earlier today, i saw people on my dash on the topic of analysis relating to osomatsu, which made me want to give my two cents as well from something i rambled about to my friends a while ago… this might only make half-sense i wrote this while i was in the middle of season 1 on my rewatch so it had been a while since i’d seen the entirety of the show
in episode 19 of season one, we learn that osomatsu’s “self-awareness” is tiny, gross, trash, yet it’s easy to handle. so we already know that osomatsu maybe doesn’t think extremely highly of himself, surprisingly enough with the character he puts on (kind of makes me think of that moment from the episode “just don’t” in season 3 where he gets yelled at “where’d your confidence go?! are you all talk?!”), and despite how he acts like absolute garbage at times, he can push aside his needs for those around him if it’s neccessary, even if he doesn’t want to directly acknowledge it.
in episode 24 of season one, we get shown that osomatsu has a clear fear of abandonment - this is actually foreshadowed in the self-awareness episode! choromatsu brings up wanting to get a job and become independent, and osomatsu’s response is more or less just “alright, i’ll cheer you on, okay this conversation is over let’s stop talking now”.
either way, he gets *extremely* upset at choromatsu moving out, becoming increasingly aggressive and going as far to kick jyushimatsu for bothering him, earning an assbeating from kara. as the episode progresses, and as the sextuplets move out one by one, we see that osomatsu just… breaks. he can’t live without his brothers. he doesn’t know what he is without his brothers. osomatsu has always been considered the “normal” one, the “basic” one, the blank sheet of paper - he’s the eldest, he’s kind of just the “base model” for all of the other sextuplets. even his brothers don’t think he has any specific qualities, as shown in season 2, episode 2 when they have to re-paint his face, they proceed to just paint him as a “stupid and pervy asshole”. these are traits that can basically be applied to all of the brothers… all of them are pretty nasty perverts, osomatsu isn’t special in that regard. it’s just amplified, because really, for him, it’s his only distinguishing characteristic…
this makes it pretty clear why osomatsu has such a huge fear of abandonment from his brothers. he doesn’t want to let go of that “sextuplet puzzle”. he wants to stay in that set forever. it’s all he knows, he doesn’t know what it feels like to be a proper individual… he rants (very drunkenly) about this to chibita, too, in the second episode of season 1.
i think that a really interesting detail to note is that… osomatsu’s entire personality is pretty much built up of negative characteristics? his entire character is “improper”. in season 2, episode 24, when osomatsu is the one to take initiative to think “okay, maybe we should be getting jobs”, he goes through kind of an identity crisis due to this… “am i okay? am i still osomatsu?”, because, once again, his entire character is built upon improperness… stripped of these qualities, what is he?
he amplifies his negative personality traits so much because that’s all he knows… maybe comparing him to someone that acts out purely because they want the attention, whether negative or positive.
and that identity crisis he goes through… kind of breaks him as well! in a way, i don’t think osomatsu WANTS to be his own person. i think osomatsu wants to stay as a part of that whole sextuplet gimmick for as long as he can, because he’s really afraid of the future. he doesn’t like the idea of growing up.
i think that’s why he has this whole “i just wanna have fun and go with the flow~” attitude going on. i would have previously said that osomatsu is the type of person who lives in the present, but, honestly, i don’t think he is? he seems like he’s constantly worried for the future… he just makes an effort to never bring it up, and instead just bury it deep down. never gotta face your fears when you can just pretend they don’t exist!
another thing that i think is super interesting to note is that osomatsu is rarely seen alone, but when he is, he often mimicks his brothers and talks to himself? once again because he’s just… not… USED to being a person for himself.
i think osomatsu could actually easily make it out in the world and live an independent life. but he doesn’t want to. he hasn’t learnt to let go and face his fears yet… i hope he will someday. i think he needs a hug
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