This is strictly my interpretation, but it really feels like something changed between the second and third seasons of Osomatsu-san.  S2 was often brilliant, but something seemed off about the whole season.  There was an edge of anger or resentment to it, or so it seemed to me.  Osomatsu-san tends to be pretty dark comedy anyway, so the balance was often tilted too far in that direction.  But this season seems much more irreverent and whimsical – as if the staff is just having more fun this time around.  And it’s helping lift the material for sure.

After a little intro of the musubi doing their manzai act – which basically consists of them making fun of humans for anthropormorphizing them – for an unamused Ichimatsu and Todomatsu, we quickly get to the meat (and potatoes, and mushrooms) of the episode.  I was scrambling for the Google to look up imoni, never having run across it in my travels, but it’s apparently the signature dish of Tohoku.  Yes there are regional variations – beef vs. pork, soy vs. miso, et al.  And yes, it’a considered a big outdoor festival food.  In fact at the biggest imonikai, 30,000 people are served from a giant nabe pot that is, in fact, stirred with a construction crane.

It’s pure coincidence that Osomatsu-san put its best supporting characters in focus right after I noted how little we’d seen of them, but I’m still glad Iyami got his shot last week and Dayon and Dekapan this week.  These two don’t have Iyami’s depth or pathos but for pure comedy they’re golden, and Tobito Nobuo and Ueda Youji do a fantastic job.  Who knew Dekapan was from Tohoku (unless “hooeee” is Tohoku-ben?), but as he’s missing imoni – and tantruming over it – good friend Dayon decides to start an imonikai of his own.

None of this is earth-shattering individually, but all these little comic elements added together make for an extremely amusing 20 minutes.  With a ¥1 million stake put up everyone wants a go.  Naturally the brothers have no clue what imoni even is, and after Totty looks it up they squabble over every detail.  Jyuushimatsu ends up teaming with Hatabou and they blow themselves up every couple of minutes.  Chibita makes oden instead and won’t be persuaded otherwise.  The idols team up but are are each other’s throats (and utterly useless with a knife).  Wildest of all is Iyami’s version, which is actually a drug joke – and you don’t see a lot of drug jokes in mainstream anime, that’s for sure.

Eventually everyone teams up and Karamatsu brings back the legendary potatoes from his pilgrimage to imo village.  I must say I was never in any doubt about what “If you eat them you’ll be one of us” was going to mean, but it was still a good payoff.  And the riceballs will never be presented with a more fitting “Sheeh!” moment – so it’s a good thing they seem to have the timing down flat.