Yet again I’m reviewing all four seasons at once with this one because I don’t have nearly enough to say about each of them individually. This is a remake of a REALLY classic anime called Osomatsu-kun from the 1960s. It already got a remake in the 1980s called Osomatsu-san, so this is one of the few anime in the club of having multiple remakes, along with Astro Boy and Berserk. From what I understand this is considered one of the all time classic anime in Japan, especially regarding slice of life comedy shows. Multiple generations of Japanese people grew up withit, and it looks like Gen Alpha is gonna be added to that list. And I enjoyed it. I’ve heard it be compared to Gintama, which I also haven’t seen, but the center point of comparison is how it parodies other popular anime out around the same time. And that is absolutely an accurate summation of what Osomatsu-san does. Although that’s not the only type of comedy Osomatsu-san has, it’s definitely the predominant. The first episode of season 1 opens up with a black and white clip that seems like an homage to the original Osomatsu anime, which was in black and white. I’m not sure if this is an actual clip from that show, which was presumed lost for like 20 years or so, or if it’s original animation that was given the color pallet, sound design, and frame rate of the classic as a way to honor it. My gut wants to say it’s an actual clip from the original because there is a character that kind of seems like a Chinese stereotype, (although I don’t know if it is for sure so don’t quote me on that), but even if it is it is still possible that they put that in there to be as authentic with the times as humanly possible, who knows.

After that, before we get to see the characters in their actual designs but in color, the show immediately goes into a parody of reverse harem male idol anime, and it’s far more entertaining than 99.99 percent of the actual anime in that genre. That’s the main area of parody here, but they also throw in references to other anime like Haikyuu, Yowamushi Pedal, Kuroko’s Basketball, and Attack on Titan, so it really is a melting pot of anime references. The Attack on Titan one was my favorite. It’s also not just anime references; in episode 3 of season 1 they did a really good Saw reference. Like as in the franchise of American horror movies called Saw. Some people say references are the lowest form of comedy, and sometimes they can be, but in this case most of the time they don’t just stop at blanket references but they do comedic things with the references, and in such a short amount of time, which is very impressive. Then it goes back to the black and white homage to the classic again for a few more minutes. It’s not until we get passed the 18 minute mark of episode 1 that we actually get scenes with the main cast in their normal designs but in color, but I didn’t feel disappointed because of how entertaining it was. And the rest of the series is basically just like that. It’s one of those anime where it is what it says on the tin, what you see is what you get. If you watch episode 1 and you don’t like it then you won’t like the rest either, but if you do like it then you’re in for a great time. Not every joke lands in my opinion, but enough of them do that I was able to enjoy it. I also really liked the unique color design of the art as well.