This is the character page for Osomatsu-kun. For their characterization in Osomatsu-san, go here.
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The Matsuno Family
The Matsuno Sextuplets
(Left-right) Todomatsu, Karamatsu, Jyushimatsu, Ichimatsu, Choromatsu, and Osomatsu.
- Always Identical Twins: Try identical sextuplets. Because their poor parents were barely able to tell them apart, they were able to get away with a lot of the mischief they caused. This trait is frequently the source of conflict for them as well, since something one brother did would get another of them (or even all of them) in trouble with an outside party.
- Berserk Button: If one of the brothers got hit the rest would immediately go after the attacker.
- Bragging Theme Tune: The first half of "Osomatsu-kun no Uta" and "Osomatsu-kun no Uta 2" from the Studio Zero series, which has the brothers boast about their teamwork and energy and how they're able to do anything if they cooperate with one another.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Downplayed. The boys are just regular children and sometimes underpreform in school, but when they want to do something, they put their all into it. Case in point— they paved an entire street all by themselves because they wanted their regular shortcut to school back.
- Bratty Half-Pint: They're all a bunch of bratty kids who often get into mischief.
- Coordinated Clothes: Their Iconic Outfit aside, they have other outfits, including swimwear and pajamas, that are exactly the same as each other's outfit. Apparently, it was just cheaper.
- Childhood Friends: With Totoko.
- Curtains Match the Window: Their black hair matches their black dot eyes. Sometimes if their hair was colored brown, their eyes would follow suit as well.
- Cute, but Cacophonic: For both anime adaptations of -Kun, but moreso in the 80s version, where the brothers became shorter and far more round and squishy than how they originally looked. As for the "cacophonic" part... well, see for yourself.
- Demoted to Extra: In the second half of the manga and for the entirety of the 1988 series, thanks to Iyami and Chibita's increased importance.
- Depending on the Writer: The only things set in stone for these brothers is that Osomatsu is the oldest, and, later on down the line, that Todomatsu is the youngest. Everyone else is up in the air, and was up in the air for many chapters. In the Osomatsu-san continuity, at least, they were given a definitive birth order.
- Family Theme Naming: All of the brothers have "-matsu" at the end of their first names.
- Finishing Each Other's Sentences: A common occurrence in this series.
- Generation Xerox: The official sequel to Tensai Bakabon (which already shares a universe with the rest of Akatsuka's works) introduces Minimatsu, a boy who looks and acts like a slightly nicer Matsuno sextuplet. However, it never specified exactly who the child belonged to— only that he was the son of one of the brothers.
- Iconic Outfit: Their long sleeved, three button blue shirt and white pants. There are variations where the kids have a green shirt or brown pants, but it's the blue that's stuck with the audience.
- Idiot Hair: Two of them.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: They tended to cause a ruckus and got on everyone's nerves, and they did sometimes do so for the hell of it, but they do care a great deal about their friends and family and would do anything to make Totoko happy if need be. This extends to each other as well.
- Kid Hero: Six of them, all 10 years old.
- Limited Wardrobe: The boys sometimes wear shorts or different looking T-shirts, but the two anime series rarely have them wearing anything other than their infamous shirt-and-pants combo.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: Six brothers.
- The Rival: All of them collectively to Chibita.
- Same-Sex Triplets: Triplets are fine, but sextuplets? Now that's just ridiculous.
- Single-Minded Twins: Or Single-Minded Sextuplets, in this case. They have a few individualized traits, but are largely treated as a single unit. In some of the stories and What If? situations, they even worked at the same place and died on the same date.
- Strong Family Resemblance: They all definitely look like their parents. They get their looks from their mother, but they have the facial shape and hairstyle (at least the top of it) of their father.
- Tag Team Twins: Or Tag Team Sextuplets. They'd often resort to this when they wanted to confuse their opponents or even their own parents when they got in trouble.
- Thicker Than Water: These brothers wouldn't let anything bad happen to each other on their watch, even if they did piss each other off sometimes. If one of them got hurt, be expected to face the wrath of the rest of the family.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Donuts.
- Trickster Twins: Sextuplet variant. There's not an episode that goes by where these kids don't either make trouble or get into trouble themselves.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Really depends on the episode/chapter, but in later chapters, their most significant part in the story would just be being mean to Chibita or someone else.
- Twin Telepathy: Sextuplet variant. There have been occasions where the brothers talk to each other this way.
- Youthful Freckles: Had these in earlier chapters.
Osomatsu Matsuno
- Voiced by: Midori Kato (1966 series, Moretsu Ataro 1969), You Inoue (1988 series)
The oldest and leader of the sextuplets, as well as the best fighter in the group. A generally useless older brother.
- Alien Abduction: He was abducted with Choromatsu by aliens for a short period of time, who wanted to conquer earth. Granted, they did go willing at first, however this quickly changes when they learn their abductor is actually an alien.
- Alone Among the Couples: In "Osomatsu-kun Grows Up", he is an average (and balding) salaryman who frequents Iyami's bar and lives in the Matsuno house by himself, in contrast to the rest of his brothers settling down.
- Big Brother Instinct: Feels this despite only being a few minutes older than the rest.
- Character Title: The one and only!
- Dragged into Drag: When his bathing suit went missing in the '88 version of "Iyami's Beach House Scam", Totoko offered to give him one of hers and ended up putting him in a girl's one piece.
- The Leader: Assumes this position as the eldest, with the other sextuplets looking to him a lot of the time in situations, even though they all found him to be unreliable.
- Meaningful Name: Osomatsu's name means "ill prepared", which fits his personality very well.
- No Social Skills: The boy has absolutely no tact and is extremely blunt when speaking to others.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: The best fighter and the strongest in general out of the sextuplets.
- Salaryman: Becomes one in "Osomatsu-kun Grows Up".
- Sibling Team: With Choromatsu, since they were usually the most likely to go on an adventure together. Sometimes they would have Todomatsu come along as well.
Karamatsu Matsuno
- Voiced by: Keiko Yamamoto (1966 series and Moretsu Ataro 1969), Fuyumi Shiraishi (understudy, 1966 series), Mari Mashiba (1988 series)
The silly Matsuno sibling. He is the neatest and tidiest of the brothers, but most often is the most fickle.
- Big Eater: Part of his official character description.
- The Ditz: Befitting his name, he was sometimes characterized as a flighty and air-headed little guy.
- Henpecked Husband: "Osomatsu-kun Grows Up" figures him pushed around by his wife when he gets married.
- Neat Freak: The tidiest of the brothers, and usually the one to start cleaning messes or fixing the futon when it rips.
- Punny Name: He's often described as an empty headed boy, and character descriptions take note of it and associate him with the word karappo (空っぽ, lit. "empty/hollow").
Choromatsu Matsuno
- Voiced by: Keiko Yamamoto (1966 series and Moretsu Ataro 1969), Rica Matsumoto (1988 series)
Osomatsu's partner in crime. He is the cleverest of his brothers, often serving as the brains of operations for the sextuplets' schemes.
- Alien Abduction: He was abducted with Osomatsu by aliens for a short period of time, who wanted to conquer earth. Granted, they did go willing at first, however this quickly changes when they learn their abductor is actually an alien.
- Drunk with Power: One episode had him be put in charge when Osomatsu ran off with a rich family and their mother got sick. After only a little while, he starts whipping his other brothers to keep them working and in line, and even attempts to whip his father in the process.
- Greed: The most selfish of the brothers.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: In all adaptations, he's been the one to get the most angry in any given situation.
- The Lancer: The right hand man in many of Osomatsu's wacky adventures.
- The Smart Guy: He came up with a lot of the group's schemes.
- Survivor Guilt: After accidentally leading Osomatsu into a cave that caved in on him for decades in "Osomatsu-kun in 40 Years", Choromatsu becomes so guilt-ridden that his growth is stunted and all he can manage to spit out is "Anonee, I'm Choromatsu!" over and over again.
Ichimatsu Matsuno
- Voiced by: Haruko Kitahama (1966 series), Masako Nozawa (Moretsu Ataro 1969) , Mari Yokoo (regular), Rica Matsumoto (understudy) (1988 series)
A strong boy with a very honest disposition. Of his brothers, he is the second best fighter.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: The second strongest of the siblings, and roughly half the height of every other character in the series.
- The Quiet One: Descriptions say that he's usually the one to step away from the spotlight. Case in point, he barely speaks at all during the 1988 anime series.
Jyushimatsu Matsuno
- Voiced by: Mie Azuma (1966 series), Naoko Matsui (1988 series)
A thoughtful, but somewhat out there boy. Due to being the kindest of his brothers, he is often taken advantage of.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: He definitely has his moments. For example— when the brothers are taking turns impersonating Osomatsu to talk to Ringo, and Jyushimatsu spots Karamatsu through the window, he decides to bang on a bucket and yell at him to get his attention.
- Nice Guy: His defining trait. Once in a while it would lead him into trouble, since the boy is quite gullible, too.
- Meaningful Name: Spelled differently, his name can be read as the Japanese name of the society finch, and he could also sing as well as one. Akatsuka also mentioned that he was somewhat silly.
- Super Gullible: His kindness and naivete is often taken advantage of, and he doesn’t have the right sense of mind to realize it until it's too late.
Todomatsu Matsuno
- Voiced by: Haruko Kitahama (1966 series), Masako Nozawa (Moretsu Ataro 1969), Megumi Hayashibara (1988 series)
The youngest and most carefree out of the sextuplets.
- Catchphrase: "Todo no sumari"/"In the end..."
- Sibling Team: If an episode called for three brothers, he would be the most likely to show up alongside Osomatsu and Choromatsu. Other than that, he hung out with Karamatsu often.
- Spoiled Brat: It's suggested that his carefree nature comes from being the spoiled youngest child of the family.
Matsuyo Matsuno/Mom
- Voiced by: Mitsuko Aso, Takako Kondo (1966), Mari Yokoo (1988)
- Absurdly Youthful Mother
- Family Theme Naming: Retains the "Matsu-Matsu" naming scheme her sons have.
- Fountain of Youth: In one story, she was turned back into her younger self and temporarily became an Idol Singer competing with Totoko.
- Happily Married: To Matsuzo.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Because there was no real reason to call her by her real name, she's always referred to as "Mom".
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: The "Hot Wife" to Matsuzo.
Matsuzo Matsuno/Dad
- Voiced by: Joji Yanami, Kyoji Kobayashi, Taimei Suzuki (1966), Tetsuo Mizutori (1988)
- Bumbling Dad
- Family Theme Naming: Retains the "Matsu-Matsu" naming scheme his sons have.
- Fountain of Youth: He was turned into a kid as well as Matsuyo in one incident.
- Happily Married: To Matsuyo.
- I Was Quite a Looker: Downplayed in the '88 anime. When he was transformed into a child, he was pretty good looking◊, especially in comparison to his pudgy looking children. When they showed him younger in the manga he looked about the same as he does at current.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's a bit hard on the boys and he's a bit hard headed, but he means well for them and loves them all the same. It even takes a mind reading from the Esper Kitten to admit to them out loud how much he loves them.
- Killed Off for Real: In "Osomatsu-kun Grows Up", he died after a fish bone got stuck in his throat. His death is what motivates the now adult sextuplets to reunite once again.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Since there was really no reason to call him by his real name, he's always referred to as "Dad".
- Pursue the Dream Job: Inverted. When the sextuplets were born, he gave up his job running a bar and opted for a better paying one in order to support his wife and kids.
- Strong Family Resemblance: He shares his sons' facial shape and hair.
- Vocal Dissonance: When he was turned into a child, his voice did not age down with the rest of his body and was rather deep.
Secondary Characters
Iyami
Sheee!
- Voiced by: Kyoji Kobayashi (1966 series), Yonehiko Kitagawa/Keiichi Noda/Ichirō Nagai (Moretsu Ataro 1969), Kaneta Kimotsuki (1988 series)
- All There in the Manual: According to a piece of merchandise, Iyami's actual in-series age is around 36. He also seems to have a pet flea and his favorite foods are baguettes and carrots.
- Breakout Character: Easily the most recognizable character of the series, and appears in almost all material regarding it. In fact, he's such a popular character that around halfway into the manga and for the entirety of the 1988 series, he takes the main character position with Chibita while the Matsunos take a back seat.
- Catchphrase: "Sheeeeeh!", a phrase he uses whenever he gets surprised.
- Character Tics: Whenever he's surprised, he performs the infamous "Sheeeeh!" pose, which has him jump up, put up his arms, cross his front most foot over his knee, and has his sock loosened and flowing with the wind.
- Dub Name Change: In Cosas de Locos, his name is changed to "Kohnejo", which is supposed to sound similar to conejo (Rabbit) for his rabbit-like teeth.
- Everyone Went to School Together: He used to know Dad in high school.
- Fauxreigner: He certainly claims that he comes from France at any rate, and he's one of the quirkier cast members.
- Gonk: Out of all the main characters, he's the most notable with his exaggerated face and over-sized overbite.
- Gratuitous French: In the Kodansha bilingual manga, he likes to pepper his dialog with this. All of his "me"s get turned into "mois", as well.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: He claims to know a lot about France, seeing that he claims he comes from there. The thing is, whatever knowledge he has about the place doesn't match anything French at all. Case in point: to demonstrate how to eat snails, he eats the shells instead of the snail itself.
- Meaningful Name: His name is supposed to mean "gaudy" or "disagreeable", of which he is definitely both.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: His design and mannerisms are based off of the Japanese Vaudevillian actor Tony Tani.
- Parental Substitute: If an episode calls for it, he'll be one to Chibita. Not that Chibita's abhorrent to that idea in any way.
- Signature Laugh: "Ushoshosho!"
- Spotlight-Stealing Squad: He becomes the protagonist of the 1988 series.
- Vague Age: His age is never specified in series, but all we do know is that he supposedly knew Dad in high school and that he's an "adult". A later 1965 piece of merchandise gave him the age of 36.
- Verbal Tic: He tends to end most of his sentences with "-zanzu" and use "me" instead of "I" (e.g. "Me will win this!").
- Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs?: He tends to change jobs a lot, though he seems to be a conman by default.
Chibita
Chibita
- Voiced by: Kazue Tagami, Yoko Mizugaki, Kazuko Sawada (1966 series), Kazue Tagami/Masako Nozawa (Moretsu Ataro 1969), Mayumi Tanaka (1988 series)
- Breakout Character: Along with Iyami, he pretty much took over the -Kun series.
- Charlie Brown Baldness: Depends, but generally treated as if he doesn't have any hair. Many of his disguises incorporate wigs to cover up his head.
- Chubby Chaser: In the episode 5 of the 80's anime, he falls in love with Hanako because of her plump body.
- Depending on the Writer: No one's really sure who his real parents are, or if he even has parents. He's had both a mother and father, one dad, a dad in the mountains that he lived with, Santa Claus as his father, a family of cats, various aunts and uncles that sometimes looked like him, and then sometimes no parents at all when he lives in the scrapyard. In terms of personality, he could be the brothers' tormentors in one chapter and their victim or even their friend in the next.
- Free-Range Children: More so in the later chapters of the series than in the earlier ones. See Parental Abandonment.
- Friend to All Living Things: Animals really seem to like him. He lives with frogs and cats, could command an army of alley cats, and during one chapter he had trained and cared for a whole host of mosquitoes and mourned their passing after the Matsunos squished them.
- He Is All Grown Up: According to "Osomatsu-kun Grows Up", he becomes a clerk and grows up to 150 cm. He also gets a full head of hair, but he loses that in old age.
- Intergenerational Friendship: With Iyami.
- Interspecies Romance: In one chapter, he was able to befriend and fall in love with a flower sprite.
- Japanese Dialects: He lacks one in the Studio Zero anime, but from '88 onward he gains a Tokyo dialect.
- The Napoleon: He still has a couple of misgivings about his height, and he's an angry little imp when the situation calls for it.
- Older Than He Looks: Despite his short stature, he's just as old as the Matsuno siblings.
- Parental Abandonment: A bit of a case of Characterization Marches On, but in later installments Chibita seems to run around without any parental supervision and lives alone in the scrap yard. He occasionally had parents in the earlier parts of -Kun.
- The Rival: To all of the Matsuno siblings.
- Signature Laugh: "Kekeh!"
- Third-Option Love Interest: Or rather seventh. In one version of "Osomatsu-kun in 30 Years", he goes on to marry Totoko. He's also shown to have a crush on her at some points in the manga.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Oden. There was even a time when he kept an oden pot on his bed. Later merchandising took notice of this and even gave him his own personal brand of oden for a convenience store promotion at Circle K Sunkus.
Totoko Yowai
- Voiced by: Fuyumi Shiraishi/Kazuko Sawada (1966 series), Nana Yamaguchi/Kazuko Sugiyama/Junko Hori (Moretsu Ataro 1969), Naoko Matsui (1988 series)
- Adaptation Dye-Job: In the manga and 1966 anime, her hair is black. In the 1988 anime, it's brown.
- Adaptation Personality Change: She was good-hearted and friendly girl, if headstrong in the manga and 1966 anime versions. Although in the 1988 anime, she was nicer in the very early episodes and in occasional "Alternate Universe" episodes, through the rest of the series, she well...went the opposite.
- Animal Motifs: Fish. Her parents run a fish market, and her name literally means "fish child".
- Big Eater: As shown in Episodes 24 and 69 in the 1988 adaption, she can certainly pack away quite a bit of food when hungry enough, and both times, she got a Balloon Belly as a result.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Mostly in the 1988 series adaptation, she had a bit of a mean streak when things didn't go her way, as well as being prone to jealousy and sometimes showing a violent temper. The 1988 anime series makes her mean streak her most prominent trait.
- Characterization Marches On: In the more earlier episodes of the 1988 series she was nicer like her early installments but throughout the rest of most of the series, she got meaner.
- Childhood Friends: With the Matsuno brothers.
- Dub Name Change: For Cosas de Locos, she was given the name Tetoko Metoko ("I touch you, I touch myself").
- Expy: It's not a coincidence that Totoko shares a physical resemblance to that of Akko, the heroine of one of Akatsuka's other works. They even have the exact same hairstyle. Totoko even attempts to transform using Akko's compact in the 1989 movie, but she's immediately dragged away by the sextuplets with Osomatsu essentially saying "Wrong show, Totoko".
- Girlish Pigtails: She wears her hair in two small pigtails.
- Green-Eyed Monster: She was this to an aged down version of Matsuyo who became a singer, and tried to sabotage her.
- Hoist by Her Own Petard: Literally. She tried to sabotage Matsuyo's performance by having Dayon lift up her skirt with a fishing pole, but Matsuyo unwittingly missed the hook while singing. Totoko tries to get her back to the spot she set up, but gets hooked instead.
- Huge Girl, Tiny Guy: Compared to Chibita at least, and to the Matsunos in the '88 series.
- Idol Singer: Becomes one in the 1988 series.
- Innocently Insensitive: In the 1988 anime series, if she's not being intentionally mean, she could be this. For example, in one episode, when she was helping Chibita, she told him how much she appreciates him and that the Matsuno brothers shouldn't make fun of him—and that although he's short, nearly bald and "poorer than a rat", he knows how to face life with dignity and to not give up.
- Also in the episode where Osomatsu was deathly sick, although she went about "taking over the show", if he dies, she was genuinely upset that he was gravely ill, and was even sobbing.
- It's All About Me: Mainly, in the 1988 series. When Osomatsu got almost deathly sick one story, she came all the way over to his house to tell him that she would honor him by taking over the show in his memory.
- Meaningful Name: The "toto" in her first name (とと) is a childish word for "fish", which is fitting for the daughter of the owners of a fish shop.
- Nice Girl: In the Manga and 1966 anime, she was kind-hearted, serious and friendly if headstrong. She was also this in the first few episodes of the 1988 anime series and in occasional "Alternate Universe" episodes, such as "Chibita the Safe-Cracker" and "A White Christmas among Skyscrapers".
- Pink Means Feminine: She wears a whole lotta pink in the 1988 anime.
- Sibling Dodecahedron: She's at the heart of it with the Matsuno siblings.
- The Smurfette Principle: Besides Matsuyo, she's really the only recurring female character in the series.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Although she wasn't so bad in the first few episodes of the 1988 anime, as the series went on, she took a turn for the worst.
- What Do They See in Her?: In the 1988 series, she could be the cruelest and most selfish person in the room, but the boys (and sometimes Iyami) would love her anyway.
Hatabou
- Voiced by: Midori Kato (1966 series), Masako Nozawa (Moretsu Ataro 1969), Mari Mashiba (1988 series)
- Dub Name Change: A Spanish dub of the 60's anime gave him the name Jatabo Mentenabo ("Hatabou Dickjammer").
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: His mannerisms are based off of Buster Keaton.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: After years of being victim to the schemes of the Matsunos and some of the adults, in "Osomatsu-kun Grows Up" he's said to have become a famous and successful comedian in his adulthood.
- Wearing a Flag on Your Head: Literally. It's apparently a family thing, as the rest of his family also has flags sprouting out from their heads.
- Vague Age: He's "younger" than the Matsunos, and that's about all anyone knows.
- Verbal Tic: Ends his sentences with "-dajo" or just "-jo".
Dekapan
- Voiced by: Takuzo Kamiyama/Setsuo Wakui (1966 series), Kosei Tomita/Joji Yanami/Takuzo Kamiyama (Moretsu Ataro 1969), Toru Ohira (1988 series)
- Hammerspace: He can fit almost anything into his pants.
- The Professor
- Punny Name: His name is a pun on Dekai pantsu, which means "giant pants". He's rarely seen without them.
- Verbal Tic: "-dasu".
Dayon
- Voiced by: Takuzo Kamiyama/Hiroshi Otake (1966 series), Hiroshi Otake/Takuzo Kamiyama/Kosei Tomita (Moretsu Ataro 1969), Takuzo Kamiyama (regular), Kenichi Ogata (episodes 80-83) (1988 series)
- Bit Character: Never has a straight job, and constantly seems to be switching personalities when the situation calls for it.
- Gonk
- Vacuum Mouth: Sometimes portrayed as this.
- Verbal Tic Name: He ends most of his sentences with "-dayon" or just an elongated "-yon".
Oneshot or Recurring Characters
Esper Kitten
A cat that receives the ability to speak and reveal a person's true thoughts.
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: He wears glasses, which nobody ever comments on.
- Shock and Awe: In "Get That ESP Kitty!" Dekapan shocks the poor thing a couple of times in order to get it to speak.
- Telepathy: All versions of the cat could read the thoughts of people as they speak to it, and it repeats what they were thinking right afterwards.
The Flower Girl
A young flower sprite that decides to hang out with Chibita because he watered the flower she sprouted from.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Because Chibita took pity of the girl's wilting flower, she offers to stay with him and cook for him, or just to give him some much needed companionship.
- Disappears into Light: Her final fate after hanging around with Chibita.
- Supreme Chef: In the manga at least, she showed her gratitude to Chibita by making him delicious food.
- Through His Stomach
- Rose-Haired Sweetie: The '88 version of "The Life of Chibita's Flower" had her with pink hair. She even has a rose in her hair, to boot!
Shinigami Salesman
- Voiced by: Kenichi Ogata (1988 series)
- Berserk Button: Doctors curing his victims thus making his work harder.
- People resurrecting in the middle of the way to the afterlife can count as well.
- Deal with the Devil: He proposes one to Iyami so he can extend his lifetime in return of Osomatsu's soul.
- Didn't Think This Through: When his car was crashed while avoiding hatabou he realizes too late that he could have just run over hatabou and send him to the afterlife.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Presumably, as he can transform into a bat to fly in the day.
- Shinigami
- Surprisingly Sudden Death: He got one when his life's candle turns off (among with everyone else)
