Osomacu-san - Season 1

I have to admit that when I tried to watch this anime series last year, the result was that I dropped it after about ten minutes because the feeling that struck me was the same as SonGokussj has stated - just one big NOPE. During the black-and-white intro, the sextuplets announce that they have come back to do a show for the people who practically know nothing about the original manga from the sixties, which was supposedly very popular in Japan. This was just very confusing, and when they topped it off by starting to churn out their "classic catchphrases", which I, logically, had never heard before and which, taken out of context, were completely unfunny, I just thought it was perhaps not the best way to attract new viewers. Furthermore, when even the main protagonists themselves seem to be aware of this, you wonder what you are watching. You also tend to question why the hell the anime’s producers are doing it at all, when they themselves know that this is just probably not going to work. The main reason I dropped it at the time, though, was the part that came after this injection of black-and-white ambivalence and nostalgia. Suddenly, you find yourself at a concert, and the sextuplets have a new image, a stylish and colorful look. In addition, they sing in a way that makes me feel like I am watching a concert by One Direction. Also, thanks to the subsequent part with the high school, which I found stupid and pretty off-putting, meant that Mr. Osomatsu was thrown into that imaginary trash can. A few months passed, and there was a very positive review praising it by Starletka, and I began to wonder whether I was wrong. I read the review and I was struck by the fact that it is supposedly very amusing, with a lot of references to other anime series, apparently already in the first episode. I started reminiscing, dusted myself off, and watched the first episode again. This time I was ready for what the opening had in store for me. Well, even the second time the intro was not the most pleasant ten minutes of my life, however, when I got further into it, suddenly everything started to fall apart, the sextuplets could not keep up their "new image" and the anime series took a completely different turn when within minutes the game was changing from one thing to another… and I really probably witnessed the most amount of references ever crammed into five minutes of one episode of an anime series. A positive thing I should probably mention about the show was the references to a well-known contemporary anime series, which almost every anime viewer (me included), would recognize. Apart from that, the ending was a bit awkward and a let-down, it was back to being black-and-white and was quite weird. However, when, at the end of the episode, the main protagonists apologized, and said something along the lines that hopefully it will be better from the next episode on, I was able to forgive them somewhat for their initial embarrassments... Whichever way I look at it, I do not think I have seen a more peculiar start to an anime series in a long time. Anyway, it really did get much better after the second episode, and the animation is pretty much the same quality as the original black-and-white anime series (only this time it is in color), however, it is still much better than having them be idols again (unfortunately, even this show is going to include that eventually...). Furthermore, I was very pleased that they managed to make fun of my first impressions in the second episode. At the same time, there are some really hilarious jokes from the second episode onwards, some are very cheesy, and some are very peculiar, just a real barrage of humor. The references even sometimes really took me by surprise, such as the reference to the anime Sushi Police (they refer to it in the skit as Pachinko Police), because I just did not expect the anime’s producers to throw in such obscure references to lesser-known shows. There was also a pretty hilarious skit referencing the movie Saw... I gradually managed to develop a relationship with the characters as well, and probably thought Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu were the most enjoyable to watch, as the two most prominent opposites. So in the end I think this is a pretty good show, and at times it is a lot of fun, at other times it is really peculiar, and sometimes it is quite puerile, but why not...7.5/10. (24.01.2020) (mniej) (więcej)