Man, it really sucks to see Osomatsu-San go downhill like this. It's not like it's bad or anything, if this was just a stand-alone anime not connected to any established franchise, I think it could still be somewhat acceptable. Unfortunately, it's tied to two other seasons that set the expectation for what this season should have been. Even though Season 2 wasn't spectacular or as engaging as the first, it still had aspects of what made the series so good in the first place. The first two seasons were at least focused on comedy and dropped a few serious moments at times to balance out the story and make the sextuplets more unique from each other. So here are my biggest gripes about this season.
1. Characters
Unlike the other seasons where they set the sextuplets apart from each other with jokes and subplots that expand on their way of thinking, the third season barely does anything like this. The only moment I can think of off the top of my head was with Ichimatsu's suspicion of the riceballs and reluctance to accept them. I thought that the show was going to do what it did with the previous seasons: set up a subplot so that a character gets more, well, characterization. I kept waiting for that moment, but it never came. After that, there is barely any effort to remind the viewers of why the sextuplets were so loveable despite their shitty nature. There were a couple of jokes that played with the idea of characterizing the sextuplets, like with Karamatsu and his argument with his brothers over imaginary pizza, but a lot of those kinds of jokes fall flat or go against what the previous seasons had already established for the sextuplets. However, I really did like the development between Totoko and Nyaa's relationship. It had continuity from the movie and was actually kind of heartwarming to watch. It was one of the few moments in the season that stood out and had the same heart that the other two seasons had.
The side characters are pretty much the same from the other two seasons, so nothing much to criticize there. The Riceballs however, good god do they piss me off. I think what the writers were going for were a characterization of the audience that are looking in from the outside or excessively critical people, viewers that are always searching for a meaning in something, even in a dumb show like Osomatsu-san. It would have been an interesting gimmick for an episode or two, but damn the anime just decides to drop them in for the entirety of the first half of the season. It's a joke that drags on way too long; it's a joke that overstayed its welcome and now just makes people uncomfortable or annoyed. The punchline of the Riceballs becoming NEET AI came way too late and was dragged on for far too long. There was no need for these two to get so much screen time and characterization, because as far as I can see, none of it mattered in the end since it never amounted to anything worthwhile. If my first assertion about the Riceballs is correct, why the fuck does the 3rd season of Osomatsu-san even need these two? It would make more sense if they were in the 2nd season, where there might have still been some people around who wanted to understand what made Osomatsu-san good, but in the 3rd season, those people are gone and only those that enjoy the series for what it is are left. The target audience the Riceballs are trying to imitate are gone, so what's the point?
2. Sound
The sound is honestly about as good as the other two seasons. The openings and endings sound great as always, and the soundtrack is acceptable. More could have been done in this category, but for what it is, it's okay.
3. Story
I mean there's not really a story here, it's a comedy anime. If the subplots count as their own stories, then most aren't very good. This season is structured a differently from the other two seasons, where each episode is a couple of short skits pieced together. However, when this is done, it sort of eliminates the feeling of continuity between episodes, even though the other two seasons didn't have continuity either. It's hard to explain, it's as if the previous seasons kept a sort of consistent timeline, where the 3rd season is all over the place and everything is disconnected and unrelated.
4. Art
Art is the same as always, nothing special here.
5. Enjoyment
I don't think I have to say a lot here; as you can guess, I didn't enjoy this season very much.
6. Overall
I used to love this series back in the golden age of the community (and the whole Tumblr obsession I guess). The only reason I stayed so long is because I kept hoping that the season would get better and regain the same spark as the other seasons, but it never did. I never genuinely laughed watching the season, and I found myself doing something else instead of wanting to watch each episode. I should have dropped this season earlier, but I guess I was just nostalgic or something.
Basically, if you want to turn off your brain and watch something stupid, you could watch this, but I honestly don't even know if it's even worth that time. Just watch the first and second season if you're curious about who these six bastards are.
