The way Toshiro Mifune speaks in Yojimbo/Sanjuro

To my ears it sounds like he says ‘ze’ instead of ‘desu’? E.g. in Yojimbo at one point it sounds like he says ‘omoshirokatta ze’? Am I hearing it right? Is this a regional/archaic way of speaking?

3 comments
  1. Mostly carefree, simple guys speak like that in Japanese Nendo from “Saiki K.” series always talk like that, be cause he is just dumb. Like: “ねえ、相棒ラメン食いに行こうぜ”

    Apparently ぞ is the IRL speak while ぜ is mostly used in Anime. Very much like using たん to refer to someone エミリアたん.

    [Here’s a basic grammar explanation](https://jlptsensei.com/learn-japanese-grammar/%E3%81%9E-%E3%81%9C-zo-ze-ending-particle-meaning/).

  2. Been a while since I watched Yojimbo but IIRC the Edo dialect is, naturally, the standard in it. Makes guys sound tough/rough/masculine/laid-back. It’s a very common accent in fiction (even when it’s not specifically used, the Kantō dialect is sort of the “default” accent in fiction, and descends from the Edo one), so it’s worth learning the ins and outs of.

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