Karamatsu Matsuno

**Karamatsu Matsuno** (松野 カラ松 *Matsuno Karamatsu),* created by Fujio Akatsuka, is one of The Sextuplets in Osomatsu-kun. He occasionally may appear alongside his brothers as part of Akatsuka's Star System.

## Overview

Another of the sextuplets, usually agreed upon to be the second-eldest of the group in current sources but often listed third in the early role-call of the manga. In appearances in the Star System outside the -kun series, he often blends into the rest of the sextuplets with little to no distinguishing traits to be had and may rarely be name-dropped.

He is usually set at 10 years old and in the fifth grade, but this may also vary by need of a story.

## Physical Appearance

Like Osomatsu and the other brothers, Karamatsu is initially depicted by Akatsuka as a smaller young boy with a large upturned nose, a low-set hanging mouth, small eyes close together, and additionally bearing freckles in the frontispiece for chapter 1 and a few other early examples (but never in the interior art). His features were changed with chapter 2 to bring a cuter impression, and his design developed further through subsequent chapters. The iconic look for him was developed in part by Akatsuka's assistant Kenichiro Takai, in which he is a tall, lanky young boy but still keeping the round face and having larger eyes.

He cannot be physically distinguished from the others at a glance, and has the same bowlcut-type hair and wears the same clothing that their mother buys in bulk. He is usually depicted in a deep blue uniform coat with large gold buttons, and lighter blue pants. In the summer season, he may be seen in T-shirts or in a lighter blue uniform shirt and dark shorts (the 1988 anime adaptation instead makes the summer outfit the same color pattern as the autumn one).

Through the Shonen Sunday run, with the addition of more assistants drawing as well as Akatsuka simplifying his drafts, Karamatsu's design evolves to be somewhat shorter and softer though usually keeping the general facial shape intact. The Shonen King run and Shonen Jump one-shot further the depiction of him and his brothers as more super-deformed in style and looking much younger, and the general style of drawing the brothers in the 1988 anime similarly shifts from depicting them more in the line of the Shonen Sunday manga to them being drastically shorter and plumper in proportion.

### Settings as an adult

When first seen in "Osomatsu-kun after 30 Years", the 40-year old Karamatsu is significantly balding with his scalp arranged in a "bar-code" pattern. He also has a mustache and can be seen to have facial wrinkles at times, which adds to him coming off with an older impression than Osomatsu (who he and the others envy for looking the most youthful).

The 1988 anime loosely adapts the above story for "Iyami after 40 Years", but the 50-year old Karamatsu shown in the plot is now equal in appearance to Osomatsu and the other brothers (except Choromatsu). He is not balding, but rather wears his hair slicked up in a pompadour, and is considerably short and chubby as the others.

The ending of "Osomatsu-kun after 40 Years" in the TV Magazine run of the manga shows an alternative 50-year old version of the character, balding profusely with only sparse hairs left. He is shown coughing on another, bothered brother who he had been giving trouble the entire chapter.

The most recent adult depiction of Karamatsu prior to any concept of *Osomatsu-san* was in a 1993 beer ad "Osomatsu-kun Grows Up", where at age 35 he is shown to own a greengrocer store. He is depicted with stubble, and wearing a delivery hat through all his appearances.

## Personality

Karamatsu is said to be the most energetic and cheerful of the brothers, but in actuality being very empty-spirited (*karagenki*) and also being very empty-headed (*karappo*), as well as tiring just as easily. He is a bit impulsive, in that if he opts to jump into a fight, he will not consider the stakes and will lose and be injured very easily. However, he does not often like to fight and seems to be more scared of doing so, as seen when he attempts to go against Knock-Out Tsuyoi early on and simply runs and cries. In his fight against the Smog Family, he similarly winds up hesitant and loses. When shown to be wrestling against Osomatsu, he is easily defeated by his "elder" brother.

Karamatsu is also shown to be sporadically but recurrently unlucky in scenarios as a scapegoat-type, with him being tricked by Osomatsu into staying behind on a vacation and winding up punished in Osomatsu's place, tied to a pillar by a Smog Boss henchman, forced to drink pepper beer by Iyami and rolled up in a futon, and specific cases of him being attacked or tricked by Chibita.

He is said to be poor when it comes to playing cards, but he has some degree of sewing skill when it comes to making a large stocking as a trap for Santa. His appetite is also once suggested to be very large, at least to where he could successfully finish eating the family's entire day worth of rice but winding up with a resulting stomachache.

## Relationships with Other Characters

### Todomatsu

Out of the other sextuplets, Karamatsu is seen with Todomatsu the most in times where both brothers in a duo can be identified by name. In total, this duo is openly used about 10 times through the manga.

In some of their interactions, Todomatsu will wind up frustrated from Karamatsu leading him along into trouble, such as when they try to follow Chibita's movements to decide if he'd be a good son for Dekapan. He also becomes visibly annoyed at Karamatsu having eaten all the rice and having had to cut him down from the tree Chibita tied him up in. In the TV Magazine serialization, a notable interaction in the gag 4koma involves the two of them fighting and Matsuyo deciding to iron all the sextuplets flat after being fed up of hearing the others yelling about it.

In the 1988 anime series, the two are shown to be stripped of their clothing by Chibita in episode 8 when Osomatsu removes his personality-changing hat and decides to prank them. They are also seen as a duo when trying to tell jokes to Iyami in episode 15, and when they attempt to search for their dad's missing bonus in episode 62; Karamatsu touching Officer Yatsugashira's doll Kaoru causes them both to get shot at.

### Jyushimatsu

The first time the brothers are split off into duos to go find persimmons, Karamatsu is shown to be paired with Jyushimatsu. This is probably due to both falling 3rd and 6th in the original role-call order, when following the pattern of the other duos in the story (Osomatsu and Choromatsu, Ichimatsu and Todomatsu). The two are shown to be very foolish, and get into trouble when they try to steal a neighbor's cat and are made to clean the yard as punishment.

When the sextuplets are captured by a cannibalistic tribe in Africa, Karamatsu attempts to convince them to eat Jyushimatsu first, as "he'd make yummy yakitori" (referring to how yakitori is fried chicken/bird, and the bird inspiration of Jyushimatsu's name). Jyushimatsu retorts that Karamatsu would make better karaage (another type of fried chicken).

They are also seen as a duo in "Sextuplets vs. the Great Japan Gang", when they wind up falling and stowing away in a truck driven by one of the Dayon brothers.

### Ichimatsu

Although Ichimatsu falls before Karamatsu in the original role-call order, it's believed it may not necessarily have been intended as their "birth" order then, as there is a scene where he refers to Karamatsu as if he were an older brother ("nii-san"). Specific older/younger terms are rarely if ever used by the sextuplets, but this could have also been in reference to him playing the part of a "big brother" for Chibita.

In scenes that work with the role-call order or work backwards from it, there may be a baton/duty-pass from one brother to the other, such as in a foot race.

The two are notably shown to be split off into a duo when having to collect garbage, to make money after their dad loses his bonus (again).

### Choromatsu

There is not too much open interaction between them, though Karamatsu attempts to switch places with Choromatsu in the foot-race against Chibita only to become frustrated when he finds that Choromatsu has randomly fallen asleep. He is also the first to be whipped by Choromatsu, after Osomatsu is temporarily adopted by rich relatives and Choromatsu attempts to take over as leader.

Another instance has them go against Chibita (who has taken over Totoko's dad's fish store and made trouble), only for Choromatsu to blame Karamatsu when their plan goes awry and they get beaten up.

### Osomatsu

There is very little interaction between the two in the original manga, with the most notable moment coming with Osomatsu seeing Karamatsu captured by Chibita and having his teeth mangled. But as mentioned before, Osomatsu was responsible for getting Karamatsu tricked and captured in his place in an early instance, after Osomatsu caused trouble in the countryside.

### Chibita

Chibita has targeted and messed with Karamatsu on occasions, once even throwing him through the window back at the sextuplets after Karamatsu tried to push him around. He was also shown to shove Karamatsu into a canal during the hat prank that Osomatsu pulled.

### Iyami

The first notable interaction between them comes when Karamatsu attempts to get Iyami to drink pepper-laced beer to drive him out of their house, only for Iyami to make Karamatsu drink it instead and then roll him up in a futon. A later incident has Karamatsu force-feed Iyami karashi in revenge for eating his goldfish, during a massive chain-reaction fight that breaks out.

The BomBom run infamously has a moment in "Just Old Folk Tales" where Iyami shoots Karamatsu, as the town is brainwashed to think they're living fairy tales and Iyami sees Karamatsu as a crane. He and Chibita attempt to roast and eat Karamatsu, but the hypnosis is broken and the two are last seen beat-up (presumably by the sextuplets) while Karamatsu is safe at home eating with the other brothers in the punchline.

### Totoko

Karamatsu attempts to show Totoko his painting skill in "Autumn Fever", but is sabotaged by Osomatsu.

## History

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## Appearances in other works

*See also: Akatsuka's Star System*

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## Appearances in Animation

### Osomatsu-san

*For additional detailed information, see also the Osomatsu-san wiki*

## Portrayals

### Voice Acting

* Osomatsu-kun (1966)- Keiko Yamamoto
* Understudy for 1966 series- Fuyumi Shiraishi
* Furious Ataro (1969)- Masako Nazawa
* Osomatsu-kun (1988), related specials, Pachislot Osomatsu-kun- Mari Mashiba
* Understudies, 1988 series- Megumi Hayashibara (2 lines in 23, 1 line in 26, 2 lines in 39), Naoko Matsui (screaming in 3, 1 line in 27, 46), Rica Matsumoto (22, 1 line in 23, 1 line in 51, 84)
* CR Osomatsu-kun- Yui Shoji
* Osomatsu-san- Yuuichi Nakamura

In Hayashibara's case, Mashiba voiced Karamatsu in other lines in the given episodes, marking Hayashibara's moments as only one-time or limited in scale.

## External Links

* Karamatsu profile at Koredeiinoda (Japanese)