Mr. Osomatsu Season 2

Episode 17

This week on the UMA Expedition Team, Iyami, Jyushimatsu, and Hatabō went to the snowy mountains to chase a Devil Yeti and die tragically, after learning way too much about a fellow cast member's monstrous vacation spot. As always, the series played with my expectations here. After the trio had beat each other to disfigured messes to keep from falling asleep in the cold, I was waiting for the yeti to show up and cleanse his cave of the noisy intruders. But the monster was long gone, leaving us to confront a monster of a different nature. I always knew playing pranks on his only friend wasn't the only thing Dayōn did to entertain himself, and I fully expect him to leave our expedition team for dead on purpose.

The following segment shows Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu so afraid of their "happiness debt" inflating that they subsequently inflict the required "misfortune payback" on each other to stay ahead of karmic retribution for the sin of being too happy. From Ichimatsu's cute and comparably harmless jump into the pond to make up for catching too many fish, Mr. Osomatsu ratchets up the scale of physical and psychological violence until our NEETs reach the stage of ultimate punishment: walking through crowded places like Shibuya Crossing and Takeshita-dori, packed with normal functioning adults wearing actual shoes who care very little about the sweating, shivering siblings. Despite the considerable pains they went through to make sure their blessed yakiniku was not taken away from them, karma proves to be a bitch by simply not existing. More yakiniku for the other Matsus, who also couldn't care less about their toasted brothers. Punishment! is Mr. Osomatsu's sharpest segment in a while, from its impeccable timing for escalation to how insanely excited the brothers get about what would only be cause for minor ordinary happiness to a normal adult.

The next segment, Inn, is one of the show's stranger vignettes, where Karahiko and Todomi (take a guess which brothers they represent) go to a rural ryokan to (not) spend the night with proprietress Choroe and zashikiwarashi Osoma. Haunted inns are a staple of Japanese folklore, just like zashikiwarashi. Osoma's appearance follows tradition, but even though zashikiwarashi are known for causing mischief, they're also said to bring good fortune for their family, despite their origin tracing back to infanticide. (For a longer and much creepier zashikiwarashi story, check out the first two episodes of the excellent Mononoke, where Takahiro Sakurai exorcises the ghosts of dead children instead of playing one.) Since Osomatsu is already an annoying brat, Osoma-chan probably didn't pose too much of an acting challenge, and Miyu Irino has proven pretty talented at giving a convincing female performance.

I'm not entirely clear on the Osoma-Choroe relationship. They seem to be on rather good terms for a dead child and the mother who supposedly killed her. It also doesn't look like the inn is fully booked, so Choroe's giving the couple that room on purpose. Is Osoma chasing away the guests to keep the workload light? Looking at the destroyed room, it's doubtful, and wondering about the exact nature and history of these two makes things even creepier.

When we end up with some extra time post credits, Jyushimatsu and Karamatsu save us from having to watch Choromatsu live up to his unfortunate nickname. Instead, we can enjoy a spontaneous retelling of the story of Hansel and Jyushitel, complete with pink poop instead of (or rather the product of eating all the) breadcrumbs. Mr. Osomatsu sure has some range.

Rating: B

Mr.Osomatsu Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.