Would it be frowned upon to say for example ぼく instead of 僕？Or わたし instead of 私？Is it just a stylistic choice or do these have to be in kanji?
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This depends on the pronoun.
- Some casual first-person pronouns are almost always written in hiragana because there are no ways to write them in kanji in the first place: うち, わい, あたし
- Some stilted first-person pronouns are always written in kanji: 小生, 朕
- Many common first-person pronouns can be written both in kanji and in hiragana. Basically it's a matter of taste, but generally speaking, the more casual the situation is, the more frequently hiragana is used.
- Many adults choose to keep using わたし instead of 私. See: Why is 私 a sixth grade kanji?
- 僕 is not even a 教育漢字, but the majority of adults use kanji.
- 俺 is usually spelled with kanji, but おれ and オレ are not uncommon.
- 儂 is usually わし, but 儂 is not uncommon in novels.
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thanks! when would someone use わい and うち？and in that case could 僕 be written with hiragana or would that be odd? – jacoballens May 21 '19 at 07:34
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@jacoballens What do you mean by "in that case"? Users of [うち](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/18481/5010) do not use 僕. – naruto May 21 '19 at 07:37
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i meant in the case that 僕 is not 教育漢字 – jacoballens May 21 '19 at 07:40
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@jacoballens わい is used by people from Kansai region, though at times just for comical effect. – Igor Skochinsky May 21 '19 at 22:12