Naoya Zen'in Is the Year's Dialect Breakout
The most interesting movement in the reader poll from Japanese anime news site Anime Anime is at No. 2. Naoya Zen'in, the venomous villain introduced in Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3, "Culling Game, Part 1," jumped straight into second place with about 5 percent support after a single season on the air.
In the series, Naoya is a special grade 1 sorcerer and a candidate to become the next head of the Zen'in family, one of jujutsu society's three great clans. He speaks in a soft, polite Kansai dialect (the speech of the Osaka region), and that gentleness only sharpens how arrogant and cruel his actual words are. Respondents called the combination of his sleazy dialogue and that dialect an unbeatable pairing, praised Kōji Yusa's voice work as a perfect fit, and argued that the Kansai accent, rare within the Zen'in household, marks Naoya as an outsider even among his own family. One flatly declared him the hottest dialect character of 2026. TOHO animation's official channel even clipped his episode 48 put-down "Kao ga akan wa" (roughly, "your face just doesn't cut it") as a standalone short.
Five Straight Wins for the Detective of the West
The poll ran from July 9 to July 16 and drew 166 responses, skewing young and slightly female: about 60 percent of voters were women, roughly 35 percent were 19 or under, and another 25 percent were in their twenties. Anime Anime published the results on July 28 to mark Naniwa Day, a commemorative date established by Osaka's Naniwa Ward because the numbers 7-2-8 can be read "na-ni-wa" in Japanese wordplay.
A fitting date, because the winner is anime's most famous Kansai-dialect speaker. Heiji Hattori took about 15 percent of the vote, his fifth straight year on top. Detective Conan's "high school detective of the West" works out of Osaka, matches Shinichi Kudo deduction for deduction, and keeps up a rapid-fire back-and-forth with his childhood friend Kazuha Toyama. Voters pointed to exactly that dynamic: one singled out the lovers'-quarrel ending of the "Naniwa Serial Murder Case" episode as a favorite, while another noted that Heiji's voice actor Ryō Horikawa is himself from Osaka, which makes the accent feel that much more natural and imitable.
Gintama's Tatsuma Sakamoto Misses Second by One Vote
Third place went to Gintama's Tatsuma Sakamoto, who finished a single vote behind Naoya and climbed from a tie for fourth in last year's poll. A former Joi fighter who once fought alongside Gintoki Sakata, Sakamoto now leads the Kaientai, running a trading operation across space. Fans cited his Tosa dialect, the old speech of what is now Kōchi Prefecture, with its "zeyo" and "ja" sentence endings mirroring Ryōma Sakamoto, the real-life historical figure the character is modeled on. His trademark "ahahaha" laugh and superhuman positivity got votes too, and one respondent quoted Gintoki's line that steering a ship comes as naturally to Sakamoto as moving his own limbs.
Below the podium, a three-way tie at fourth brought together Hina Kyan of Okitsura: Fell in Love with an Okinawan Girl, but I Just Wish I Know What She's Saying, Love Live!'s Nozomi Tojo, and Sasara Nurude, leader of Osaka Division's Dotsuitare Hompo in Hypnosis Mic. Tamamo Cross of Umamusume: Pretty Derby, My Hero Academia's Hawks, and The Idolmaster Million Live!'s Nao Yokoyama shared seventh. An eight-way tie at tenth included Laid-Back Camp's Aoi Inuyama, Haikyu!!'s Atsumu Miya, Kaiju No. 8's Soshiro Hoshina, and Smile PreCure!'s Akane Hino (Cure Sunny), among others.
The comments ranged all over Japan's linguistic map. IDOLiSH7 fans nominated Okinawa-born Ryūnosuke Tsunashi, whose drunken slips into Uchinaaguchi (the Okinawan language) leave his TRIGGER groupmates baffled, though he has also talked his way out of a crisis with it. Crayon Shin-chan's grandfather Ginnosuke Nohara drew love for an Akita dialect that gives the show a warm, unhurried feel. And voters backed Tomoe Koga of Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, whose Hakata dialect slips out whenever her emotions run high, to the delight of at least one Fukuoka-born respondent.
Looking Ahead
Naoya's rise may not be done yet. Jujutsu Kaisen's "Culling Game, Part 1" season streams on Crunchyroll internationally, and TOHO animation has already posted a teaser confirming that Season 4, "Culling Game, Part 2," is in production, so his profile with global fans should keep climbing into next year's poll.
Tomoe Koga's franchise is also in the news: the series' next theatrical film, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dear Friend, opens in Japan on October 16, 2026. And for readers who want in on the next round of voting, Anime Anime is currently collecting responses for its "swimsuit character" poll through August 4 and its "left-handed character" poll through August 3.