Kansai-ben actually seems to be regarded as somewhat humorous. Quite often in
anime or
dorama,
comic relief or
prankster characters are the ones talking
Kansai dialect, even when the story plays in a time or setting (such as in
outer space among aliens) where it doesn't make sense that somebody would be talking a Japanese regional accent.
The two most easy-to-spot differences between Kansai-ben and standard Japanese (i.e. Tokyo accent) is the use of Ookini instead of arigato to thank someone, and ahou instead of baka to call someone an idiot. Another sure way to spot Kansai-ben is that its speakers tend to slur "ja" (short form of dewa) into "ya" and use "-hen" instead of "-nai" as a negative suffix.