History Main / AccentAdaptation

An Accent Adaptation is when a translator substitutes a dialect in original work's language for one their own language. For example, an english dub of an anime or manga may give a character with a Osakan accent in the original dub, a New York or Southern accent. While [[{{Woolseyism}} this can worked]] in many cases, in others, it can result in AdaptationDecay (or even an outright {{Macekre}} at worst), especially if the original dialect doesn't have an equivalent in the language the work is being translated into. Sometimes, a third type is used where a FunnyForeigner character ends up [[KeepItForeign speaking another language]] when the show is imported to their home country.

An Accent Adaptation is when a translator substitutes dialect in their own language for one in the original work's language, making for a {{Woolseyism}} in some cases and AdaptationDecay (or even an outright {{Macekre}}) in others, especially when the translated dialect doesn't have an equivalent in the original work. Sometimes, a third type is used where a FunnyForeigner character ends up [[KeepItForeign speaking another language]] when the show is imported to their home country.

* ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'': Alexander Anderson is given a Scottish accent, which is also the natural accent of his English voice actor Steven Brand. They apparently thought of giving him a sort of "classy British" accent, but Creator/CrispinFreeman couldn't do one sufficiently menacing to fit the character (whereas a Scottish one just kind of [[ViolentGlaswegian exudes toughness]]). [[note]]It also simply makes sense for the chracter to be Scottish. There have been multiple real-life prominent Scotsmen named Alexander Anderson, and Catholicism is more widely practiced in Scotland than in England.[[/note]] Freeman begged the director to let him try a classic [[spoiler:[[VampireVords Transylvanian accent]]]], but the director rejected it as too corny.

** Strangely averted in the English dub for [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Part 3]], as Polnareff and Avdol speak with American accents rather than ones you'd expect people from their respective countries (France and Egypt) to speak with, though Polnareff does use a lot of GratuitousFrench. Additionally, Joseph loses his British accent from the dub of ''Battle Tendency'', despite Creator/RichardEpcar portraying Old!Joseph with one in [[TheStinger the final scene]] of Part 2.

** In ''Manga/ShamanKing'', Ren and Jun have British accents, while an actual British character is given an American accent.

* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'': Osaka's Kansai accent is fairly consistently translated as an American southern accent. The first-run manga initially used a HollywoodNewEngland accent, but then switched to a southern accent, which later translations have retained. In the anime, she's given a very specific regional UsefulNotes/{{Texas}} dialect -- the UsefulNotes/{{Houston}}–Beaumont area, mixing the "country bumpkin" and "bustling commercial center" aspects of the Osaka stereotype. The dubbing studio, Houston-based Creator/ADVFilms, gave this decision serious weight and dedicated a large section of their translation notes to explaining the thought process behind it.

** Yajirobe's nasal and obnoxious Nagoya-ben dialect is adapted as a sort of husky, thuggish, "smokes a pack a day" accent (think [[WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros Dr. Girlfriend]]), to preserve the stereotype of an uncivilized mountain man who's actively hostile to human contact. Not only is the original Nagoya dialect highly associated with "the hill people" in Japanese, it's also Creator/AkiraToriyama's natural accent (so he's [[SelfDeprecation kind of making fun of himself as well]]).

* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'': Osaka's Kansai accent is fairly consistently translated as an American southern accent. The first-run manga initially used a HollywoodNewEngland accent, but then switched to a southern accent, which later translations have retained. In the anime, she's given a very specific regional UsefulNotes/{{Texas}} dialect -- the UsefulNotes/{{Houston}}-Beaumont area, mixing the "country bumpkin" and "bustling commercial center" aspects of the Osaka stereotype. The dubbing studio, Houston-based Creator/ADVFilms, gave this decision serious weight and dedicated a large section of their translation notes to explaining the thought process behind it.

* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'': Osaka's Kansai accent is fairly consistently translated as an American southern accent. The first-run manga initially used a HollywoodNewEngland accent, but then switched to a southern accent, which later translations have retained. In the anime, she's given a UsefulNotes/{{Houston}}[=/=]Beaumont accent, mixing the "country bumpkin" and "bustling commercial center" aspects of the Osaka stereotype -- as explained above, Creator/ADVFilms handled the dub and gave serious consideration as to how to adapt her accent, dedicating a large section of their translation notes to the subject.

* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', Dordonii is given a Spanish accent, and Gin's Kyoto accent, as mentioned above, was adapted into an exceedingly polite English manner of speaking, which sounds very duplicitous and shows his untrustworthy nature.

* A 2017 Creator/{{BBC}} production of a series of plays commemorating the centenary of the Russian Revolution used a range of British accents to portray characters from all parts of Russia and the Soviet Union, particularly using regional accents for people not from Moscow or St. Petersburg. For example, Lenin's personal driver speaks in broad Welsh, and thuggish Georgian bank-robber [[UsefulNotes/JosefStalin J.V. Djugashvili]] speaks like a ViolentGlaswegian.

* ''Manga/BlackLagoon'': The English dub uses a much greater variety of accents than the Japanese version, with even the {{Salaryman}} Rock getting a "standard Canadian" accent. In particular, Taiwanese assassin Shenhua speaks in a grating AsianSpeekeeEngrish way, which Revy refers to as "Chinglish".

Compare DubNameChange and TheQueensLatin.

* The Swedish dub of ''WebVideo/NarutoTheAbridgedComedyFandubSpoofSeriesShow'' does this with very varied results.

* In ''Theatre/TurnaboutMusical'', several characters are given accents to reflect their personality.

* The English dub of ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'' had Mudflap speak with a French accent.

** The Danish dub gave Mac an accent from Southern Jutland, which fitted well with her mistaking "the land of the free and the home of the brave" for her home (Southern Jutland was part of Germany from 1864 to 1920, where the locals resisted all attempts of assimilation, so patriotism is SeriousBusiness there).

** Cait Sith from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' has a Scottish accent, likely as a reference his mythological inspiration. In the Japanese dub, he speaks the same Kansai dialect as Reeve, his controller (the English dub has Reeve speak generic American, so [[LostInTranslation the connection is lost]]).

** In the Finnish dub, the two moose characters have their [[CanadaEh Canadian accents]] changed to the southwestern Finnish dialect, which sounds equally funny to Finns as "hoser speak" to Americans. That said, some Finns lamented a missed opportunity to use the equally funny Laplander dialect, which also preserves the film's "great white North" aesthetic.

** Layla (Aisha) is given a Cajun accent in the Dubbing Brothers dub.

* Tecna in the ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' 4kids dub gained a British accent.

* In the Japanese version of ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' Yeager throws a bunch of GratuitousEnglish into his speech. For some reason, in the English version, this became a heavy German accent instead. This was [[NarmCharm the best]] idea [[{{Woolseyism}} ever]], if for no other reason that he became TheAhnold.

* The original West End production of ''Theatre/{{Heathers}}'' gave JD a slight southern accent. This may have been accidental -- the British actor not quite being able to manage a typical American accent -- but it still works, especially given that JD moved to Westerburg from a different state.

** In the Brazilian Portuguese dub, Lenny speaks with a northeastern Brazilian accent.