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I know I'll probably sound like an otaku with this topic, but oh well, can't be helped.
I was wondering just how formal the language used in anime are, or even manga. Ever since I started learning Jp grammar, I've been trying to listen out for said sentence structures whenever I listen to anime (well... yeah, I listen, not watch DDX ) . You know the textbooks you get and they say, "Oh, there is the plain form and the polite form of saying this, that, etc" ? I really want to know if anime follows these polite forms.
Hope somebody will help with this... it's been bugging me for some time now. I reckoned that this was the best place to ask.
And by the way, this dictionary is really awesome, it helped me loads. -
Hello kasenbon,
as you might have guessed, it depends. There are a lot of anime and manga produced in Japan and those meant for adults and treating more serious topics will use more polite language than anime and manga for young children.
However, there are some tendencies. Manga and anime are usually fiction, they have a plot and (a few) main characters. The main characters usually now each other quite well. So, if you think about it, in most stories there are mostly interactions between friends (or archenemies), for which less formal language is appropriate. Especially in stories where people save the world, this is not the place of formal language. Not to mention that having the main characters use slang makes the more popular.
However, there are a few situations when formal language is used. Assume, for example, while on the quest of defeating demons, our hero gets hungry. So, he enters a town and interacts with a merchant who sells food. Given this situation, you would hear the merchant use really polite/formal language and even our hero might at least employ です and ます. Being fed, Alex sets off to dispatch of the fearsome dragon hunting the village. Naturally, he says 死ね!これをくらえ!
On the other hand, if you have an anime or manga where the main story revolves around business and politics, you are much more likely to hear formal language.
To summarize, anime and manga will help you with learning Japanese, but they do not depict the language common people use daily (our protagonists are not common people, showing that would be quite boring after all!)
blutorange
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- blutorange July 2010