#I feel I should elaborate on the Futurama - Ososan stuff

[kudamono94]

There's so much I can say about this dude - aside from mentioning he's my favorite side character outside the Matsuno family, he's such an interesting piece of work, and I really like him!

(Sorry if the rest of this sounds rambling -y btw - I'm typing this out at 5 AM so please bear with me if you're interested in reading past this point - if you decide to read said essay tho fair warning this turned out longer than I intended ngl)

My first exposure to older style anime let alone Akatsuka's works period was through watching San - that said, although I have not read all of Kun and have only watched a few eps here and there (I'm saving them should San inevitably get canceled so that much like how I went through my Simpsons phase in high school while starving for Futurama content I can consume Kun and Akatsuka's other works in the vein hope I get more Osomatsu content period) of the 80s anime, I really like the way Iyami and the other characters in general are portrayed.

It's familiar in a way like San but obviously unique because it's something I haven't seen before, you know? In other words, as someone wholly unfamiliar with Osomatsu-kun prior to watching Osomatsu-san, I can still very much connect with the characters in the previous work, and Iyami is still a favorite even when he is now a major character as opposed to a side character.

There's so much this dude goes through and even though many argue he deserves it, I still hate to see him suffer - even if it's funny, I want him to catch a break. He is often portrayed as an asshole or a scumbag, and in universe many people seem to outright hate him, but at the same time he has shown on several occasions that he is clearly capable of doing good and that he can be a good person. He is wonderful with children to a certain extent, enough to the point where aside from his whole deal with Chibita he has always been an honorary uncle - type figure to the Matsuno brothers in my eyes (no doubt due to his relationship with Matsuyo and Matsuzo). Hell, even with the sextuplets as adults, again imo, he gives off these vibes and although they often butt heads with each other I like to sometimes think he's the guy they can run to if they need something or who they can mess with without too many consequences (wonky continuity aside ofc).

For example, he didn't need to drive Choro around when the latter was moving out nor did he need to give shelter to the brothers when they were scared of Chibita but he did it anyways, stuff like that yk? Even tho, at least in that last part he kinda sold them out but that's another thing about him.

Even when he tries to do the right thing, sometimes he can't seem to follow through but imo I don't think that necessarily makes him a bad person? Like Iyami can be a scumbag and an asshole and has done evil things BUT calling him straight up evil feels wrong to me - rather, he's more complex and his moral compass isn't completely black or white. I know he's set up to be a conman very often, but he clearly knows right from wrong, and a lot of the time seems like a guy just trying to get by? It's just when things are going too good his way or if his impulsiveness/greed gets the best of him, that's when he struggles to remain lawful.

Though that's not to say I don't enjoy that aspect of his character as well tbh - I have always had a soft spot for dastardly whiplash type villains/bumbling conmen in cartoons even before watching Osomatsu-san, so Iyami was always going to draw me in - fair warning, the reason for this is Futurama related but hear me out please

In all honesty, he kinda reminds me of Zapp Brannigan from Futurama (who has always given the impression of the dastardly villain archetype to me and who is also why I like said archetype in the first place - if he switched jobs to a dude tying people to train tracks nothing about him would change imo) which is part of why I ended up liking him in the first place - to me, Iyami is what Zapp could be if the writers actually attempted to flesh him out from what little crumbs we were given in the comics about his time in the military before his cloning accident (if you haven't seen Futurama nor know what comic I'm referring to, here you go).

Even though their roles in their respective stories are completely different, imo they share quite a bit in common. They're both flashy, seemingly arrogant individuals who come off as self - centered and who appreciate the finer things in life often leading to delusions of grander on their part. They are prone to treating the people around them like garbage or like said people are beneath them, but are either implied or shown to have issues with their selves and can come off as insecure because of it. Idk if Iyami is one himself or has been in the past, but Zapp is very much implied to be an alcoholic to a certain degree, and whether he's drinking to forget his past prior to his accident or to bury the guilt of what he knows DOOP is capable of we will probably never know because again, the writers don't want to explore stuff like this with Zapp.

Iyami, on the other hand, is clearly treated differently. Although i have yet to see anything either manga or anime related go into HUGE detail regarding his mental state (aside from the San ep revolving around Iyami trying to hang himself ofc), it's clear Iyami has gone through a lot in his life and we get to see the effect that has had on him on several occasions. Like Zapp, he is usually depicted as loud and joyful if not outright smiling, but unlike him, Iyami actually shows depth that contrasts this output and thus shows him to be more complex rather than just implying there is potentially more to him. Additionally, unlike Zapp who rarely if ever is shown as facing consequences for his actions due to the nature of Futurama's format, Iyami very much does and it's painful to watch because of it imo.

I think if these 2 interacted, they would be friends :3

Regardless, I could go on some more but I think with this being as long as it is, I will stop here. That said, to anyone who actually took the time to read all this, thank you, and if you have anything else to add, I would love to see what else people have to say about Iyami!

We're getting a 4th season of San this year, we should keep this post going if only because it's almost time for more Iyami~

hey… let’s talk about Iyami