Osomatsu-kun (1966)

In the winter season of 1966, the Osomatsu-kun premiered. The 56 episode anime started with the production company Children's Corner- a short lived Toei offshoot company- before being moved to Studio Zero due to quality issues. Osomatsu-kun was based on the comedy manga by Fujio Akatsuka, which ran for 34 volumes from 62-69. This popular series saw a remake in 1988, and in 2015 a sequel series that aged up the titular protagonist and his brothers from 10 years old to mid-20s NEETs. Japanese DVDs were released in 2016 for the series' 50th anniversary. While the first full anime in color had premiered the season before, Osomatsu-kun was still produced in black and white.

Osomatsu-Kun 1966

Osomatsu is the eldest of identical sextuplets, however the 60s series does not primarily focus on the 6 boys. Those familiar with later incarnations will be surprised to see character traits established immediately that will carry on for over 50 years, such as their friend Chibita's love for Oden. The iconic and often parodied Iyami's Shee~ quickly appears, making its mark on anime history. 

Shee~!

 

 The episodes are two skits per half hour, and the first three episodes treat us to; a robber disguised as a dog stealing from Chibita and the local professor Dekapan building a tin man who goes haywire, two of the brothers are tricked into a fish scam by Iyami (who makes a fine merman) and Chibita joins a band of Arabian thieves, local fishmonger- and father of Totoko- enlists the boys to attack a fish thieving cat and Iyami teaming up with Chibita to stea and torment the boys.

Merman Iyami

The visual comedy is amusing, though the animation is not noteworthy even for the era. The broadcast prints went missing for some time, so the audio and video quality may be grating to those who do not appreciate dirt on their images and static in their noise. If you watch any amount of anime, you will run into Osomatsu-kun and Akatsuka-san references, be it in Pokemon of Toriyama's Dr. Slump, so some familiarity with the gags and characters would be recommended for even a casual anime viewer. 

The Beatles's John Lennon Shee-ing

 

While nowhere as extensive as Tezuka's Star System, Akatsuka is also known for his re-use of character designs across his many works, with one of most notable being Osomatsu's Totoko and the titular Himitsu no Akko-chan, one of the earliest magical girl anime.

 

While the 80s remake tends to be higher quality, and the 2015 sequel far more popular in English-speaking circles, any version of Osomatsu should be experienced to best round out one's reference to an important building block in anime.