Alright, continuing from my Tieria tl;dr that sort of devolved into discussion of pronoun usage and implications and a discussion about this on /m/: Why does Ribbons use 僕? Also I imagine this’ll probably end up with me talking about Regene’s speech style while I’m at it (he’s got so few lines it’s not so difficult).

Disclaimer: Once again, I’m just in 3rd year Japanese and have taken a handful of general and Japanese-specific linguistics classes. I really don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about, but I have a pile of textbooks to throw at you if you think I’m pulling this completely out of my ass. Corrections/critiques/etc are more than welcome.

Ribbons

Alright, so to address the question of why Ribbons uses 僕. In the beginning of the first season it’s pretty obvious why he uses it with Alejandro, I think. This seems like the sort of instance where 僕 is actually less assertive than 私. In the subservient position it gives Ribbons an almost ‘cute’ impression, I think (the sense that it makes it look like he’s close (emotionally) to Alejandro despite the otherwise formal mode of address, a more formal first-person pronoun would give a more master-servant sense–at least that’s my take).

On /m/ the question came up of why Ribbons continues to use 僕 even after he’s done with Alejandro–why not switch to something more assertive given that you’ve just taken over the whole goddamn world? I think the answer to this lies largely in that one line he had about hating adults (I’d quote directly but I don’t remember the episode off hand and I’m fucking lazy). 僕 gives a more childish impression I think. At least the way Ribbons is using it (though to be honest I can’t quite put my finger on what it is that makes Ribbons’ usage seem more child-like and Tieria and Allelujah’s not). Ribbons is still keeping up a front to the rest of the world it seems–presenting himself as ’soft’ and harmless. Or at least that’s what I’m getting from Ribbons’ 僕. 

 

Regene

First, data. Every line Regene has uttered thus far in the series:

Episode 1

(1-1) リボンズ、面会だよ。

Episode 2

(2-1) 何をしているんだい、リボンズ？

(2-2) へええ、すてきな情報だ。

(2-3) さすがソレタルベイングの元エジェントだね。

(2-4) ホーマカタギリに伝える？

(2-5) リボンズ。。。あのGNドリブは何だい？

(2-6) 分からない？

(2-7) レベルセベンまで掌握している君は。

Episode 3

(3-1) アザディスタンの姫君。。。

(3-2)今まで保持してとくせに、どういた心境の変化何だい？

(3-3) かれらはやって来るかな。

SFPs Used

（だ）よ: On it’s own よ is gender-neutral, but in conjunction with the plain copula it’s generally considered masculine.  (1-1) is a new-information/attention drawing usage.

（だ）ね: Gender-neutral, though some people might argue that with the plain copula it’s slightly more masculine (stereotypically, in plain speech females drop the copula). (2-3) is a confirmation/agreement usage. 

だい: Masculine. A Dictionary of Japanese Grammar says “a sentence-final particle which indicates a WH-question in informal male speech… dai can also be used with declarative sentences for emphasis in boys’ speech.” I think it’s noteworthy that the grammar dictionary explicitly refers to it as being used in boys’ speech (as opposed to men’s speech). In both instances that Regene’s used it (2-5) and (3-2) it’s used as a question. I think this particular SFP usage is a very interesting choice. I think, assuming that Ribbons is responsible for activating the other Innovators, it’s indicative of his grooming them to be ‘eternal youths’–so we have this character (Regene) whose speech, both in pitch and style, are rather childish (again, Ribbons hates adults, whatever that means) 

かな: My grammar dictionary and my textbook say it’s masculine, but my linguistics texts say it’s neutral (with a slight bent toward masculine). (3-3) is just the standard statement/indirect question use (“I wonder…”)

Pronouns

君: (2-7) Regene uses it to refer to Ribbons. 君 is a masculine, informal 2nd person pronoun. I think this says more about Regene and Ribbons’ status relation than anything (Regene is allowed to address Ribbons very informally, implying that they’re of equal status–interestingly Ribbons hasn’t directly addressed Regene once yet).

かれら: (3-3) (usually) masculine 3rd person plural (masculine here as in it’s referencing a group of males rather than being characteristic of male speech). I don’t think this one is particularly informative, really there aren’t a lot of other ways Regene could have referenced them. 

Verb forms/formality

Regene’s speech is very plain/casual/informal (they mean the same thing, pick one) and pretty blunt. Again, another indicator of the status relationship between him and Ribbons and I feel like it also gives a childish sense to it rather than an aggressive one (though I do feel like Regene is really just playing at this image to pander to Ribbons, it doesn’t feel terribly sincere–like there’s a snide, sarcastic undertone to just about everything he says).

Conclusions

Regene uses plain masculine (boyish?) speech. He and Ribbons speak as equals, though there does seem to be some other kind of implied status discrepancy which isn’t coming across in the language they use. If you go for the it’s-meant-to-sound-childish thought line, the speech style becomes a bit more gender-neutral actually (young girls’ and boys’ speech styles tend to be fairly similar, girls in middle school often adopt masculine speech patterns for a while).

 

ITP: Things I should have written my final paper in Japanese Language and Culture about last semester instead of that scene in ep 23 of Code Geass.

[EDIT] Forgot to add, tl;dr: Ribbons is a pedo.