As fun as this world is, and as wacky as these characters are, since this series falls into the cynical end of Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism, their lives kind of suck if you put some thought into it.
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Season 1
Who would have thought that a "wacky comedy" would play a scene of love not conquering all painfully straight?
- The fact that the brothers go into a decade-long slump after considering how their creator would react to episode 1's fiasco. It wasn't too much of a worry for them until a picture of him smashes on the ground.
- Just the sight of the normally silly brothers going silent and giving out a truly ashamed, heartfelt "Sorry!" is pretty upsetting, too. They must really love their creator.
- The entirety of "The Melancholy of Osomatsu" (the latter half of Episode 02). Osomatsu actually tries to hang out with his brothers, but instead he actually interferes in their lives. As the episode goes on, he is beaten up by two of his brothers, got ignored by the rest and is ultimately disowned and replaced while he was out. Keep in mind, it's only been a day.
- The beginning of the short was pretty funny, as it shows Osomatsu impersonating his brothers during a game of cards. But the way the camera pulls back to reveal that he was playing alone the whole time and the little disappointed sigh he gives afterwards is just damn depressing to watch.
- Just the fact that in some ways, the Matsuno sextuplets really grew apart from each other over the years. Back in the day, they used to be so close and did everything together. It's especially apparent with Osomatsu and Choromatsu, who used to be the Sibling Team of their little group.
- "Let's Get a Job" has the brothers working at Black Factory as slaves, non-stop.
- "The Karamatsu Incident". The premise itself was funny as hell, but after Chibita and Karamatsu hear the other sextuplets ignore the ransom call and pig out on fruit, the eerie silence between both men is just pitiful to watch. And after some prompting, the normally confident and "cool" Karamatsu burst into tears. Poor kid.
- Karamatsu is this in general. The poor guy, for all of his flair and narcissism, cares deeply for his brothers and often tries to show it, only for all of them to brush him off. He's also seen as painful by everyone else, Ichimatsu abuses him at every opportunity, and the show's staff is clearly intent on keeping him as the Butt-Monkey, despite a lot of fans feeling sorry for him. It's surprising how he takes all of the abuse he receives (mostly) in stride.
- Ichimatsu during "ESP Cat". As he denies the cat and tries to pass himself off as someone who doesn't need friends, the cat repeats back how he really feels about the whole ordeal — that Ichimatsu feels that he doesn't deserve friends, that he can't understand how interacting with others comes so naturally to his brothers, that he thinks making friends with a cat is easier than dealing with humans, and that, at the end of it all, he's a terribly lonely man. The notable change in his usually stoic voice makes the scene even worse. Then again, the episode was made to make the audience sad, but they probably did their job a little too well.
- After the cat tells the brothers (sans Karamatsu) all of this, Ichimatsu very angrily and bitterly orders the cat to leave, which it recognises as the complete truth. He desperately tries searching for the cat later.
- It is implied that it was Jyushimatsu who actually apologized. Although it's not clear if the cat read his mind or if he mimicked the cat's voice.
"Ichimatsu, are you crying?"- Ichimatsu in general is borderline depressing at times. For his version of "Six Same Faces (Type-B)", he just gripes about how shitty he is and how he's the worst of his brothers to whoever is sitting next to him. The kid probably needs more than a good hug."Go on, enjoy yourself without me. Filth can't move.""Make fun of me if you want. I don't care if you do.""Everyone's pretty much the same. The only difference is in the numbers. From eldest to youngest, everyone's trash, but the trashiest one in the middle is me."
- The short "Black Santa" from the Christmas Episode. For whatever reason, Ichimatsu is dressed in a black santa costume, sits down next to a couple, and makes incredibly awkward small talk with them. They're obviously uncomfortable, but make an effort to make it as durable as possible and even thank him when he comments on how well they fit together. Then he spontaneously burst into flames, and the couple runs the hell away screaming while he just keeps staring at them and twitching with his whole body. No Social Skills really hurts to watch sometimes. (At least the episode's version of Six Same Faces throws him a bone when he is briefly heard chuckling.)
- After the cat tells the brothers (sans Karamatsu) all of this, Ichimatsu very angrily and bitterly orders the cat to leave, which it recognises as the complete truth. He desperately tries searching for the cat later.
- "Jyushimatsu Falls in Love". Really, the entire segment qualifies. It turns out, the girl Jyushi had been seeing for a month had been planning to kill herself the day they met, and he saved her by accidentally drowning and making her laugh. He had planned to ask her to be his girlfriend, but she turns him down, saying that she has to go back to her parents' home and that they can't be together.
- It is implied that the girl was in a porn video in which Osomatsu saw at a porn shop. Which may have led to her wanting to commit suicide. It seems like Osomatsu was going to tell Jyushimatsu about it, but he decided not to last minute.
- The scene where she tells him about leaving is just heartbreaking. There's not even any music or voices to work with, and we don't even hear what she has to say. We just see Jyushi looking shocked, her walking away, and him dropping his umbrella in the rain.
- The shot of the other brothers we see after that is one of the final punches the scene throws, and it's especially painful. Most of them look concerned for him, but particularly notably, Ichimatsu is turned away, as though he knew this would happen. It's subtle, but considering that Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu have a very good relationship, this was among the saddest things in the scene.
- That scene at the oden shop where the brothers watch Jyushi bawl like a baby. No one's ever seen him cry like that before, at least in this series.
- The very end of the episode, where Jyushi tries to catch up to her train to say one last goodbye to her, and notices her crying. He tries to cheer her up with his normal tricks, but she keeps bawling more, and continues to cry as the train door shuts. He manages to catch up with it, keep trying to make her smile, and in the end succeeds. The shot ends with her on the train, the camera lingering on Jyushi's "14" armband where her bandages used to be.
- A minor example, but Juushimatsu losing interest in batting practice with Ichimatsu (with Ichi tied to the bat) also counts. Even though he didn't seem to enjoy it at first, Ichi actually came to look forward to their little playtime that he'd willingly tie himself to the bat beforehand. Considering that (as shown in episode 5) Juushimatsu is the one who gets along with Ichimatsu the most, it's a little heartbreaking to see him turn him down.
- "Sanematsu-san" from Episode 13. The titular man leads a mediocre life with most people finding him creepy or unsettling. Not many people like him, but the only ones who do are his jobless brothers, who are then revealed to be figments of his own imagination.
- If you think about it, Karamatsu in "The Ichimatsu Incident." While his other brothers think that Ichimatsu's defining trait is his unfriendly demeanor (earlier in the segment, Osomatsu straight out calls him "twisted and shitty"), Karamatsu only notices his love of cats judging from his impression of him. Remember Ichimatsu's hatred of Karamatsu, and all the times he's driven him to
◊ tears◊? It would be understandable if he thought lowly of Ichimatsu, but instead, he has such an innocent view of him. - The Iyami Kart episode is usually more Black Comedy and Mind Screw than Tear Jerker, but there is that one moment just after Osomatsu's brothers have thrown shells at his car to make it explode and start talking shit about him. You can tell that Chibita finally realizes how right Oso was in his rant back in episode 2.
- After knocking Kara from the track, Todo and Ichi admit that they want Choro to be the protagonist and acknowledge how hard it must be for him to have to live in Oso and Kara's shadow. Choro is so moved that someone has recognized how difficult it is for him that he starts crying.
- Towards the end of the episode, everyone is battered, exhausted and staggering towards the finish line. Even so, they still make last-minute hits to take out the others. In doing so, their inner desires start coming out. At first, it starts off harmlessly enough, with Totoko reiterating her dream of being an idol and Chibita wanting to know about the lines on his face. But then, we get to the brothers (minus Jyushimatsu), and that's where things start to get very depressing. Osomatsu and Karamatsu want to be popular and loved, Choromatsu wants to be accepted, Todomatsu wants to be noticed and Ichimatsu wants to be complimented. Their deepest insecurities and vulnerabilities are laid out in the open, each of them spoken in such an anguished and desperate tone. It's a very raw moment, and it's hard not to feel for these guys after that.
- The Self-consciousness Big Bang from episode 19. Osomatsu and Todomatsu running away in sheer terror, the way the self-consciousness orb keeps growing and pulsating as Choromatsu stares at it, gasping... And then something in him just snaps. A few days later, the orb has sprouted tentacles, and he is sitting alone in Sutabaa, pretending (or hallucinating?) that he is working at some IT helpdesk. The Next Episode-preview, where he pretends he is some sort of magical girl about to cast a spell on you to "fix all of your self-awarenesses that are messed up from anime and the internet", whatever that means, does not help.Todomatsu: Looks like a terrible monster's been created.
- Of all things, the fortune telling Drama CD's first track can be one. The track is about Osomatsu visiting a fortune telling tent, only to find out that Ichimatsu is the only one working there. This is entirely Played for Laughs, and the dialogue throughout the whole thing is full of Breaking the Fourth Wall and odd jokes. But in the end, it is still a track about how the typically lucky-go-happy Osomatsu is outright desperate to know whether he ever will get married, and is actually sobbing after the truth has been forced out of him.
- Surprisingly, "Star of Hope, Todomatsu" is this for the titular character in question. It's revealed in this episode that Todomatsu wants to climb up the social ladder because he believes he's the only one of his brothers who can. And once he succeeds, he wants to bring his brothers up behind him. But when the rest of the sextuplets fail miserably at the "mixer audition," Totty runs out on them, eventually being reduced to tears over how torn he is on which brother to take. While he blames his brothers for his lot in life, it becomes clear that he truly loves them and wants to make their lives better as well as his own. However, he gets visited by The God of Mixers, who tells him that no matter how much he wants to, he can't bring all five brothers with him. Because of this, he doesn't take any of them to the mixer so as to not risk outshining them and causing resentment amongst the ones he rejected. Instead, he sacrifices his own chances of moving up in society by taking a rich, popular guy who attracts all the ladies. And he even lets himself be called "Nothingo" in the process, while he accepts it all without protest. Totty can be a real conniving jerk, but this story treats him so brutally and has such a depressing ending that you can't help but sympathize with the poor guy.
- Ichimatsu's social awkwardness is played for laughs, but despite claiming otherwise he wants to have relations with others. In episode 22 we see that he can't get a word out and will go into a full fledged panic attack when pressured in social situations he doesn't want.
- In "Dayoon Tribe", After Todomatsu tries to reason with Choromatsu that living with the Dayoons isn't right, he snaps and says that there's no place for the them in the outside world and he would rather spend his days in relative paradise with his new-found friends than going back to being a NEET like his brothers.
- After hearing Choromatsu's speech, the Dayoon tribe chase the Matsuno brothers away...with tears streaming down their faces. The boys, in turn, tearfully beg to be allowed to stay—neither side truly wants them to leave, but the Dayoon still realize that the healthiest thing for the Matsu boys would be for them to face their problems in life and move on.
- The second-to-last episode "Letter." Choromatsu successfully finds a job and moves out of the Matsuno household. Afterward, Totty follows and moves into his own place. Then Karamatsu leaves, then Jyushimatsu, and then Ichimatsu. The only one left is Osomatsu, who remains silent and passive aggressive for a majority of the episode and refuses to say goodbye to any of them. This is the first time we see the brothers truly separated and without each other. The inner monologue Choromatsu gives implies that they all know this is for the best, despite the loneliness and hardship that comes with being apart. Never mind that this is all completely undone within the first ten seconds of the next episode.
- When the brothers are seeing Choromatsu off, we quickly see that Osomatsu isn't there. Choromatsu is clearly saddened by this, but we don't know the extent of how much it affects him until they drive off, when Iyami sees Choromatsu in tears. Considering how close the two of them used to be in -Kun, Osomatsu's coldness during this big moment must have been devastating.
- After Choromatsu leaves, Todomatsu gets angry, marches up to Osomatsu and whacks him with a rolled-up magazine. In the next shot we see of him, he's packed up and ready to move out, but when he turns around, we see he has a black eye. This strongly implies that his fight with Osomatsu was what drove him to leave and is a pretty stark sign that this once close-knit (albeit dysfunctional) family is falling apart.
Todomatsu: It's probably better if we're not together.- Karamatsu becomes so desperate to change who he is that he resorts to groveling on his hands and knees. Not only does he do this in front of Chibita, his friend, to stay at his place, but he also does this at the employment office, in public, because he wants a job that badly. It's such a marked contrast from his usual Casanova Wannabe persona, your heart just breaks for him.
Karamatsu: At this rate, we sextuplets... No, I'll be ruined. I want to change! I want to get out of this! (looks down at the hand he used to punch Oso) So please...- Near the end, we get a glimpse of how the brothers are doing with their new lives. Choromatsu is doing well as a business man and finally mailing his letter, Totty is constantly fighting with himself to reach out to his family and fight against his own loneliness, Jyushimatsu is getting injuries at work but continues to smile, Karamatsu is rewriting resumes and trying to stop being himself, Ichimatsu is homeless and walks the streets hungry, and Osomatsu is simply alone. The one thing left tying all six of them together is that they are solemnly looking up at the same moon.
- Osomatsu deserves a special mention. Throughout the episode, he's quiet and moody. Noticeably not taking part in the family's celebration of Choromatsu finally getting a job. Finally reaching his boiling point when Jyushimatsu bumps into him too much, causing a fight between him and Karamatsu where he's screaming like a madman. As the rest of his brothers leave and move on with their lives, Osomatsu just stays where he is. He doesn't talk to anyone or leave the house. He just stares into space even ignoring Totoko who asked him out on a date. He just seems so lifeless showing that despite what he said, he loved his brothers more than he could ever tell them.
- Not to mention the preview for the next (and last) episode after the credits, which shows no scenes of Episode 25; just a still picture of the Matsuno house, and is narrated by all the sextuplets:
Karamatsu: For our own sakes...Choromatsu: ...we need to look forward...Ichimatsu: ...and face it...Jyushimatsu: ...with everything we have...Todomatsu: ...to become stronger.
Season 2
- “Super Detergent” has the brothers turn into nothing but their organs and blood vessels and painting themselves into ridiculous, horrible, obviously fake bodies. The problem is no one seems to notice any difference: not Totoko, not Hatabou, not even their parents. Even Iyami is able to tell them apart perfectly despite never being able to get their names right before. The brothers are so shaken and depressed by this that they all burst into tears. It’s kind of sad to see.
- Another big one from this episode comes when the brothers see each other’s organs and find that Ichimatsu literally has a glass heart with a “Caution: Fragile” warning taped on it. Even the brothers pointing it out is enough to get it to crack. Despite his jerkass bravado and seems to be fine being alone, Ichimatsu's situation as a NEET really worsens his self-esteem issues.
- Not exactly tear-inducing, but there is a sad element to Choromatsu and Ichimatsu's relationship embodying the pattern The Friends Who Never Hang in "Choromatsu and Ichimatsu", especially since awkwardness aside they can be perfectly cordial to each other (in regards to Ichimatsu, it's almost sweet as he puts effort to socialize with his older brother, and for Choromatsu to be patient by his younger brother's eccentricities). Although they're still siblings who live under the same roof, care for each other in the Matsuno way and get along fine in-group, the end of the skit implies they're probably, and realistically, not going to be as close as Osomatsu and Choromatsu's or Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu's anytime soon.
- "Matsuzou and Matsuyo" has Matsuzo remembering the time he first met Matsuyo as a teenager and wondering if she doesn't love him anymore because she doesn't do any of the usual things like telling him good night. It's a grim reminder that nothing lasts forever, but it can be mitigated by making sure that their relationship can still stand firm throughout the time.
- "Osomatsu and Todomatsu" delivers the first real gut-punch of the season near the end of the episode.
- So the skit revolves around Todomatsu bringing Osomatsu to his next mixer, expecting him to act civilized and control his lust around two pretty girls. Naturally, he only lasts for about two minutes. Eventually Todomatsu gives up and lets Osomatsu be an obnoxious pervert ... and two girls actually let their guard down and have fun being bawdy and obnoxious. Meanwhile, while they're caught up in Osomatsu's antics, Todomatsu just sits there the whole time, having no idea how to join in. He ends up getting completely ignored for the rest of the episode until he quietly excuses himself and walks home alone.
- Just to hammer it in, during the walk home he looks visibly shaken◊ and even begins to comfort himself, murmuring things like 'I love you Totty,' and 'I'm a good boy,' to help himself feel better. He may not have a heart, but it definitely seems like something broke inside of him. The pain of being disappointed by your eldest brother really stings for any younger siblings who have high hopes for their older sibling that they will take care of them and will never let them down...
- Some time after the mixer, Osomatsu met the girls again in the street and asked them to hang out again...only for them to coldly reject him. Turned out they were only playing along instead of genuinely enjoying the mixer and they wouldn't want to see him again. This revelation utterly crushed Osomatsu, as he fainted from the shock and confusion.
- Episode 14 has the return of Sanematsu-san which shows how horrible his life is. His boss considers him useless, most of his coworkers either ignore him or mock him with the one co-worker that tried to get along with him the last time he appeared is now annoyed with his silence. But things look up when he wakes up as the brother of Osomatsu and the rest who are rather nice now. Sanematsu spends weeks with the brothers happy till Osomatsu reveals that things are going to end as Sanematsu agrees. It's then revealed that his time with the sextuplets was a Dying Dream due to a car accident as he dies smiling.
- As what the Nightmare Fuel page implies, it's heavily implied that Sanematsu is delusional all along and his brothers aren't real doesn't extinguish the tear jerker. Someone give this poor schmuck a hug...
- The re-adaptation of the Osomatsu-kun story “Iyami, Alone in the Wind”. Hoo boy, this one’s a doozy...
- Just the premise alone is sad enough: An AU set in the Shōwa era, a dirty, raggedy Iyami befriends a little blind girl whose parents died in a fire that destroyed the city some time ago. This moment is when you realize you’re gonna be in for a heavy episode.
- Iyami puts himself to work several jobs in order to raise money for Okiku’s treatment, to the point where he starts jeopardizing his own health. As it turns out, however, it’s nowhere near enough, and time is running out. In desperation, Iyami runs out into the neighborhood, at night, in the pouring rain, and tearfully begs his neighbors on his hands and knees for money. As if that wasn’t sad enough, he’s met with complete silence because the neighbors have no means in which to help him, and we see that it pains all of them. God, this entire scene is straight-up heart wrenching.
- In the climax of the episode, Iyami finally delivers the funds needed for Okiku’s treatment...right before he gets arrested and imprisoned for a number of years. By the time he’s released, he’s a withered and broken old man, walking through a town that’s evolved without him. His old neighborhood has been torn down, his old friends are nowhere to be found, and he’s turned away by everyone he tries to interact with. At one point, he’s reduced to drinking water from the river and eating from garbage cans.
- Finally, he finds Okiku running her own workshop, alive and well...with working eyesight. Iyami cries in joy knowing she’s healed and happy; but the moment Okiku glances in his direction, he’s gone, so she’ll never know the man who had saved her all those years ago. You would be forgiven for wanting to lie down after this episode.
- Cherry Blossoms: This episode tackles the same issues of maturing and growing up as Letter. While it's not as heartbreaking as that episode, it has its own moments of sadness.
- The start of the episode has Matsuzo hospitalized and all six brothers are scared for him and spend the day huddled next to his bed.
- While Osomatsu is enjoying his new life after finally getting a job, he looks on sadly at Iyami, Hatabou, Dekapan and Dayon excitedly doing something stupid together that he can't anymore due to his new responsibilities.
- Osomatsu then goes home to find it empty except for Ichimatsu sleeping on the couch. Osomatsu is sad to find that Ichimatsu has no idea where their brothers are and Osomatsu wanders the streets as realizes they're slowly drifting apart.
- Although "Iyami-san Is Troubled" is still comedic, the sketch still concerns the titular character being so broken up by his loser status and lack of character expansion that he tries to hang himself. Not even talking to others, even the director, helps, because they don't know what to do with him either.
Season 3
- In episode 4: The fact that Nyaa Hashimoto has divorced and is raising a baby on her own.
- In episode 18: Choromatsu gaining knowledge of the above, and then she recently has a crush on his crap-like eldest brother. On top of that, Nyaa shoots him down by declaring that he has no rights to call her "Nyaa-chan" because she doesn't know him. Choromatsu ends up travelling around the world on a self-discovery journey.
- Osomatsu finally comes to his senses and attends the date with his new admirer (yes, Nyaa Hashimoto), only for that girl also coming to her senses and apologizing (for wrongly admiring him) the end of the episode. Cue the boy sinking himself into the lake next to him.
- In episode 18: Choromatsu gaining knowledge of the above, and then she recently has a crush on his crap-like eldest brother. On top of that, Nyaa shoots him down by declaring that he has no rights to call her "Nyaa-chan" because she doesn't know him. Choromatsu ends up travelling around the world on a self-discovery journey.
- A skit in Episode 15 has Osomatsu being an old man, sharing a story with five kids about how he lived as a hard-working tortoise, only to find out that the society does not reward mere hard-working, and was thusly divorced and living as a disgraced, drunken gambler who breaks down in tears at the end of the skit.
- "The Way Home" focuses on the brothers while they walk home from a wedding of an old acquaintance. Devoid of most of the usual gags, it primarily consists of the six talking about how they've spent their lives in relation to others and what they all want for themselves when they're independent. At the end, Todomatsu hesitatingly asks his older brothers "What's gonna happen to us?"...and then the segment ends there. It's a sobering reminder of their NEEThood and insecurities about finally leaving the nest, and much like real life, it doesn't end on a neat solution, positive or negative, for them to work with.
- The last joke of "Imaginary Friend" is that Choromatsu's best friend in high school, with whom he has hanging out with the entire episode, was also as imaginary as his brothers' constructs. It's depressing enough that he couldn't make any friends, but for his to be so vivid and realistic (at least by the standards of this show) is just worse.
- "Sanecop" features the return of the misery-filled existence that is Sanematsu, except that after the terrible accident that killed him in Season 2, he has been revived as a cybernetic enforcer. At the behest of Kaoruko, he discovers that his boss deliberately arranged the traffic accident that killed him in order to use him as a prototype for cheap cybernetic security. Thankfully, he resists enough to expose the corruption to the heads of the company and destroy the man who ruined his life.
Movie
- In the past, it's shocking to see Ichimatsu still trying to do his best to fit in with society and create connections with people. Despite the clear signs that he was still extremely uncomfortable and self-conscious of interacting with people. Although, it's heavily implied he just gradually burnt out from socializing with people. You wonder what exactly was the breaking point when he gave up on humanity and interacting with people. That is until you witness him accidentally eavesdropping on his so called "friends", that he tried so hard to fit in with, talking about how creepy the sextuplets act together.
- To add context to this, in "ESP Cat", you wonder how Ichimatsu had developed such a bitter, cynical view of people and become the depressing insecure invert we all know today when he use to be so strong willed in Osomatsu-kun. If you look closely, you can easily link Ichimatsu's own insecurities to what happened in high school.
- It's true from when they were kids in Osomatsu-kun they've grown apart a lot. But from what we saw from when they were in high school, they were so much worse. Thanks to all having such an unusual upbringing and being Sextuplets, they all had trouble fitting in at school and learning how to be their own individuals. It got to the point where they stopped talking to each other which came to a boiling point on their graduation day where they all got into a big fight with each other.
- The one girl that liked the Matsunos for who they are in high school, Nozomi Takahashi, is in the present dying of illness. She sees them one last time in her dreams to properly tell them why she liked and supported them so much, and when we last see her, she's heavily implied to have died.
