From Manipulative Masterminds to Flirtatious Fools: An Examination of Male Sweet Voice Archetypes in Anime

Abstract

Anime characters make use of many linguistic features, such as grammatical patterns, vocabulary, and vocal quality, to index specific character traits or archetypes. This includes both “role language”, associated with membership in social groups, and “character language”, associated with more abstract traits such as personality. This paper aims to expand upon the description of the archetypes conveyed through a traditionally feminine vocal quality called “sweet voice” and discusses how the use of this style in anime has broadened to encompass more masculine characters and archetypes as well. While women using sweet voice tend to be considered mature and genuine, interpretation of male sweet voice can range from gentlemanly, to morally questionable and manipulative, to something closer to flirtatious comic relief. Male sweet voice characters, similar to their female counterparts, have certain patterns in their word choice and grammatical speaking styles, although these stylistic patterns are less universal for male characters. Not only are the male sweet voice archetypes in anime different from those of female sweet voice characters, but these male characters are also able to freely swap styles, in vocal quality, vocabulary and grammar, where female characters cannot. Furthermore, the use of female sweet voice patterns by male voice actors can be used specifically to code characters as transgender women, something not possible with female sweet voice. These differences demonstrate that male sweet voice is not just female sweet voice overlaid onto male characters, but rather a specific evolution of the female styles specific to male characters.

Keywords

• linguistics
• sweet voice
• voice acting
• anime
• gender
• gender studies
• case closed
• ouran high school host club
• neon genesis evangelion
• death note
• toilet-bound hanako-kun
• assassination classroom