Blu-Ray Review: Mr. Osomatsu Season One

Mr. Osomatsu is one of the funniest and most extreme anime comedies to come out in the past few years and so it came as no surprise when VIZ Media acquired the rights to the first two seasons. However, this was all the way back in 2017, with a cast announcement hitting the following year, so the fact that Mr. Osomatsu’s dub wouldn’t come out until three years later led many to question if it was ever actually going to come out and that perhaps the complex nature of the anime’s sense of humor might have been too sprawling to adapt. There was next to zero news surrounding the dub’s status and it began to take on an apocryphal feeling. This lengthy wait only makes the arrival of Mr. Osomatsu’s English dub on its Blu-Ray release all the more satisfying, especially since it comes across as a major love letter to the original anime where not only is nothing sacrificed in translation, but this dub manages to activate the anime’s humor and create something that’s somehow even funnier than the original and a remarkable season of animation for anyone that’s a total Osomatsu virgin.

Mr. Osomatsu follows a group of lazy sextuplet teenagers who refuse to grow up and this premise might not be complicated, but the anime’s sense of humor and impulses are extremely unconventional. Under normal circumstances this would be a dub that’s difficult to pull off and a situation where it’s borderline impossible for it to surpass the original version, but that’s exactly what happens here. Mr. Osomatsu’s dub establishes its own voice and it makes the series even funnier, yet in a way that doesn’t tarnish its reputation. It finds a way to be as enjoyable and insane as the notorious Ghost Stories dub, but in a manner that’s not at all insulting to the source material that accompanies it. It’s absolutely jarring to hear this dub bring up things like vore or engage in a “Hand Solo” euphemism for masturbation. Mr. Osomatsu is full of mature language and the expletives flow like udon broth, but these vulgar jokes somehow become blunter when they’re in English.

“Purists” are a very real thing in the anime community, but it’s important to recognize that this release doesn’t just make script changes for the sake of it or for some excuse to engage in “meme-able” subject matter. Instead, these edits reflect a deep understanding of the characters and Mr. Osomatsu’s sense of humor where this new dialogue feels more like an alternate line reading or some other retort that any of these characters would exclaim. It’s a balance that’s incredibly difficult to successfully achieve, especially in a show that’s so steeped in cultural references like Mr. Osomatsu. There’s almost too much thought put into these absurdist revisions and it’s the complete opposite of this production checking out or not caring about accuracy.

The other major component of this release and the debut of Mr. Osomatsu’s English dub is the casting decisions that are made for the sextuplets and the odd cast of supporting characters. It’d be very easy for this to be a disaster and for everything to just sound wrong, but it’s incredible to see how much this cast understands the caricature nature of their Matsuno sibling, but also the fresh slant that they’re able to put on it. VIZ assembles some of their best talent here like Billy Kametz (Osomatsu), Kyle McCarley (Ichimatsu), Sean Chiplock (Choromatsu), and Max Mittelman (Todomatsu). Michael Sinterniklaas and Ray Chase really disappear into their roles as Jyushimatsu and Karamatsu respectively. Most importantly, there’s effortless chemistry between everyone here. Cassandra Lee Morris and Cherami Leigh give even more chameleon-like performances as Totoko and Hatabou. Mr. Osomatsu’s most insane characters are easily Iyami and Dayon, so it’s not an easy feat that Keith Silverstein voices them both, as well as some other significant characters. Silverstein sounds unique in these performances and thankfully these eccentric personalities don’t end up all sounding like pieces of the same whole. One small concession that does get made is the many strange verbal tics that accompany the speech patterns of certain characters, but it’s an acceptable loss and Iyami’s signature verbal madness remains. 

The special features included in this Blu-Ray release include the Mr. Osomatsu Short Film Series, which are eight two-minute narratives that focus on separate characters or wild ideas. All of these are worth watching, but it’s the fourth and eighth episodes that are the highlights. They actually play around with mixed media and evoke a surreal and Lynchian aesthetic that’s a lot, even for Mr. Osomatsu standards. This bonus content amounts to nearly half of an extra episode, which is appreciated considering that the anime’s controversial first episode is not included since it remains banned and unavailable to legally purchase in any market, including Japan, due to how parody and copyright law work differently outside of North America. VIZ Media is selling Mr. Osomatsu’s season one Blu-Ray for $49.99, but it can be found on Amazon and Target for slightly less and there’s a digital release that’s even cheaper. It’s a fairly reasonable price for this set and even though the special features are minimal there are 25 episodes included, which amounts to under $2 per installment, which is hard to begrudge.

There still could have been more on this set and at least one commentary track would have been appreciated, even if it was by the scriptwriter and ADR director on the localization liberties that have been taken. Mr. Osomatsu is such a dense series where practically every frame can justify a monologue of context, but the absence of such special features isn’t a dealbreaker, nor is it totally unexpected with a release of this nature. After all, the main selling point here is that there’s finally an English dub of Mr. Osomatsu that’s available. It may not be loaded with extra perks in terms of additional content, but the dub itself is a goldmine for discoveries and surprises. The best thing about this release is that now hopefully the size of Mr. Osomatsu’s audience will grow even bigger. This is exactly the kind of anime that would thrive on Adult Swim’s Toonami and since VIZ does have the rights for season two there will hopefully be enough of an uproar over this set to justify further releases.

The season one Blu-Ray set for Mr. Osomatsu is an excellent package that is now the best way to consume this anime series. Hopefully the thought and care that’s gone into this production and release will give Mr. Osomatsu the attention that it deserves. It’s an absurd series like no other that heavily benefits from a group atmosphere and repeated viewings. It’s an anime that instantly creates an insular secret code-like energy for the initiated and stupefies anyone else. It can only be a positive thing for the world if more people start to act like Karamatsu, stick a flag in their head like Hatabou, or add “Sheeh!” to the end of their sentences like Iyami.