I’m starting to see a definite two-channel approach with Osomatsu-san 2 – one that existed in the first season too, but not to the extent it has with the sequel. There are the moments when the series simply tries to top itself in terms of flat-out grossness or outrageousness, which I generally don’t find all that funny. And then there are those when it takes a sort of deconstructive view of its own premise, reflecting on the celebrity the series has attained and the caricatures its characters have become – and those are frequently pure genius.
- First off, I don’t think the “Cavematsu-san” san bits are especially funny. Never have, and this one was no exception. They’re just stupid and gross for its own sake (see: example A).
- The next two sketches were more high-concept, but they varied widely in effectiveness for me.
- The “Three Kingdoms” send-up was modestly amusing, but it was more random than relevant to the mythology, at least for me. The tropes were all on-point, though.
- The best part of this bit was easily the casting of Matsumoto Yasunori as “Sou-Sou” – a spoof of his Cao Cao character from 1991’s Three Kingdoms anime Yokoyama Mitsuteru Sangokushi.
- “The Mixer” was much, much better for me. This one works on multiple levels, not least because Miyu Irino totally wigging out is one of the great joys of this series.
- The tragic truth is, Todomatsu legitimately could escape from all this. He has at least one friend outside the sextuplets. He’s had a real job. He can actually talk to girls. If he didn’t have the five biggest losers in the universe as brothers, he could actually have a decent life.
- This begs the question – why does Todomatsu decline to break free of Matsuno gravity and go into orbit? Why does he remain a NEET virgin when he doesn’t have to? Let the psychoanalysis begin.
- That bit with Osomatsu and the phone was really gross, but funny at the same time. Gross is fine as long as there’s a good gag behind it.
- That bit with the scallops… Poor Totty.
- The role of the girls in all this was quite interesting, I thought. When they decided to hang around and get drunk with Osomatsu, that really took me by surprise. And why the hell shouldn’t they, I suppose? That all got rather serious and kind of socially relevant there at the end…
F. Smile
November 14, 2017 at 3:27 pmI was thinking the same thing about Totty. He can talk to girls no problem and seems like outside of his brothers he has the best shot. (I think Jyuushimatsu might have a better one, since he actually had a girlfriend)
But he also has no heart and only thinks about himself, so maybe that’s why he stays with his brothers. He has a house that he doesn’t need to pay for, food that he can eat, and if he’s strapped for clothing he can take his brothers. Maybe he stays because it’s easier and he doesn’t know anything else.
Guardian Enzo
November 14, 2017 at 3:45 pmThat whole “no heart” thing was a good gag, but I don’t take it too literally. If anything I think if Totty was heartless he’d blow off his brothers in a second. To me, it’s more likely that he’s scared to go ahead on his own and feels guilty at the prospect.
Simone
November 17, 2017 at 2:38 amFirst episode of Osomatsu-san I actually dropped midway through. Guess the fun wasn’t enough to balance out the cringe for me :/. The Cavematsu skit was outright weird (though the ending in the museum was somewhat funny), the Three Kingdoms one I could only vaguely get, and the Mixer… eeh. There’s only so much leverage you can get out of “the Matsus are inept at life” jokes. As you said, Todomatsu’s failures at this point are nigh inexplicable; and Osomatsu is just… he lacks any endearing quality to me, even among this crew of six shitty dudes. It feels like this sort of appeal is wearing a bit thin at this point for me.