Mr. Osomatsu is one of the craziest anime to hit the scene in years. The hilarious story of six identical brothers who let's just say, aren't exactly winning at life. With no jobs, no skills, no girlfriends and living at home, they can't seem to get it together. But they have no problems getting in trouble, in fact, they're experts!

With nonstop gags and endless antics, playing these characters can drive a voice actor quite mad! In fact, you'd practically have to be insane to even play these brothers. We sat down with Billy Kametz (Osomatsu) and Ray Chase (Karamatsu) to ask them about what it was like losing their minds on this show.

What was your reaction when you got the script for this show?

Billy Kametz: We had some real talented directors/writers on the show. Usually there will be an alternative line every once in a while in the script, but with this one there were about three alts per line and they were all absolutely hysterical. We would usually do one and it would land real good and then move on and I would be sad that we didn't get to try out the others.

Ray Chase: I had known about this show long before they were casting for it. My biggest reaction was when auditions were sent out and I was ecstatic that they were finally giving it a dub! But my excitement turned to anguish when I realized I would still have to audition... We auditioned for every character, but my heart was always set on Kara. He's the only one with a good heart!

How much laughing is there in the booths?

Billy Kametz: Probably more than any other show I've worked on. Sometimes we would be trying out alt two or three and I wouldn't be able to get through it without cracking up and the director would be like, "Let's just go with the first one" and I'd be like, "No, no, I swear I can get it" but then I never did.

Ray Chase: An extreme amount. All the time we keep asking each other "Can you believe we're getting paid to do this?" as we dub over scenes of smooth boys lathering each other up with lotion.

Is there any scene you were like, "Okay, this is too much." 

Billy Kametz: Yes. Multiple times. I believe the words, "Wait, do you really want me to say that?" were uttered by me on a few occasions.

Ray Chase: Never. Frankly I don't think it is enough.

Does your family know you work on this show?

Billy Kametz: Oh, absolutely. My sister was even at Anime Weekend Atlanta where we announced the cast. They're very proud.

Ray Chase: As far as they know, I'm a successful insurance broker living in Bedford, Massachusetts.

Are you like your character in any way? If so, how do you feel about that?

Billy Kametz: I was like Osomatsu right after I graduated college. I lived in Philadelphia with three really good friends in a nice row house that had a big finished basement that we rented out so our rent was $300 a piece. You don't have to work very hard to make $300 dollars a month so we ended up playing a lot of video games, drinking a lot of beer, and being very lazy. I'm happy to report I got all the laziness out of my system and am no longer like Osomatsu in that way. Now the biggest things we share in common is that we both wear the color salmon from time to time and I guess that we sound very similar.

Ray Chase: I am actually very much like Karamatsu. My friends do describe me as painful—and I think I look amazing in sunglasses. I just wish I had the courage to wear a shirt with my face on it.

What are some important life lessons you learned from your character?

Billy Kametz: Osomatsu taught me that you should treat women with respect or you'll get slapped in the face. I think that's a good one to carry with you.

Ray Chase: Just like Kara, I haven't learned a single thing.

What's your all time favorite funny gag or ridiculous situation? 

Billy Kametz: Bathhouse Game Show. Hands down. That was the first where I really went, "Oooooh...the show's like this."

Ray Chase: SO MANY. I really love taxi Karamatsu, but maybe the one that makes me laugh the most is when Jyushi is going for the job interview and talks through his butt.

How is working on this show different from other anime?

Billy Kametz: It was really cool to work on something that was essentially a sketch comedy show rather than a typical series with a long storyline. That was a really fun thing to work on because you never knew what you were gonna get and you had to constantly shift gears. You go in one day and it's like okay the brothers are going through this today, then it's like okay now they're cavemen, now they're girls, now they're elderly women, okay in this one they're amoeba??? This show kept you on your toes as an actor and made you go into your bag of tricks for stuff you don't normally have to do.

Ray Chase: If we want to get technical, the loop counts for this show are INSANE. Because there's so much speaking in unison, the scripts for this show get extremely long, and in the finale for the first season, the number of lines for that 22 minute episode was over a thousand!

Can you actually tell the Matsuno brothers brothers apart?

Billy Kametz: Yes. This is a skill that comes with time. There are little details like pupils, eyebrows, the sharpness of their hair, or Jyushimatsu's big dumb smile that after two seasons I can easily say that I can pick each brother out of a line if they were all standing naked next to each other. Which happens quite often in the show.

Ray Chase: I really can! The hardest ones are Oso vs Choro, but you can usually figure them out by process of elimination.

Has this show changed you? In ways you'd rather not talk about?

Billy Kametz: This show has taken five years off of the life of my vocal cords.

Ray Chase: I have become Matsu, destroyer of anime.

What would you say to someone who's never seen the show?

Billy Kametz: I would tell them to grab the kids, grab grandma, and enjoy. No but seriously I've warned people about how inappropriate the show is because I always assumed that it was geared towards the teenage boy potty humor crowd and then I found out that the show is really popular in Japan with a lot of women because it's a parody on how dumb guys are. I was already sold on being a part of a teenage boy potty humor show but that made me go, "Oh, this show is brilliant."

Ray Chase: If you like great animation, spectacular performances, and themes that speak to the greatness within each and every one of us, then please don't watch this show.

Do you think playing an Osomatsu brother will help you in the long run, or hurt you?

Billy Kametz: I think this has helped me exponentially. Mr. Osomatsu is a cautionary tale on what not to do in life and I am grateful for its insight.

Ray Chase: Since accepting this role, my life has been in an absolute tailspin. My agents dropped me, my dogs turned into pumpkins.

Parting thoughts for fans of the show?

Billy Kametz: It's finally coming out!! See!? We weren't lying!! No, but seriously I really hope everyone enjoys the show. We all worked really hard for a long time on it and it's really exciting to finally see it come to fruition. I know it's got a following and everyone has their favorite brother so to all those "Osomatsu is best Matsu" peeps out there, I hope I did you proud. I love this big goofball and I had an absolute blast playing him.

Ray Chase: Please remember that Dekapan is just as sexy as Kara.

Mr. Osomatsu, Season 1 on Blu-ray comes with bonus shorts: Shiritori, OSOMATSU BLASTER, Kara and Todo Rhythm, Mr. Robo-matsu, A Little Chat, Down the Seibu Shinjuku Line, Words and Music and All Sheeeehs.

 Get your copy of Mr. Osomatsu, Season 1 on Blu-ray or digital here!