This has been eating at me for the past week or so... maybe even since the release of Masters and especially after PLA.
Just as with real people, I feel like characters' voices tell me a lot about who they are. And right now, I have a big problem with Koga's - big enough to potentially boot him from both my favourite character and husbando lists. That being, his accent in both the anime and Masters does not only sound unlike how a real Japanese person would sound speaking English, but also exaggerated on purpose. To put it simply, he sounds like a foreigner portraying a stereotype of a Japanese person. Before you clarify that it's supposed to be the point since his dub VAs are not of Japanese descent, he doesn't fare much better in the original Japanese. His speech in those versions also sounds stilted due to his use of antiquated linguistics - down to his laugh, which sounds more like "fafafa" than a natural "hahaha." His daughter, Janine, has no such speech quirks in either the English or Japanese versions of Masters, instead talking like most of the characters do.
Then, PLA was released, and...
Keeping all this information in mind, do you think there is a possibility that he might not be from any of the regions based on Japan, and instead be a foreigner who is leaning a little too hard into the "ninja" façade? If so, where do you think he's from? Do you think his attitudes reflect real appreciation for a bygone era, or is there a tragic or sinister motive behind them? Is he really a distant descendant of a long, unbroken line of ninjas, or is he a charlatan who just bumped into a traditional Kantonian Gym and refurbished it into a sort of theme park? I'm interested in your two cents about this, if only to get some peace of mind.
Just as with real people, I feel like characters' voices tell me a lot about who they are. And right now, I have a big problem with Koga's - big enough to potentially boot him from both my favourite character and husbando lists. That being, his accent in both the anime and Masters does not only sound unlike how a real Japanese person would sound speaking English, but also exaggerated on purpose. To put it simply, he sounds like a foreigner portraying a stereotype of a Japanese person. Before you clarify that it's supposed to be the point since his dub VAs are not of Japanese descent, he doesn't fare much better in the original Japanese. His speech in those versions also sounds stilted due to his use of antiquated linguistics - down to his laugh, which sounds more like "fafafa" than a natural "hahaha." His daughter, Janine, has no such speech quirks in either the English or Japanese versions of Masters, instead talking like most of the characters do.
Then, PLA was released, and...
Spoiler:
Keeping all this information in mind, do you think there is a possibility that he might not be from any of the regions based on Japan, and instead be a foreigner who is leaning a little too hard into the "ninja" façade? If so, where do you think he's from? Do you think his attitudes reflect real appreciation for a bygone era, or is there a tragic or sinister motive behind them? Is he really a distant descendant of a long, unbroken line of ninjas, or is he a charlatan who just bumped into a traditional Kantonian Gym and refurbished it into a sort of theme park? I'm interested in your two cents about this, if only to get some peace of mind.