Osomatsu-kun (おそ松くん) is a gag manga and multimedia franchise by Fujio Akatsuka and Fujio Pro. After the success of Akatsuka's Nama-chan and further opportunities, this helped make his big break into being a popular gag cartoonist.
The story revolves around the life of six identical brothers and their parents, before the formula changes to instead focus on other members of the cast.
For more information on the "Osomatsu-san" spinoff loosely based from this work, please see its pages at the Osomatsu-kun and Osomatsu-san wiki.
Overview[]
After Akatsuka's double-shot feature Sudara-ojisan was a popular hit in Shonen Sunday, the editorial requested that his next feature be a month-long, four-chapter series. As the deadline approached for ideas, Akatsuka wondered what kind of series to make.
As he didn't want to do another series with just one protagonist, he consulted with his wife Tomoko, who had the opinion that twins would be too expected as well. It was decided to think of a series where the number of protagonists would easily lend to there being many, and he remembered the 1950 American film Cheaper by the Dozen.
The 1950 movie, Cheaper by the Dozen served as inspiration for Osomatsu-kun.
The rough idea of a series involving twelve children came to mind, but Akatsuka quickly reduced the number to six, as it would be difficult to fit many characters into panels (while a movie screen could fit many more characters). The idea was to make them all identical, as a normal group of children wouldn't have much of a gimmick by themselves and "it would be funny if they all had the same face". As Akatsuka figured that it would only be four chapters long, it was okay if he could make the children as chaotic and rude as possible, and he would credit Tomoko as having helped pitch in plot ideas for those early stories.
However, Osomatsu-kun quickly became popular enough to be extended as a regular feature after that fourth chapter (initially being renewed to being a twenty-chapter run, then thirty chapters, then so on), and it ran even longer than expected for a total of seven years in the magazine.
Akatsuka was initially assisted by his wife and Takao Yokoyama, but after Yokoyama had left for another job, Kenichiro Takai requested to help out when Akatsuka was faced with trouble of creating new characters and stories. Takai would be responsible for Iyami, Hatabō, Dekapan, and Dayōn, among other contributions. These new characters would soon "eat the leading role" and compensate for the sextuplets not having variety in story, with Iyami becoming the most popular, but the boys would continue to be a fixture in the feature in some way or another.
Ultimately, with -kun's rise in popularity, the series itself would go through other examples of retooling whenever Akatsuka revived it for a newer magazine audience (see "Serialization"). As with many Akatsuka series, there is never quite a concrete ending and he preferred to honor its gag nature to the last moment in having a nonsensical final chapter or leaving the story open-ended for the characters' usual antics to continue.
Characters[]
For more details, see List of characters in Osomatsu-kun
The main cast, as depicted in the pachinko game CR Osomatsu-kun where they were patterned more after their manga designs.
The Sextuplets[]
"Osomatsu, Ichimatsu, Karamatsu, Choromatsu, Todomatsu, Jyushimatsu!"
The identical trouble-making children of the Matsuno family. They are lead by the eldest brother Osomatsu. Although they differ slightly in personality, they still tend to act as one and any way of distinguishing the six falls by the wayside as the series goes on. Later, they become overshadowed by their supporting cast, and may either exist as general mischievous children or outright antagonists to Chibita.
It's impossible to visually tell them apart in the manga; the reader has to rely on their names whenever they're mentioned. In both the anime adaptations, one can also use their voices to identify them.
In contrast, in the Osomatsu-san anime, they are rewritten so each one of them has a strong, contrasting personality. For the first time, in the story status quo, it's possible to tell them apart visually and they are adults in their 20s.
Mother and Father[]
The parents of these sextuplets. Their father is usually in the role of a busy salaryman, while the mother is a housewife who must deal with the hard time the children give in addition to all the chores. However, the two of them are also both dysfunctional in their own ways.
Their given names are rarely said in the manga, but when referenced are revealed to be "Matsuyo" (the mother) and "Matsuzo" (the father).
Totoko[]
A girl living in the neighborhood, who the sextuplets all hold feelings for. Although she appears to be an average sweet and friendly figure, she is often frustrated by the six and can show off a hot-tempered violent streak, leading to a very tough and intimidating nature that upsets her mother.
She tends to be more morally righteous than them, and more of of a model elementary student. Though she was first established as the daughter of a local fishmonger (and had the surname "Yowai"), other parent and situational settings soon come into play over the run of the manga and she may also be linked with Dekapan.
Chibita[]
A young boy who can often be seen with his favorite food, a stick of oden. He is cheeky and full of energy, often fights with the sextuplets.
A common setting for him is him being an orphan or in an unfortunate living situation, and he is often the sidekick of Iyami.
Iyami[]
A shady man introduced as a co-worker of the sextuplets' father, but quickly used in a variety of roles (usually as part of a scam). He is known for his pose of "Sheeh!", which he strikes when startled, and his many different ways of scheming.
He becomes more of a main character in the late portion of the Shonen Sunday run and for the entirety of the Shonen King run. He also has a quite prominent role in the Osomatsu-kun 1988 (anime).
Dekapan[]
An unusual middle-aged man who often can be seen simply dressed in the oversized boxers that his name references (dekai pantsu, "big pants"). These pants can hold many sorts of objects, which can come in handy when others are in emergencies.
Hatabō[]
A little boy who is incredibly simple-minded and unintelligent, who goes about his own pace. He wears a small Hinomaru flag embedded in his scalp, which can be removed if he chooses to, and sometimes wears flags in his ears as well (in some early appearances).
He may either be set as a friend to Chibita, or as someone that Chibita can give trouble to and push around.
Dayōn[]
A man with a very large mouth, which he can use to inhale large objects or to do other tricks with (such as make snowballs). He is often put into a variety of supporting roles, from a random passerby to a cop or businessman. He is the last of what would be the regular side cast to be introduced, debuting in late 1965.
Serialization[]
See also List of chapters in Osomatsu-kun
Original Run[]
- Weekly Shonen Sunday (Shogakukan): Weekly publication from April 15, 1962 (#15) to August 13, 1967 (#33). Monthly/sporadic installments from September 10, 1967 (#37) to May 18, 1969 (#21).
- Separate Edition Shonen Sunday: Periodical publications through April 1964 to June 1967, March 1969.
- Boys' Life: April to December 1966
- Monthly Shogakukan Book: July 1966 to March 1967. The first two chapters are confirmed to be original content via their reprints, while the rest of the run is unclear as to the ratio of new stories vs. reprints due to the lack of record-keeping on it.
At the start, the manga focused on the sextuplets and the trouble they would make for their parents, as well as the bizarre situations they would occasionally find themselves in. Totoko would be introduced as a girl they all had feelings for, and the boys had to deal with school and other neighborhood issues like a bully. Chibita was a fixture as early as the second chapter, but he was without a consistent design or setting for some time.
By 1963, Chibita began to take more of the prominent role as the sextuplets' rival. Iyami was introduced, and gradually began to take more of a role as well. As the years went by, the additional supporting cast members shared plots with the sextuplets more often or the situation would flip around to where they would be more of the protagonists. This was usually the case for Iyami and Chibita, but Hatabō, Dekapan, or Dayōn could also take the given leading role for a story. Akatsuka's Star System would also be utilized at opportune times.
While greatly loved through its years, -kun ran into issues with Japanese PTA groups who angrily criticized Akatsuka as having a "manga that disturbs the Japanese" for the mischievous behavior of the children, who they believed would negatively influence actual child behavior. Akatsuka would recall one mother in particular pleading for him to "Please stop, because the children will imitate it!" over an instance of Chibita being seen threatening the Matsuno family with a knife. He only saw this as further proof of popularity, especially when -kun's different atmosphere stood out against what he considered to be average shonen manga at the time that were more focused around wrestling and martial arts.
As The Genius Bakabon took off in Weekly Shonen Magazine, Shonen Sunday's schedule of -kun changed from its original weekly stories to a monthly format, which would allow Akatsuka and Fujio Pro to have an increased page-count and longer ideas. But by 1969, the sales in the magazine were slipping despite the presence of both Extraordinary Ataro and -kun. Osomatsu-kun would wrap up with a final chapter in #15, as well as the crossover story "Looking at Me Now" in #21.
Grade Magazine Serializations[]
Shogakukan's grade school learning magazines would also serialize -kun through 1966 to 1967. At least four are confirmed to have had new stories on a monthly basis, and some 2nd Grade installments would also contain extra "fun quiz manga" booklets by Mitsutoshi Furuya and/or Kunio Nagatani.
They have rarely been reprinted, save for a few of them making it into the Akebono and Kodansha collections. Due to this, complete information on the runs and their stories was difficult to acquire until the printing of Hiragana Osomatsu-kun.
Kindergarten (April 1966 to March 1967)[]
These comics are two pages long, and colored. They have simple vocabulary in hiragana, and often involve the characters in situations where good manners are taught and the naughty characters are punished. Osomatsu is the only sextuplet represented in the stories, and the cast is limited to being him, Chibita, Totoko, Iyami, Dekapan, and Hatabo.
The January to March 1967 chapters are not represented in Hiragana Osomatsu-kun as they were counted as “Quiz Manga”.
1st Grade (May 1966 to March 1967)[]
Two to three-page long comics, usually in color and with simple vocabulary. The cast and story scale continue to be simple and appropriate for smaller children.
2nd Grade (April to December 1966)[]
These comics were ten pages long, and "appendix" sized with wider, horizontal panels. Though the vocabulary is still less extensive, more characters from the series appear such as the sextuplets being represented in full.
While the main comics would make it into Hiragana Osomatsu-kun, the "Fun Quiz Manga" booklets by Nagatani and Furuya did not.
4th Grade (April to July 1966, October 1966)[]
The closest to the mainstream Weekly Shonen Sunday run at the time. The August and September issues contained reprinted Weekly Shonen Sunday chapters, as did the November and December instances.
Further related one-shots would also occur, such as 4th Grade having a story titled "Osomatsu-kun in 20 Years" in 1967. But since these have yet to be reprinted, they remain rarities.
Other Grade Magazine Works and Reprints[]
During this time, 3rd Grade also had Kunio Nagatani's feature Chibita Banzai while 5th Grade had Mitsutoshi Furuya authoring a serial called Professor Iyami. Reprints of older stories from Shonen Sunday would also later be published in these magazines' appendix books, giving readers the chance to get a look at chapters they may have missed from the other magazine.
The 6th Grade magazine of Shogakukan has also been confirmed to have run a feature from April 1968 to March 1971, being solely reprints of the Shonen Sunday stories in itself.
Picture Book[]
A Shogakukan Picture Book was released on April 20, 1965, containing full-color adventures with the -kun characters. None of the stories had seen reprint until a digitized version was put up on Koredeiinoda. It contains vocabulary entirely in hiragana.
Second Run[]
- Weekly Shonen King (Shonen Gahosha): "New Osomatsu-kun" one-shot published January 23, 1972 (#5). Regular series from March 19, 1972 (#13) to December 24, 1973 (#53).
In 1972, Akatsuka restarted Osomatsu-kun at Weekly Shonen King, with a remake of "Chibita the Safe-Cracker" as a one-shot. The immediate popular reception from the readers and editorial department guaranteed that -kun would be revived for a new decade, and the series would take off eight issues later.
However, the bulk of this actual revival wound up focused around Iyami and his misadventures, with much darker and cruder humor than before. Iyami would frequently wind up in some sort of misfortune either due to his bad luck or as payback for his actions earlier in a story, and wind up in many unusual romance situations as well. The sextuplets would rarely appear during this version, either relegated to being bystanders that would react to Iyami in plots or only appearing in chapter illustrations and commenting on it being the only part they'd be seen in.
The Star System would be utilized more as well, with characters from both The Genius Bakabon and Let's La Gon dropping in as guests in stories (The Police Officer with the Connected Eyes and Kaoru-chan being particular fixtures). But the manga would wrap up by the end of 1973, being overshadowed by Akatsuka's other series (Bakabon, Gon) in this period of time and not gaining as many readers and sales for Shonen Gahosha as the editorial department had expected. Akatsuka himself was also said to be in a pinch each time he'd have an idea meeting for the Shonen King magazine, as he'd use up most of his creative inspiration and ideas at the meetings (Kodansha, Shogakukan) that'd fall before it. The launch of Gag Guerrilla at Bungeishunju in late 1972 had also made it harder for him to juggle ideas between all his major series. It has also been said that the editorial department of Shogakukan was not too pleased at one of their famous serializations having been taken to a rival publisher after all this time, much as Kodansha didn't like when Akatsuka had switched Bakabon to running in a Shogakukan magazine.
The -kun characters would also briefly appear in the 1973 Shonen Jump essay manga "There's No Wonderful Business Like That of a Gag!" during the run. But as far as post-series efforts went, the cast would not be seen in their own work again until a Monthly Shonen Jump one-shot in 1976, which was done as part of the magazine's "Returning Masterpieces" feature; other authors such as Shotaro Ishinomori, Osamu Tezuka, and Fujiko Fujio could be seen to have put out their own revival one-shots of Cyborg 009, Astro Boy, and Q-taro the Ghost.
As the 1980s approached, Akatsuka would do one more one-shot in the May 1983 launch issue of the magazine Penguin Question. Still, another full revival would not be until some years later.
Third Run[]
- Comic BomBom (Kodansha): November 1987 to March 1990.
- TV Magazine: February 1988 to January 1990. Separate activity book stories of Bakabon and Osomatsu occurred in appendix booklets from May to October 1988; "Osomatsu-kun Bwahaha 4koma Theater" was the follow-up feature but now integrated into the main magazine itself.
In late 1987, -kun was revived once again as part of the Media mix initiative between Kodansha, Yomiko Advertising, and Fuji TV in preparation for a new anime series after a pilot film by Studio Pierrot had gained the approval of the related parties. As most of the original Fujio Pro staff had left and Akatsuka himself worked in a more reduced capacity than before with only three new assistants, they would be the ones (including drawing chief Takayoshi Minematsu) appointed to finish the illustrations of the chapters based from Akatsuka's name (draft) pages.
The stories in this period were much shorter and simplistic for the kodomo demographic that Kodansha was aiming for, although they also contained a lot of toilet humor and increased slapstick elements. The intent was for the sextuplets to take back their lead role, although Iyami, Chibita, and the rest of the supporting cast still wound up having significant screen-time. There was still some Star System presence, with Bakabon's Papa and Nyarome popping up in guest spots along with other characters.
Initially, the Comic BomBom serialization had reprints of Shonen Sunday stories bundled with the new ones. The Kodansha magazines of Fun Kindergarten and Otomodachi would also both serialize anime-style tie-ins to the new Pierrot adaptation, from March 1988 to January 1990. The year of 1989 also marked the publishing of an unrelated one-shot in Weekly Shonen Sunday's 30th anniversary issue, titled "Where are these Famous Characters Now!?". It would often be misconstrued as a chapter or ending to the -kun series, but is more of a "self-parody" work by Akatsuka.
However, after the end of the Pierrot anime, there was no more need for there to be a manga running. This third run ultimately completed in early 1990, though many chapters would not be seen in reprints until the recent eBook edition.
Reprints[]
An example of the illustration tracing done in reprints, in order to create a colorless image.
As a note, though some -kun chapters had titles in their magazine printings, there were others that were originally serialized without such. In either case, reprint editions may have different titles for certain chapters and may create some confusion as to what is collected or not. Some editions may also collect chapters out-of-order, and such errors may be retained even in the eBookJapan release.
There are also pages to chapters that may have either been excluded for reprints (such as the original full-page opening panel and illustration to "Uninhabited Island Development Plan"), or that are available in some editions but not others (eg: the final spread in "Parody Version of Treasure Island" or the final punchline of "We are Grand Prix Racers")
- Seirindo: 5 volumes (1963-1964). Artist unknown.
- Toho: 4 volume kashihon (1964-1965). Artist unknown.
- Shogakukan: "Golden Comics: Osomatsu-kun" (1966), "Fujio Akatsuka Masterpiece Selection: Osomatsu-kun" (2005). "Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works: Osomatsu-kun", 34 volumes (reprint of the Kodansha edition), and the two volumes of "The Latest Version of Osomatsu-kun" (2002, 2005 for Comic Park service).
- Akebono: "Osomatsu-kun Complete Works", 31 volumes (1968-1975). Cover illustrations by Fujio Akatsuka and Takao Yokoyama. First edition of the collection was originally 24 volumes, but the serialization of the Shonen King run inspired a re-release with added volumes to cover those stories. The Shonen Jump story and essay of "There's No Wonderful Business Like That of a Gag!" is reprinted at the end of volume 31.
- Shiobun: "Osomatsu-kun Masterpiece Collection", 5 volumes (1976). Each volume is themed after a specific character, and contains Weekly Shonen Sunday and Weekly Shonen King stories. The frontispieces and table of contents illustrations are newly-drawn by assistants for the collection. Some titles of chapters are changed, and some chapters that had lost manuscripts after earlier editions are photocopied (such as "Kill Omega Joe").
- Asahi Sonorama: "Sun Comics: Osomatsu-kun Masterpieces", 10 volumes (1979). These covers were also newly designed by uncredited assistants.
- Kodansha: "Osomatsu-kun", 34 volumes (1988-1989), "Fujio Akatsuka's Laughter Land: Osomatsu-kun", 7 volumes (1988), "The Latest Version of Osomatsu-kun", 2 volumes (1988-1989). The first is a re-bundling of the Akebono volumes minus the extra features, the second were digest-sized volumes made to accompany the second anime release, and the third compiled select chapters of the Comic BomBom run. Cover illustrations by Akatsuka and Takayoshi Minematsu. The KC Comics edition is where some face edits of the sextuplets started to originate, along with some Showa celebrity references being altered.
- Takeshobo: "Osomatsu-kun", 7 volumes (cancelled first edition, 1995), 22 volumes (re-release, 2004-2005). Also publisher of ""Completely Osomatsu-kun: Osomatsu, Ichimatsu, Karamatsu, Choromatsu, Jyushimatsu, Todomatsu" (2016) and "Hiragana Osomatsu-kun" (2021). The artist for the CGI models on the first kanzeban release is unknown, though Minematsu was responsible for the art and design on the re-releases and new anthology. Some chapters with lost manuscripts were reconstructed in being traced by assistants, and discrimination terms such as "mekura", "bataya", etc. were scrubbed out from titles and stories.
- eBookJapan: "Osomatsu-kun", 34 volumes (2009). Cover art by Minematsu.
- Akita Shoten: "Cute Osomatsu-kun", 2 volumes (2016). Illustration for vol.1 re-used from the first volume of the Shiobun reprints, while vol.2's illustration comes from the Kodansha reprints.
- Chikuma: "Osomatsu-kun Best Selection", 1 volume (2016)
- Tatsumi Comics: "Osomatsu-kun English version", 1 volume (2017). Ten Shonen Sunday stories are translated into English.
Art Style[]
The art style of the series has changed greatly throughout its lengthy run, through the years of Weekly Shonen Sunday itself to its revivals.
The Sextuplets[]
Osomatsu-kun, page 3 of the 1st volume.
In the first chapter of Osomatsu-kun in Weekly Shonen Sunday, the sextuplets are drawn to have smaller eyes and a bigger rounder nose, and are also much shorter than their standard height will come to be seen as in the 1960s run. They also appear with freckled faces in the frontispieces to the first bunch of chapters, even if they never have the freckles in the actual stories. This soon changes over the course of the run, with the boys gradually evolving to having their familiar faces and overall look.
The Sextuplets, image taken from Volume 6, page 86.
Starting in April 1967, after the launch of The Genius Bakabon, Akatsuka's style for the brothers may have been forgotten when he did the drafts for chapters or an assistant had more of a hand, leading to the sextuplets dramatically shrinking in height and having much differently-shaped faces and heads. This design oddity was eventually resolved, but the characters continued to remain somewhat shorter in comparison to the longer-bodied look they'd held for the early-mid 1960s and would end the series this way.
There are also some mid-1960s chapters that were revised for reprints starting with Kodansha KC Comics' 1988 re-release, where Akatsuka pasted over new faces for the sextuplets that happened to have much larger, "cuter"-styled eyes. The existence of these edited chapters can be jarring against others where the sextuplets still bear their usual faces for the period, and sometimes the new faces were not consistently applied through these very stories.
The sextuplets as seen in the Shonen King revival, due to their sporadic appearance and the change in art style, also dramatically shrink in size throughout the run. The "Return" one-shot in 1976 features much tinier sextuplets as well, and their height in the Penguin Question one-shot is consistent with how they appeared in the Nyarome learning book series of the time.
The 1987 Comic BomBom revival initially reverted them back to being taller children, but this was abandoned after the first few chapters as they underwent a drastic redesign; shrinking in height to become very short, as well as gaining much larger, shinier eyes and an overall cutesy, super-deformed appearance. This carried through to the TV Magazine run as well as their appearances in other merchandise that required Akatsuka/Fujio Pro artwork.
Their Mother and Father[]
Matsuyo's hair was initially depicted as more of a flip in the back, and being slightly longer at times. Matsuzo, though still shorter than his wife, was also much taller and had smaller facial features. Both parents' designs would be gradually more simplified, to where they retained a mostly-consistent appearance through the run other than shrinking some by the end as well.
By their use in the Comic BomBom run, Matsuzo has retained his much shorter height while Matsuyo infamously has gained visibly large breasts in her design (as Bakabon's Mama had in the Bakabon revival).
Chibita[]
Chibita was initially a clear re-use and lifting of Kantaro from Nama-chan, which would wrap around the time of -kun's very debut. He may have even been intended to be Kantaro himself in a new role, but the design became tweaked with his later guest spots (even re-using the design of Choromatsu from Jinx-kun/Sansuke from O-chan's Eleven Friends in roles where he had hair) up until he gained a more familiar look by late 1962. He had no initial set name, other than being referred to as "Chibi" ("shorty") by others or sometimes play visibly different roles.
His design would be set in place through 1963, but continue to evolve when it came to some of his facial proportions, with him eventually losing the more "beaky" look of his mouth.
Totoko[]
Totoko, though retaining a taller appearance through most of her usage, was initially depicted with smoother pigtails and a longer-legged look when she was first used by Akatsuka. Her headband was also absent from one story (perhaps due to an inking mistake), while another used a third hairbow in its place.
She evolved in tandem with that of Akko of Akko-chan's Got a Secret!, as Akatsuka had recycled Akko's very design for her to start. This leads to astute viewers noticing how both girls (whether they were intended as the same "actor" or not) would have the same sort of fashions re-used between titles, even a fish-patterned dress being seen on both.
Totoko's facial style and some proportions are what tend to change with time, along with any fashion sense when it comes to the changing trends of different decades. Nonetheless, she mainly wears dresses and skirts, with pants being a rare sighting. By the time of the 1980s relaunch, Akatsuka would usually repeat the same clothing for her in having her wearing a blouse, vest, and skirt (with or without the vest and skirt having patterns applied to them), being much more simple when compared to the various outfits she had in the 1960s. However, she was once also seen to wear an outfit slightly evocative of Akko's 3rd run "jacket and skirt" look, with the jacket differing in being patterned and lacking any monogram.
Iyami[]
In his first appearance as a background character, Iyami had a much smaller overbite. His role as a doctor a few issues later retained this, along with showing him to bear a different mustache. His teeth were even suggested to be dentures, with them popping out of his mouth in shock.
As the more established and named "Iyami" debuted, his initial facial proportions were still different; he had a thicker mustache, and a longer face. His design would settle into a more familiar look by the mid-1960s, though as with the sextuplets, he would also shrink some and be more simplified by the late period of the run.
The Shonen King run depicts an Iyami with consistently wilder hair, a rounder-edged face, and much shorter proportions. This also creeps up in his Comic BomBom/TV Magazine look, after he was initially reverted to being taller for the start of the relaunch.
Hatabō[]
Hatabō himself was initially rougher in style, and though he still bore his flag, would sometimes also have an additional one hanging out of his ears (in reference to an old cartoon gag Akatsuka loved, in which flags would shoot out of characters' ears in surprise) if not that being the single flag he'd have. His shirt sleeves would tend to flop and hang as well.
The better-known design would solidify through the mid-1960s, with only notable differences being some alterations in proportion afterward.
Dekapan[]
Although Dekapan's height and some proportions like that of the size of his head and facial features may differ some through evolution, he retains a very consistent design through the publication of -kun due to the simplicity of it. However, there are some earlier -kun appearances where the character could be seen wearing something other than his boxers when the story required it (such as a full suit), which would be seen as very unusual later on.
Dayōn[]
Dayon is also another case where the basic design has not drastically been altered, but some proportional differences have occurred when it comes to the size of his head and mouth, as well his his facial features. A more modern Dayon (as with the 1988 anime) is more likely to wear standard shoes than geta sandals, but the sandals are still often used in Fujio Pro artwork.
Influences and Homages in the Series[]
With Akatsuka being appreciative of overseas film and literature[1], there are various instances in -kun where he would loosely pay tribute to his inspirations, if not more directly.
- O. Henry's stories are a most notable source, as "Chibita the Safe-Cracker" (1965, 1972) was derived from "A Retrieved Reformation". "Why Won't This World Change?" (1966) also came from Henry's "The Cop and the Anthem", and "An Aerial Swing of Friendship" (1966) was based from "The Gift of the Magi".
- Charlie Chaplin's film "The Kid" was sourced for "The Downtown Chibita Kid", and more famously, "City Lights" was used as inspiration for "Iyami Alone in the Wind".
- "The Iyami Platoon Strikes" (1969) came from Cornell Wilde's 1967 film "Beach Red".
- "Chibi in the Wild West" (1965) was based from George Stevens' 1953 Wild West-themed film "Shane".
- Olive Oyl and Swee'pea from Popeye are recycled as two brief minor characters in "It's a Problem Whether You're a Child or Adult" (1963). This is due to the series having been imported to Japan and enjoying a degree of popularity.
- "The Sextuplets vs. the Great Gang of Japan" (1967) was inspired by the 1965 Kengo Furusawa film "Crazy Adventure" as well as Stanley Kramer's 1963 comedy "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World".
- As Topo Gigio had also experienced import to Japan, Akatsuka included an in-joke of Hatabō wearing giant mouse ears as a disguise of "Topo Joejoe" in "The Chushingura of Edo Castle" (1966).
- The Batman live-action series starring Adam West had also become popular, so Iyami and Chibita took on the roles of "Bad Man and Kobin" in the chapter "BAD MAN" (1966).
Akatsuka also listed the sources of The Great Race, Yojimbo, Three Outlaw Samurai, Ikkyu-san, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Roman Holiday, Robinson Crusoe, Aladdin's Lamp, and Alibaba and the 40 Thieves as providing great influence to stories and gags in his career. He would often pick up translations of foreign novels and watch movies to get an idea, if not rely on folk tales and media in Japan itself, and would form the foundation of a story. He would then craft a gag manga using his characters in that type of scenario.
At the time he had been writing -kun, childrens' novels had started to become popular and he had wanted to try his own hand at writing but was more apt to being a cartoonist, which lead to his motivation to create "novels in manga form", which can particularly be seen in the longer stories.
Media[]
Sonosheets[]
Before an anime adaptation was made, Asahi Sonorama adapted Osomatsu-kun for its flexi-disk series.
A total of four albums were produced over time, with the latter two happening after the first anime series debuted. The screenplays for all four were written by Hisashi Inoue and Takeshi Yamamoto. Some changes present in the second album would carry over to the anime adaptation.
- Osomatsu-kun: The Medicine Strategy of Chibita (March 1965)
- Osomatsu-kun: We'll Do Anything in 6 Rounds! (July 1965)
- Osomatsu-kun: Chibita Strikes Back (March 1966)
- Osomatsu-kun: Go Back to the Days of the Dinosaurs (August 1966)
Due to the first two albums predating the anime, they each both contain an entirely different theme song and the voice cast is entirely different, save for Kyoji Kobayashi voicing Iyami.
Anime[]
Two anime adaptations have been produced to date for the series.
- First work (Monochrome): Aired on NET from 2/5/1966 to 3/25/1967 for 60 episodes (56 slots of original content, 4 slots of entire reruns). Produced by Mainichi Broadcasting System, with animation by Childrens Corner and Studio Zero. Adapts the Shonen Sunday run of the manga, as well as select chapters of Kantaro.
- Second work (Color): Aired on Fuji TV from 2/13/1988 to 12/30/1989 for 86 episodes and a New Years Eve special. Produced by Studio Pierrot. Iyami and Chibita are more of the main characters in this work, and settings are considerably changed (such as Totoko's personality).
TV Drama[]
Main article: Osomatsu-kun: Iyami and Chibita's Cooking Showdown
A live-action adaptation aired on Fuji TV's Monday Dramaland on December 16, 1985.
Titled Osomatsu-kun: Iyami and Chibita's Cooking Showdown (おそ松くん イヤミ・チビ太の板前一本勝負), it takes significant liberties with the source material and characters and focuses on Iyami and Chibita competing to win a contest hosted by a famous food critic.
It has not been rebroadcast or released on DVD, and it remains to be seen if it will ever resurface for more information to be known.
Games[]
Osomatsu-kun board game by Nintendo, 1966.
Before Nintendo worked on videogames, it published several traditional board games in the 60s, one of them was Osomatsu-kun themed and was released in 1966, it was simply called "Osomatsu-kun Game" (おそ松くんゲーム). The main goal of the game was to be the first one to assemble an Iyami picture.
Video Games[]
With the release of the 1988 anime series, a game titled Osomatsu-kun: Nonsense Theater (おそ松くん はちゃめちゃ劇場) was released for SEGA Mega Drive on December 24, 1988. In the game, Osomatsu's brothers have been abducted by Iyami and he must navigate through unusual worlds to find them.
Bandai would release its own game for the Famicom (NES) the following year, titled Osomatsu-kun: The Story of Back to Me's Overbite (おそ松くん バック・トゥ・ザ・ミーの出っ歯の巻), where Osomatsu would be sent through different time periods to learn about the mystery of Iyami's teeth.
Pachinko and Pachislot Machines[]
A pachinko game by Daiichi, titled CR Osomatsu-kun, was released in October 2004 and re-released as a Playstation 2 game by SunSoft the following year.
A pachislot game would also be released in 2005, titled Pachislot Osomatsu-kun. Five of the voice actors from the 1988 version would be utilized (Kaneta Kimotsuki, Mayumi Tanaka, Toru Ohira, Mari Mashiba, and Takuzo Kamiyama), and a new actress would be appointed for Osomatsu due to Yo Inoue having passed away. This too would also later receive a physical re-release as a video game.
In 2012, SanThree would issue their own CR Osomatsu-kun pachinko machine with newly-animated cutscenes provided by Studio Pierrot. This game was done to commemorate the 50th anniversary of -kun, however, no new anime or other projects would follow for it. The cast of the 1988 anime were reunited, save for any replacements for actors that had died or were otherwise unavailable, though the new animation follows more closely after the manga's own style.
The most recent game issued by Daiichi in 2017 is a remake of Pachislot Osomatsu-kun, with CGI cut-scenes and 2D design modeled after the 1988 anime. The remaining 1988 cast are utilized once more, and it marked the final voice role of Kaneta Kimotsuki before his passing in December 2016 (with his lines having been pre-recorded).
Unlike previous pachinko and pachislot offerings, neither of the more recent games have been offered in video game form for curious buyers.
Spinoff: Osomatsu-san[]
A new anime and media-mix project was announced in 2015, which happened to fall in the 80th birthday celebration for Akatsuka. This work would return focus to the sextuplets, but now have them as adults. It amassed two television runs, as well as a theatrical movie and many forms of merchandise and a long-running tie-in manga. The popularity resulting from the first season also lead to a flood of doujinshi, some of which were put together by various stakeholder companies as "official anthologies" for fans to easily buy and sample the artists' works.
However, this history behind this project was not as simple and in fact kind of tumultuous; Pierrot had been requested by Fujio Pro in 2013 to put forth a new 21st century "Osomatsu-kun" project, but the chosen network TV Tokyo had no available timeslots to air such a show in and production was delayed. The available timeslot picked for the show was an adult, after-hours one, which caused director and screenwriter Toru Hosokawa (who had hoped originally to adapt Bakabon instead of -kun) to suggest changing the project from "Osomatsu-kun" to an "Osomatsu-SAN" and aging the characters up, in order to better fit the timeslot and to get away with adult humor that would be appropriate for it. His pitch had the series as a more direct sequel to -kun, with the Matsuno sextuplets more in the protagonist spotlight and as 30-year old salarymen experiencing the chaos of adulthood.
Hosokawa had written 8 episodes of a 24-episode order when Pierrot got cold feet on his pitch and he had a falling out with the rest of the production committee over creative differences. Upon his departure, however, he gave permission for them to continue the "Osomatsu-san" concept with a different team. Yoichi Fujita and Shu Matsubara replaced him as the respective director and writer and entirely overhauled the idea, changing the sextuplets to vaguely "20something" NEETS and reducing the roles of Iyami and Chibita further as they felt modern audiences would not get or appreciate the characters. Hosokawa would later note that Matsubara had used 2 out of his 8 scripts for the show ("Osomatsu-kun Returns" and "Let's Get a Job"/"The Melancholy of Osomatsu") but that they were entirely rewritten from his intent.
Though there were vague indications of the production troubles of -san alluded to in magazines around the time of the series' airing, Hosokawa's Twitter confessions in 2018 in light of the airing of Late Night! Genius Bakabon set off controversy and the idea that he was bashing the -san that came to be and displaying a grudge against Pierrot for having let him go and for not properly promoting his Bakabon work as much as they would -san. Although Hosokawa had not intended for comparisons to be drawn between the series or to raise the ire of Osomatsu-san fans, the tweets were summarily deleted due to the controversy and the bad blood sparked on social media over them. Late Night! Genius Bakabon's run of 12 episodes came with little fanfare, and the series came as a small footnote for something Pierrot had only chosen to greenlight due to the popularity of -san.
As mentioned, the year -san was ultimately produced (2015) would just coincidentally happen to fall in line with Akatsuka's 80th anniversary, which made for initial hype and marketing to act as if the series was specifically a tribute for him although that hadn't been in the original intent. Although Pierrot had also put an edict to cast the sextuplets with "popular voice actors" that young women would like in order to draw them to the series, there would also be later denial from Fujita and Matsubara that the show was specifically geared to women to start (although it can be seen that jokes and the marketing push for the series did capitalize on such a quotient). Nonetheless, the "Osomatsu-san boom" that was created was successful enough to get the show further seasons and a movie.
Overseas Releases[]
One chapter of the -kun manga, "The Garden Guard Sextuplets", was translated into English for a GQ Japan feature about Fujio Akatsuka in 2000. Although bilingual tankobon were then produced of Bakabon and Akko-chan, there was no such treatment to be had for -kun until the 2017 anthology released by Tatsumi Comics.
It is claimed that the manga was illegally reproduced and translated into Korean in the 1970s, as part of the way of getting around the "no Japanese imports" ban in South Korea. However, it is difficult to find physical evidence of this version. As far as other countries go, a bootleg Mandarin translation of the Kodansha KC Comics version did happen at an unspecified point, likely in the 1990s.
The 1966 anime is sometimes referred to as "The Young Sextuplets" in older English sources, as is the manga at times. However, it is unknown if Fujio Pro or related companies ever actually offered the series under this title, or if there were any attempts to localize it in such a way.
The 1988 anime has to date been localized and broadcast in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Spain, India, and South Korea.
Gallery[]
Original Artwork[]
Covers to Reprints[]
References[]
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20020612121423/http://www.koredeiinoda.net/osomatu/oso_koro.html Information on Osomatsu-kun, archived version of Koredeiinoda (2002, Japanese)