Osomatsu-kun 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. These were aired across Japan by Fuji Television, Animax, and the South Korean kids channel Cartoon Network Korea. A new anime series by Pierrot, Mr. Osomatsu, 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.
;Iyami ;Chibita ;Totoko ;Matsuzō Matsuno ;Matsuyo Matsuno ;Hatabō ;Dekapan ;Dayōn ;Nyarome, Beshi, and Kemunpasu ;Omawari-san, Rerere no Oji-san, and Yoru no Inu
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. 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.
Anime
1966 series
The original anime series was produced by Studio Zero and co-produced by Children's Corner; it was in black-and-white and aired in Japan between February 1966 and March 1967. The first opening was "Osomatsu-kun no Uta" by Matsuyo, the sextuplets, Iyami, and Chibita, while the second opening was "Osomatsu-kun no Uta 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.
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" while the ending theme was "Osomatsu-kun Ondo, both performed by Takashi Hosokawa. A short film, Osomatsu-kun: Suika no Hoshi Kara Konnichiwa zansu!, was released on March 18, 1989.
Drama
On December 16, 1985, a live-action TV special entitled Osomatsu-kun, Iyami, Chibita no Itamae Ippon Shōbu 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.
Three video games based on the series have been produced. 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. Osomatsu-kun: Back to the Me no Deppa Maki was released by Bandai from the Famicom on December 8, 1989. Finally, Hisattsu Pachinko Station V9 Osomatsu-kun was released by Sunsoft for the PlayStation 2 on February 24, 2005.
''Mr. Osomatsu''
Mr. Osomatsu, produced by Pierrot, aired in Japan between October 2015 and March 2016 and was simulcast by Crunchyroll, making it the first piece of Osomatsu-kun media to receive an official English release. The series, which celebrates the 80th birthday of creator Fujio Akatsuka, who died at the age of 72 in 2008, follows the Matsuno siblings as adults. The series' first episode, which featured multiple parodies, was removed from streaming sites on November 12, 2015, and was replaced by an original video animation in its home video release. Additionally, the third episode, which features a crude parody of Anpanman, was edited for its BS Japan broadcast and is altered in its home video release. A second season aired from October 2017 to March 2018. A manga adaptation of Osomatsu-san, illustrated by Masako Shitara, began serialization in Shueisha's You magazine from January 15, 2016. An otome game based on the series is being developed by Idea Factory.
