Osomatsu-kun

Osomatsu-kun (おそ松くん) is a comedy manga series by Fujio Akatsuka which ran in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday magazine from 1962 to 1969. The series revolves around a group of sextuplet brothers who cause all sorts of mischief. It has been adapted into two different anime series of the same name, the first of which was produced by Studio Zero in 1966, and the second by Studio Pierrot in 1988. A new anime series by Pierrot, Mr. Osomatsu,adult animated series began airing in October 2015 to celebrate Akatsuka's 80th birthday, with a manga adaptation by Masako Shitara serialized in Shueisha's You magazine from January 2016.

This series helped establish Akatsuka's reputation as a gag comic artist, long before his other popular manga, Tensai Bakabon, was released. Several adaptations of Charlie Chaplin routines can be found in the manga.

Osomatsu-kun has appeared in numerous special issues of Shōnen Sunday. In 1964, Akatsuka won the 10th Shogakukan Manga Award for Osomatsu-kun.[2]

Characters

The Matsuno sextuplets

The trouble-making sextuplets of the series, they are 10 years old and in the 5th grade, and were born on May 24. The six of them get along well, particularly Osomatsu and Choromatsu, but there are many occasions where Osomatsu and Choromatsu (or just Osomatsu) will get in a fight with the rest. In the 1988 anime and halfway through the original manga, their spotlight is stolen by Iyami and Chibita due to the latter two becoming more popular characters among fans of the series, leaving the sextuplets to be demoted to supporting characters.

Osomatsu Matsuno (松野おそ松)

The oldest and leader of the sextuplets, as well as the best fighter in the group. In the 1993 one-shot story "Osomatsu-kun Grows Up", he has become a typical salaryman and is unmarried. His name comes from lame or ill-prepared (お粗末).

Karamatsu Matsuno (松野カラ松)

The second-oldest, he is neat, tidy and painful yet fickle. In "Osomatsu-kun Grows Up", he has married a green grocer's daughter. His name comes from larch (唐松).

Choromatsu Matsuno (松野チョロ松)

The third-oldest, he is the clever one of the group but also very selfish. He and Osomatsu usually cause mischief together. In "Osomatsu-kun Grows Up", he has become a police officer. His name comes from easy or simple (ちょろい).

Ichimatsu Matsuno (松野一松)

He is referred to as "Ichi" (one) but is the fourth son. He is very honest and very strong. In "Osomatsu-kun Grows Up", he has become a company president after marrying his predecessor's daughter. His name comes from check pattern (市松模様).

Jyushimatsu Matsuno (松野十四松)

The fifth son, he is very kind, but that is also his biggest weakness. In "Osomatsu-kun Grows Up", he has become a doctor. His name comes from society finch (十姉妹).

Todomatsu Matsuno (松野トド松)

The sixth and youngest son, he is very carefree and dislikes baths. His catchphrase is "todo no tsumari" (とどのつまり). In "Osomatsu-kun Grows Up", he runs a fish market. His name comes from a name for the conifer Abies sachalinensis (椴松).

Supporting characters

Iyami (イヤミ)

Iyami is a flashy and mischievous man who is a Francophile and claims to having been touring in France. His most notable features are his 3 large buckteeth, his thin moustache, and his Renaissance-styled haircut. He refers to himself in the first person as Mii (ミー) and other people as Chimi (チミ) and usually ends his sentences with ~zansu (〜ザンス). His trademark pose of flexing his arms and legs and shouting Sheeeh! (シェー) became a popular trend all over Japan. He was modeled after Japanese vaudevillian Tony Tani. He is usually single and is unpopular with women. His occupation and role in the series often changes. In his first appearance he was a doctor. He has also been a teacher at Osomatsu's school, a co-worker of Matsuzō's, and even a police detective pursuing Chibita, but he is almost always actually a con artist or beggar. It is often hinted that he hasn't actually been in France. Such hints include trying to eat the shells of escargot and being corrected about French facts by students who have been to France. Iyami has become the character most associated with the series, even more so than the sextuplets (much like Papa in Akatsuka's other hit series, Tensai Bakabon). The opening to the 1988 anime series focused more on him than the sextuplets, and the ending credits featured the sextuplets and Dayōn performing his "Sheeeh" pose. In "Osomatsu-kun Grows Up", Iyami works as a bartender at the bar Osomatsu usually goes to, having gone to America to learn the trade. His name comes from gaudy or disagreeable (嫌味).

Chibita (チビ太)

Media

Manga

The original manga by Fujio Akatsuka ran in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday between 1962 and 1969. Early chapters of the manga were based around people becoming mixed-up with the sextuplets identities, due to how they all looked alike.[3] However, as the manga progressed, more chapters focused on the misadventures of Iyami and Chibita to the point that they eventually took over as the main characters. An English-Japanese bilingual volume has been released on August 10, 2017, in Japan.[4][5]

Anime

1966 series

The original anime series was produced by Studio Zero and co-produced by Children's Corner;[3] it was in black-and-white and aired in Japan between February 1966 and March 1967. The first opening was "Osomatsu-kun no Uta" (おそ松くんのうた) by Matsuyo, the sextuplets, Iyami, and Chibita, while the second opening was "Osomatsu-kun no Uta 2" (おそ松くんのうた2) by Makoto Fujita, with instrumental versions used as ending themes. Akatsuka himself supervised the series. Unlike the 1988 anime series, the sextuplets had more screen time in the episodes with prominent appearances of Iyami and Chibita. Often the same character animation was reused six times in a single shot for the sextuplets due to how they all looked alike. The series reran in the 1970s, but it went missing sometime after the reruns ended. In 1990, 16mm broadcast prints of the entire series were found in a TV station warehouse. The entire series was later released on DVD box sets, along with individual volumes.[3]

1988 series

The second series, which was produced by Studio Pierrot, aired in Japan between February 1988 and December 1989. The series is notably different from the original series, focusing largely on Iyami and Chibita as the main protagonists, but was still very popular, hitting ratings as high as 20%. The opening theme was "Seichō Osomatsu Setsu" (正調おそ松節) while the ending theme was "Osomatsu-kun Ondō" (おそ松くん音頭), both performed by Takashi Hosokawa. A short film, Osomatsu-kun: Suika no Hoshi Kara Konnichiwa zansu! (おそ松くんスイカの星からこんにちはザンス!), was released on March 18, 1989.

1966 series

1988 series

Drama

On December 16, 1985, a live-action TV special entitled Osomatsu-kun, Iyami, Chibita no Itamae Ippon Shōbu (おそ松くんイヤミ・チビ太の板前一本勝負) was aired as part of Fuji Television's Monday Dramaland. The series revolves around Iyami and Chibita competing to be the best chef at the Matsuno's restaurant in order to appeal to a food critique. The theme song was performed by Tatsuro Yamashita.

Cast

Osomatsu: Yōsuke Nakajima
Iyami: George Tokoro
Chibita: Chiaki Watanabe
Matsuzō: Chū Arai
Totoko: Kyōko Takami
Dayōn: Naoto Takenaka
Dekapan: Junji Inagawa
Honkan-san: Masashi Tashiro

Cast

Osomatsu: Yōsuke Nakajima
Iyami: George Tokoro
Chibita: Chiaki Watanabe
Matsuzō: Chū Arai
Totoko: Kyōko Takami
Dayōn: Naoto Takenaka
Dekapan: Junji Inagawa
Honkan-san: Masashi Tashiro
Totoko: Yumiko Morishita
Guest appearance by Fujio Akatsuka

Video games

Three video games based on the series have been produced. Osomatsu-kun: Hachamecha Gekijō (おそ松くんはちゃめちゃ劇場) was developed and published by Sega for the Mega Drive on December 24, 1988. It was the first game developed for the system that wasn't released outside Japan.[6] Osomatsu-kun: Back to the Me no Deppa Maki (おそ松くんバック・トゥ・ザ・ミーの出っ歯の巻) was released by Bandai for the Family Computer on December 8, 1989. Finally, Hisattsu Pachinko Station V9 Osomatsu-kun (必殺パチンコステーションV9 おそ松くん) was released by Sunsoft for the PlayStation 2 on February 24, 2005.

type	tv series
director	Akira Shigino
producer	Kenji Shimizu (producer) (Fuji TV) Kyotaro Kimura (Yomiko Advertising)
music	Yusuke Honma
studio	Studio Pierrot
network	FNS (Fuji TV)
first	February 13, 1988
last	December 30, 1989
episodes	86

Characters

The Matsuno sextuplets

Supporting characters

Media

Manga

Anime

1966 series

1988 series

1966 series

1988 series

Drama

Cast

Cast

Video games

Mr. Osomatsu

Reception

External links

References