT IT WAS I, DIO!!