Iyami (
In most media, he is a long-running side character and antagonist to the sextuplets. This is to the point where in the 1988 anime, he and Chibita were the protagonists and main focus of the show, inspired by how he became the focus in the later manga. In contrast, his counterpart in Osomatsu-san is relegated to the side cast.
His name is a pun on 嫌味, meaning terms such as “disagreeable”, "gaudy", "unpleasant", and befitting his character.
Overview[]
Iyami believes he is from France. However, there is a lot of evidence to suggest this is just Francophilia and that he is actually Japanese. He often states that he 'just came back from France' or 'this is how they do x in France' and changes all of the 'I's in his speech to 'me' to sound more foreign. He also occasionally greets people with "bonjour" and knows other limited French phrases. His main goal in most iterations is to get back to France, but has as of yet never succeeded.
His overall age may vary according to a work, but he is usually set in his 30s in Osomatsu-kun, with "36 1/2" being specified in a profile on the second sonosheet. Although, the 1988 guide to the series also presents the idea that his age is unknown and that he claims to be only 23.[2]
Personality & Characteristics[]
Appearance[]
Iyami is a tall, skinny man who usually is seen in a pinkish-purple suit. In most iterations he wears a red bow-tie, but this is removed in his counterpart in -san. He usually claims his clothes are from France. He is well known for his large, protruding overbite of three large teeth which he is very prideful of. He is a very graceful and theatrical man, often walking on tippy toes and twirling.
He has a thin black mustache, a small nose and long, narrow eyes. His hair is a smooth bob with a straight fringe and flicks around his cheeks. His hair stylistically ruffles if he is irritated or disheveled. It is usually black but can also be depicted as a deep brown. He is often seen with a small hat or cane.
His clothes are sometimes tattered and torn. His socks in particular are always loose and patched up, which is visible when he 'sheehs' and the sock comically springs out.
In the past as seen in Osomatsu-san: The Movie, Iyami is initially almost never physically shown, appearing to be nearly invisible within the "world of memories" and characterized by being a floating hat, overbite, and mustache. This would appear to be a reflection on how "invisible" he is to the other characters (and staff of the show) and forgotten to where they don't remember him at all there, and also highlights his fear of being forgotten and no longer a main character.
Personality[]
Iyami is a very childish, flashy, and self-centered man who often gets in trouble with the law. He is an opportunist with little shame. He steals, cheats and lies to get what he wants, but these plans often backfire. The reason he commits these acts usually is for money, food or so he can 'return' to France. He is also a conman by trade and sets up elaborate schemes to scam and hurt the sextuplets or other Akatsuka Ward residents.
He also however will work hard and behave if he needs to, having had many honest jobs over the years like a chef, door to door salesman or laborer. He is also very vain and occasionally seems to take joy in how much he annoys the people around him. He is very gaudy and loud, often insulting people and getting into fights. Iyami is also a coward and will often shift the blame of his actions onto other people. While being proud he is also rather repulsive and crude, doing things like eating out of trashcans and being generally unhygienic.
Iyami also has a kinder, more naive side however, showing genuine happiness and gratitude at times. He is also capable of acts of kindness, like when he bought a futon and food secretly for Chibita when he was raising an abandoned baby. He is prone to strong emotions such as dancing for joy, crying out of grief or fear and throwing tantrums.
Throughout the years, he has consistently suffered bouts of homelessness and poverty, which turns his stealing and crude behavior into more of a necessity to survive. Depending on the story, Iyami may be a single man who is terribly unpopular with women, he may wind up lucky, or may already be established as married.
Speech[]
Iyami has a lot of unique vocal tics and phrases. His most well know is his 'sheeh!' that he exclaims when shocked or surprised. He accompanies this with raising one arm in the air, while the other sits across his chest. One leg will often spring up at the knee and if he is really startled his shoe might fly off, causing his sock to become loose and sway in the air. In earlier instances, he can be seen inserting his foot into his mouth when performing it.
Iyami also refers to himself as 'me' and others as 'chimi'. He ends most of his sentences with 'zansu'. His laugh is unusual too, usually being written as 'ho ho' or 'uhyo~!'.
He often uses French words and sayings, as well as some English phrases too.
Relationships[]
Due to his garish personality, Iyami is unpopular and treats most people with little respect. He will prank and bully people at his whim. He is often close to Chibita however, and the two may plot against the sextuplets, helping each other pull off plots and schemes. Iyami is shown to have a soft spot for Chibita too in certain cases, him being the character he shows the most kindness and remorse to.
Iyami considers the sextuplets his nemeses; he has a particularly close rivalry with their leader and oldest, Osomatsu. owing to how he is the one that speaks for the pack.Iyami also holds a neutral relationship or rivalry with other side characters, such as Dekapan, Dayon or Hatabou.
Most of Iyami's family or past is largely unknown, other than women that appear on inconsistent occasions in certain settings. One of these is a young daughter that briefly appears, who shares his overbite and a black bob haircut. The others are his mother, and a wife. They share the overbite as well, although some aspects of their appearances may differ.
In the third run of the manga, he is also shown to once have an unnamed older brother who looks similar except for his sharper nose and five-toothed overbite. Nonetheless, he is mistaken for the other man all too easily and the brother can easily get away with his own crimes as long as Iyami is around to be blamed for them.
Osomatsu-kun (1988 anime):[]
In some iterations such as this one, Iyami shows attraction towards Totoko. This is shown inconsistently however. Despite her young age, there are moments where he will show some inappropriate infatuation towards her or be taken by her beauty. But there would also be alternate universe setting instances with the implication of her being aged up, where she would be depicted as a business partner (such as a flight attendant) or even as his fiancee.
In some instances, Totoko would be appreciative of Iyami's interest and compliments and would gladly go along with his schemes, even pretending to return his romantic advances just so she could get money out of his winning lottery ticket.
In episode 55, Iyami is shown to think about his mother, who shares his overbite and has curly red hair. She is never seen in person, but her image does appear in his locket and in his imagination, as she encourages him to "stay brave" in the ending punchline.
History[]
Osomatsu-kun (manga)[]
An early version of Iyami first appeared in a quick cameo during a large fight scene of background characters in the 1963 story "The Biggest Fight on Paper"[3]. . By the following week's chapter ("Blame it on Osomatsu"), he could be seen in the role of a doctor. In this debut, he didn't yet have any of his quirks and looked slightly off-model, with a different mustache[4]..
When his character was used again four chapters later, he received the name "Iyami" and was depicted as a work acquaintance of Matsuzo[5]. Now he had a name and personality that matched, inviting himself over for dinner and generally harassing the Matsuno family.
Iyami's appearances through the rest of 1963 were sporadic, with him continuing to be depicted as a family nuisance. In the last chapter of the year, he was suspected of stealing Matsuzo's work bonus, but it would be revealed that Matsuzo had simply dropped it[6].
The following year would have Iyami depicted as more of a general charlatan, appearing to scam the sextuplets and teaming up with Chibita for the first time in a beach scheme. However, he could also be seen as the boys' school teacher twice, attempting to visit the family on one occasion[7], and being flustered by Chibita in another[8]. In the first instance, he and Osomatsu wound up swapping bodies due to an incident involving Dekapan's mind swap potion, causing Osomatsu to be offered beer by Iyami's wife while Iyami was stuck 'sheeh'ing in Osomatsu's body until they managed to get the chance to switch back.
"Osomatsu-kun Grows Up" ad story[]
A possible future scenario is given for Iyami outside the manga, in a 1993 Sapporo Black beer advertisement by Fujio Pro in the pages of Shogakukan's Big Comic magazine.
Iyami, now much older, is mentioned to have trained in the United States to become a bartender. He has set up his own bar in Japan, which Osomatsu often frequents. He has not aged very significantly, other than his hair now having gray streaks, and his overbite now being said to be a pair of dentures[9] .
Osomatsu-kun (1966 anime)[]
The 1966 series had Iyami close to his manga portrayal and situations, although the skits that were adapted from stories prior to his debut were reworked to feature him.
He would often take the place of previous nameless guest characters; two examples including him showing up as Matsuzo's boss in the "Good Morning and Good Night Medicine" plot, and as the sextuplet doll-making scientist. This would also apply to both him and Chibita being substituted for roles that required a criminal duo, like the shady car salesmen.
Osomatsu-kun (1988 anime)[]
Iyami is first introduced in the anime as an older friend of Chibita, who has decided to come visit him in Akatsuka Ward and makes the impulsive decision to live there as a salesman. After finding difficulty with getting people to buy his products, he decides he can make money by being a burglar and attempts to rob the Matsuno home. He ends up being startled by the presence of their sextuplet children, and finds himself chased by the angry boys.
Chibita introduces him to Dekapan and his tooth growth serum, which Iyami accidentally drinks believing to be juice, causing his overbite to dramatically grow and him to wind up in more trouble. From this point on, the settings for Iyami change by episode as they would with the manga, with him taking up a different type of job each time and having Chibita involved in some of his different schemes.
Like the 1966 series, Iyami is substituted in roles that were held by other guest characters, with the earliest example being him taking the place of the twin burglars that find the Matsunos' house.
Usage in the Star System[]
Specific Alternate roles in "Osomatsu-san"[]
Iyami AI[]
Portrayals[]
Voice Acting[]
Iyami was voiced by Kyoji Kobayashi through all four sonosheet albums, and was kept on for the role through the entirety of the 1966 anime adaptation.
For the 1988 series, however, Kaneta Kimotsuki was cast in the role. The comedy actor Sanma Akashiya expressed some annoyance at this, as Iyami was one of his favorite characters and he put out an offer to audition for the role, but found that it had been rejected by Pierrot. Fujio Akatsuka also initially displayed skepticism at the casting, as he had preferred Kobayashi's take, but would also come to appreciate Kimotsuki's version. Kimotsuki would reprise the character for commercials and games related to the series, up to his death in December 2016. His final recorded appearance was released the following year in Daiichi's remake of Pachislot Osomatsu-kun.
The -san version of Iyami is voiced by Kenichi Suzumura, in keeping with the theme of recasting the older versions of characters with newer and modern voice actors.
Live Action[]
George Tokoro played the part of Iyami in the Monday Dramaland live-action special. In his portrayal however, Iyami had short hair and wore glasses to accommodate Tokoro's own appearance, and did not have noticeable buck teeth.
In this setting, Iyami was depicted as a rival chef working at a neighboring restaurant to the Matsunos' own.
Foreign Names[]
Note: Full names in other Southeast Asian dubs are listed in the Eastern standard order.
Iyami appears with these names in dubbing and translations of the franchise outside of Japan.
| Language | Name | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Cantonese (Hong Kong) | Sai gwaa paau (西瓜刨) | "Watermelon Slice", for his overbite. |
| Mandarin (Taiwan) | Da Ban-ya (大板牙) | "Big Teeth". |
| Castilian Spanish | Koneho | From conejo ("rabbit"). The spelling as given comes from the DVD release. |
| Valencian | Conillo | Catalan for "rabbit". Dub was based from the pre-existing Castilian version. |
| Galician | Coello | Galego for "rabbit". |
| Korean | Hong Samba (홍쌈바) | From "samba"; 'samba' is used in place of 'zansu'. |
The Korean renaming, much like many other cases, only applies to the dub of Osomatsu-kun retitled "The Yuk Family's Sextuplets" that aired on Cartoon Network Korea in 2012. His name is retained in the dub of -san that was broadcast on AniBox in 2016.
Gallery[]
- Main article: Iyami/Gallery
Episode Appearances[]
- Iyami/1966 Anime Episode Appearances
- Iyami/1988 Anime Episode Appearances
- Iyami/Osomatsu-san Episode Appearances
Trivia[]
- He appears in Naoki Urasawa's manga Mujirushi - Le signe des rêves
- Iyami's personality and appearance was based of real life Japanese vaudevillian Tony Tani, from whom he got his 'zansu' vocal tic, thin mustache and flamboyant mannerisms. Akatsuka's editor in Shonen Sunday at the time, Kabashima (referred to as "K" in his autobiography), also served as a visual model.
- The Pokémon anime has referenced Iyami a few times:
- In Pokémon Black & White, episode 47, a character named Leon is designed from Iyami; he has buck-teeth, ends sentences with "Zansu", speaks in french, and has even shouted similarly to "Sheeh".
Leon's JP Voice Actor, Wataru Takagi, also voiced Jiguzo in Osomatsu-san. - In Pokémon Sun and Moon, episode 25, Meowth makes a "Sheeh!" pose in an attempt to use a Z-move.
- In Pokémon Black & White, episode 47, a character named Leon is designed from Iyami; he has buck-teeth, ends sentences with "Zansu", speaks in french, and has even shouted similarly to "Sheeh".
- In Pokémon Sun and Moon, episode 73, James makes a face (to mock Gengar), referencing Iyami by the buck teeth and a heart-shaped tongue.
References[]
- ↑ Rachel Robinson, Twitter. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
- ↑ "The Laughter Land of Osomatsu-kun-zansu" (おそ松くんの爆笑ワールドざんす), 1988, Kodansha.
- ↑ Osomatsu-kun volume 4 "The Biggest Fight on Paper" (紙上最大のなぐりこみ), eBookJapan.
- ↑ Osomatsu-kun volume 4 "Blame it on Osomatsu" (みんなおそ松がわるいのよ), eBookJapan.
- ↑ Osomatsu-kun volume 4 "Send Away that Unpleasant Iyami!" (いじわるイヤミをおっぱらえ), eBookJapan.
- ↑ Osomatsu-kun volume 6 "Where Did Papa's Bonus Go?" (パパのボーナスどこへいった？), eBookJapan.
- ↑ Osomatsu-kun volume 8, "The Contents of the Head Have Been Replaced" (おつむの中身がいれかわる), eBookJapan.
- ↑ Osomatsu-kun volume 8, "Iyami and Chibita Do Not Match in Personality" (イヤミとチビ太は性格あわない), eBookJapan.
- ↑ Big Comic, June 25 1993, "Osomatsu-kun Grows Up"