Osomatsu-san

The majority of the Matsuno household is comprised of six identical siblings: self-centered leader Osomatsu, manly Karamatsu, voice of reason Choromatsu, cynical Ichimatsu, hyperactive Juushimatsu, and lovable Todomatsu. Despite each one of them being over the age of 20, they are incredibly lazy and have absolutely no motivation to get a job, choosing to live as NEETs instead. In the rare occurrence that they try to look for employment and are somehow able to land an interview, their unique personalities generally lead to their swift rejection.

From trying to pick up girlfriends to finding the perfect job, the daily activities of the Matsuno brothers are never dull as they go on all sorts of crazy, and often downright bizarre, adventures. Though they desperately search for a way to improve their social standing, it won't be possible if they can't survive the various challenges that come with being sextuplets!

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Matsuno, Ichimatsu Main

Fukuyama, Jun Japanese

Matsuno, Karamatsu Main

Nakamura, Yuuichi Japanese

Matsuno, Juushimatsu Main

Ono, Daisuke Japanese

Matsuno, Osomatsu Main

Sakurai, Takahiro Japanese

Matsuno, Choromatsu Main

Kamiya, Hiroshi Japanese

Matsuno, Todomatsu Main

Irino, Miyu Japanese

Iyami Supporting

Suzumura, Kenichi Japanese

Obama, Barack Supporting

Tone, Kentarou Japanese

Yowai, Totoko Supporting

Endou, Aya Japanese

Chibita Supporting

Kokuryu, Sachi Japanese

Hijikata, Makoto Producer

Tominaga, Yoshihiko Producer

Matsui, Shouji Producer

Iizumi, Tomokazu Producer

Reviews

Apr 23, 2023

sirnothing

Recommended

Osomatsu-san may be hard to get into at first, but after diving into its waters one will find a lot of enjoyment and relaxation out of it.

CHARACTERS = 20/25

The series' protagonists are Osomatsu, Karamatsu, Choromatsu, Ichimatsu, Jyushimatsu, and Todomatsu. Side characters include their parents Matsuyo and Matsuzou along with Iyami, Chibita, Hatabou, Dekapan, Dayon, and Totoko. As you can see, there are already many characters about which comedic stories can be written. After getting the hang of each sextuplet's identity, one also finds one or a few sextuplets that they relate to the most. Each of the sextuplets is rather unique and they often play ... off each other, much like manzai, and often two of them are in a scenario as the stars while others play supporting characters. This allows for different variations of pairings of sextuplets along with the side characters. The side characters also often get their own stories which makes for a fun change of pace. What the characters lack in depth they make up for with their comedic idiosyncrasies.

STORY = 37/45

The underlying story of this anime is that the sextuplets are virgins and NEETs. Many of the stories revolve around them figuring out their life situation or contemplating finding work. Since their situation is not desirable and they are sometimes gross, vile, perverted, stupid people, this makes for lots of fun stories. In addition, as this is a gag anime, sometimes that background story is even ignored as the sextuplets play different characters in various sketches. Sometimes the side characters get their own fun stories. At times, the stories transition from ridiculous to real and sad in genuinely heartwarming ways. Many of the insights shared by the anime's various characters are often realistic and make for good social commentary. Overall, shuffling around all these variations of stories, feelings, and messages conveyed makes for a great mix of laughter, creative fun, realness, and emotions that can leave one impressed by what this anime has to offer. It is worth mentioning that the viewer will probably not find everything laugh-out-loud funny and that's okay, especially while one is still getting a sense of what this anime is all about.

ART = 8/10

The art in Osomatsu-san makes the anime very unique and immediately identifiable. While it may look simple, the artistic style sets the anime up for laughs and provides a level of comfort to the viewer. Also, the various ridiculous situations the sextuplets and other characters find themselves in provide opportunities for the animators to show their skills. In addition, the OP and ED are very creatively done.

SOUND = 8/10

The voice-acting is very well done, by both the main cast and the side characters, though some of the sextuplets seem to stand out more than others. There is good background music and there are good sound effects when the story calls for it. The OP and ED music really set the tone for the series.

ENJOYMENT = 8/10

At first, Osomatsu-san is a lot to take in. It may take some time to get used to the characters and understand what this anime is all about. After getting comfortable and understanding the direction this anime takes, it becomes quite enjoyable and it is easier to laugh and enjoy the various stories/gags. Again, not everything is laugh-out-loud funny, but one can admire the creativity behind the stories/gags.

There is also something to be appreciated about how this anime first aired in 1966 and was revived in 2015. It is impressive that Fujio Akatsuka created characters/stories that can be adapted in a new era.

OVERALL = 81/100

Would I recommend Osomatsu-san to a friend? Absolutely. It's stupid. It's funny. It gets at your feelings sometimes. The OP and ED are great. It's genuinely enjoyable to appreciate the creativity the series has to offer.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Mar 26, 2021

PixelB

Mixed Feelings

I found Osomatsu-san to be pretty similar to family guy in a few ways, I'd call Osomatsu-san the Japanese Family guy.
Both shows have a similar sense of comedy in a way. Sure, the jokes, gags, and punchlines are completely different, but the one thing that they have in common is that jokes drag on for such a long time. Just like Family Guy, Osomatsu-san has a lot of jokes and scenarios that could have been funny if executed in a timely manner, but instead, some stupid scenario that should have been one minute long goes all the way anywhere from 2 minutes to the entire ... episode. Plus, when it comes to the "creative" scenarios, just like Family Guy, it's some lame joke/setting that happens to be the basis for the setting that everyone's in for the next 10 minutes. However, just like Family Guy, Osomatsu-san's jokes can still be funny.
Osomatsu-san clearly has a lot of creativity when it comes to the generation of scenarios for each episode. As a result, it's a very mixed bag. I'd I skipped 25% of the scenarios in total, 50% were "meh, alright," and 25% were "pretty good." F-6, Samurai/Edo theme, detective, Osomatsu girls, the "scary, realistic" scenario, and a bunch of other skits were just so bad I had to skip them. The theme here is that everything related to these scenarios are just absolutely random and don't make any sense at all. There's an attempt to create comedy with the sheer randomness and nonsensical action that goes on, but it just ends up being a random scenario that drags on for too long. This is especially so for the recurring themes and settings, like F-6 and Osomatsu girls. Seriously, they weren't remotely funny in their pilots, so why bring them back?
As for the others 75% of the scenarios, they were reasonable enough that I didn't skip them. Again, some of the absolutely random scenarios also land in here. They were entertaining enough, I guess. But for the most part, the scenarios that were good enough to watch were the ones where the character personalities of the sextuplets are able to shine. When you just have random crap going on, the scenario takes basis for the entire time, while the sextuplets are just dragged on for the ride. It's like their personalities didn't even matter, and it could have been anyone subbing in for their roles in the scenario.
I like the idea of a comedy featuring a family of sextuplets because there's so much freedom and opportunity for comedic scenarios. 6 Varying personalities make for the ability to be flexible with dialogue and settings. However, for the most part, the personalities of the 6 brothers are barely explored at all. My personal ranking is as goes: Choromatsu, Todomatsu, Osomatsu, Jyushimatsu, Ichimatsu, and Karamatsu. The first 3, you could argue first 4 on my list have some distinct personality traits that aren't just limited to the same dialogue and same role in different scenarios, while the last two just are completely static characters that have the least change in any of their roles in the scenarios. I really would have liked for there to be scenarios featuring only a few of the brothers at a time to make their personality shine, or even just one of the brothers interacting with the rest of the cast. Sadly to say, while these scenarios happen, they're few and far between. For the most part, they're together. Well, that's okay too, you can showcase personality, and you could say the volatility of the sextuplets are endless! Yeah, for the most part, the character dynamics are not the greatest. Their personalities are extremely limited and left unexplored. I get that this is a comedy, but even for a comedy, this is unacceptable. There's a base line of good characters that need to happen for a comedy. After all, even if the scenarios are funny, if the characters don't have good dynamics with each other, it's for nothing.
And it's not to say that these personalities are unsalvageable. My favorite scenes were the Kotatsu one and the Majhong one. Both are pretty generic scenes when it comes to the scenario, but that's where the personalities of the characters really shine. The sextuplets' personalities were put on showcase, and that's what made it great. And yes, it's not like random scenarios aren't funny. Gintama's a great example. Some of the scenarios are crazy sci-fi crap and a lot of it is nonsensical, but Gintama's scenarios still manage to keep characters at center stage, reacting to the scenario at hand, rather than the scenario dragging their hand along for the ride. It's just so sad to see Osomatsu-san have so much garbage laying around because they want to play it safe and just pile on random scenarios in hopes that this randomness will be funny despite it having absolutely dull dialogue and character interaction.
I mentioned this at the very beginning, but Osomatsu-san has jokes and gags that should have lasted 1 minute last 10 minutes at a time. Any sort of comedic value is lost by how long they drag them out. Just move on to the next scene, thanks. I really would have liked there to be scenarios where they're long and involve some crazy setting, but it's still just the sextuplets' base personalities without any sort of random theme that they're shooting for.
I say some harsh things, but truth be told, this is a show where I laughed a few times and had a good time at others. This is much better than other comedy show. Sure, a lot of scenarios blow or are mediocre, but there are scenes where Osomatsu succeeds at being funny.
I tried watching through Osomatsu-san's season 2, but it just amplifies the garbageness and doesn't try to do anything new. The only remotely funny episode was where Choromatsu and Ichimatsu were talking together, and the other ones just have the same exact problems but magnified. Scenarios take over the show, and the sextuplets are just a backdrop and stick to their pet lines and roles over and over again.
Osomatsu-san is a series that had potential, but the "creativity" and lack of structure, comedic timing, and good character interactions makes it a mixed bag.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Apr 15, 2016

Suzu-kun22

Not Recommended

Art/Sound: The animation isn't horrible. But it mostly only adds to the frankly awful and unfunny humor and the character designs are really unflattering. The first OP was decent, and the first ED is notable for the ending animation alone. It's actually quite interesting, even if it's really stupid.

Story/Characters: A friend of mine who loves this show who doesn't get why I hate it so much keeps telling me 'it's just supposed to be a light and fun why are you judging it so harshly?' My answer usually ends up being, 'just because it's fun and light means it has to have unlikable, uninteresting, and ... frankly hatable characters.' You can have a fun light show with interesting and endearing characters and actual funny moments. They don't even have to be the best show ever to have this. Himouto Umaru-chan! is a fun show about an otaku who spends her entire life lazing around while her family members do all the work. And it's entertaining, funny, and the characters don't make me want to punch all of them in the FACE. Squid Girl is a fun little show with an endearing protagonist who makes you laugh and has a ton of fun. And if you're looking for something of even higher quality watch Hatakaru Maou-Sama! (AKA The Devil is a Part-Timer). When I watch shows of a certain genre, I end up comparing them to others in that genre I have watched. And as I watched it I was thinking, there are so many better comedy shows I could be watching with actual compelling and entertaining characters and a better story (though the premise is one of the better things about this show).

Side note: I was actually going to give this show a 2/10, because at that point the show had never outright offended me. Then I watched that episode where all the people DYING OF THIRST give up ALL THEIR WATER just to watch the sextuplets SWIM AROUND SHIRTLESS BECAUSE SEXINESS! Like seriously. SERIOUSLY! This episode was actually offensive to me as a person.

Final: I recommend that you watch any of the shows mentioned above instead of wasting your time on this one like I did. I wish I could have that time back to watch literally anything else. Other comedy anime to watch as apposed to this: Baka to Test, Hetalia, Kuroshitsuji, Lucky Star, Noragami (which is actually one of my favorite anime ever), One Punch Man, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (and if you've already seen that), The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan, even something like Black Lagoon or Angel Beats! are way funnier than this show, even if they aren't pure comedy. Heck, Yu Yu Hakusho has made me laugh WAY more than this show (same with Hunter x Hunter actually).

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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	Poll: Osomatsu-san Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Stark700 - Oct 5, 2015	248 replies	by Otakupervert890 »» Sep 30, 5:55 AM
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	Poll: Osomatsu-san Episode 9 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Nov 30, 2015	146 replies	by kavings »» Apr 30, 3:24 PM
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