This week, on a very special episode of Osomatsu-san…
I think we can say a couple of things for sure after this week’s episode:
- The folks behind Osomatsu-san don’t give a shit about offending anyone
- The folks behind Osomatsu-san are reading what people are saying about Osomatsu-san
This series just keeps upping the ante, doesn’t it? I mean, when the incest sketch is the tame one, you know you’re pushing the envelope pretty hard. There does come a point where I just sit there and gape at the screen, but I laugh while I’m doing it – and I guess that’s the sign that it’s still working.
I did ask for the supporting cast back, and I was happy to have them – though I confess, as insert characters in a “Mad Max” parody was not where I was expecting to find them. That was wild from the very beginning (Iyami as Immortan Joe could hardly be otherwise, thought it’s actually surprisingly on-point). But things didn’t really go off the boil until “F6” showed up.
I mean really, where does one go with that? I think that sketch managed to play to every fetish under the sun, and it was pretty blatant about it too. Given the production schedules of anime I don’t know if it’s possible, but it sure as hell seemed as if this episode was written in the knowledge that Osomatsu-san was an enormous hit with the Ikebukuro set. I ROFL’d especially hard when the boy’s mother nosebled so much that she died on the spot right after Osomatsu promised to protect her.
If anything, the second chapter suggests that theory might be true even more than the first does. Here we see Ichimatsu and Karamatsu (who are apparently especially popular with that segment of the audience) involved in a farcical scenario where Osomatsu walks in on the former trying on the latter’s leather jacket and shades while he naps. Fukuyama Jun mimics Nakmura Yuuichi and vice-versa, and it’s very funny – though one suspects both of them could have done so a lot more accurately if the moment had called for it.
Does Osomatsu know all the time that Ichimatsu isn’t Karamatsu? Oh, hell yeah – he’s the troll of the group as is. But it’s all building towards the ultimate audience pandering conclusion, the moment that will spawn a thousand (more) doujins at the next Comiket. For Osomatsu-san it’s next stop the stars, it seems – this show is a genuine cultural phenomenon know and you better believe it knows that.
Ronbb
January 27, 2016 at 4:54 amOsomatsu-san rocks! I love how it breaks all the rules — if not making fun of them — and still can be this funny, dark at times, but really funny. It feels like the staff and cast are completely liberated, poking fun at whatever idiocy out there. Totally enjoying Osomatsu-san.
moodytot
January 27, 2016 at 9:53 amIt was hilarious start to finish. The Mad Max parody may have just been the funniest F6 segment I’ve seen. The fanservice was cringeworthy and completely aware of it.
The second segment…no words even describe it. Pandering? Definitely. Funny? Hell yes. And it still preserved their characters. Osomatsu’s a troll, Karamatsu’s an angel, and Ichimatsu will try to weasel his way out of trouble, even if he has to act like his brother jumped him.
The voice actors were clearly having a blast, especially Ichimatsu’s.
Chrysostomus
January 27, 2016 at 12:40 pmIf this show has taught me anything, it is that I am a Karamatsu girl, the poster above me is a Karamatsu girl, the one below me is too, Enzo is a Karamatsu girl, we are ALL Karamatsu girls in our hearts.
Simone
January 27, 2016 at 7:18 pmI felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of fujoshis suddenly squealed out in delight and were suddenly silenced.
Gina
February 1, 2016 at 9:59 amThat Mad Max parody was genius. And why does Chibita look like Mojo Jojo?! From the moment it talked about the “lubricant of love”, I’ve been laughing all the way to the last scene. So outrageous, but so self-aware and on-point. The first part just stabbed all the fujoshis in the face, and by the end of the second, filled their hearts again.
I do feel for Ichimatsu, we all want to try being a Karamatsu boy once.
Rita
February 1, 2016 at 9:28 pmHey Enzou, I just noticed since I wanted to go back and re-read something you wrote on it, but I believe your review of Osomatsu-san episode 15 got lost in the move. At least I can’t see to find it via the tags or search bar
Guardian Enzo
February 1, 2016 at 9:46 pmThat was one of the episodes that fell during the blackout period. I didn’t really blog anything during that time because it was a full-time scramble trying to get the site back up ASAP, and once it was I was already so backlogged that to go in and blog several days worth of episodes just didn’t seem realistic. I may try and do something on those eps eventually but it’s probably not going to be real soon.