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Manga Creator Reiji Yamada Explains Why Mr. Osomatsu's 2nd Season Bombed in Japan
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
Manga creator Reiji Yamada (Zebraman, Zetsubō ni Kiku Kusuri) appeared on his "Yamada Reiji no Nico Rondan Jihyō" livestream program on Niconico Live on March 14. The second season of the Mr. Osomatsu television anime came up in his discussion of various current topics.
Many Japanese viewers apparently feel that the second season of the anime failed in comparison to the first. A lot of buzz surrounded the first season, but fans seemed to lose their enthusiasm as the second season progressed. Yamada believes he knows what caused the sequel to flop. The series initially set out to make fun of fujoshi but ultimately won them over. This caused the staff of the show to grow self-conscious about how the show had become the thing it was parodying, so they resorted to vulgar jokes and non-sequiturs, but this became repetitive and unfunny.
Yamada explained that one contributing factor to the anime's ultimate "bomb" status was the two-year gap in between the premiere of the first season in October 2015 and the second season in October 2017. Aspects of production changed between the seasons, and while the first season had three scriptwriters, Shū Matsubara alone provided the script for the second season.
The differences in the production of the second season led the story composition to fall short. That led to the anime having a style in which its jokes essentially had no punchlines. As an example, Yamada explained that that is the goal of Pop Team Epic. However, Yamada believes that when that type of gag persisted in Mr. Osomatsu, it led to the impression that the jokes were failing.
Yamada believes that Matsubara became more aware of this issue than anyone else. Therefore, he resorted to things like dirty jokes, leading to the anime's downfall.
With the first season, the anime's staff focused on a "meta" perspective that made fun of the type of anime that fujoshi like. They wanted to poke fun at women who tend to be infatuated by anime characters, and the staff worked to compose the series with that goal in mind. However, the first season succeeded with the fujoshi audience despite this goal because they could laugh at themselves.
The final episode of the second season of Mr. Osomatsu aired on March 26.
Source: Niconico News via Yaraon!
