pjenkins - 2015-10-03 17:46:01

              There’s nothing like the feeling of deciding to pick up something you’ve been keeping on hold and discovering such a gem that you start wondering “Where have you been all my life, and why didn’t I discovered you sooner?”. It happens a lot to me when I finally decide to watch that anime that’s been on my list for ages, whether it is because someone refers it and I get “Yeah, I have it on my list, I’ll watch it so that we can chat about it!” or I stumble upon something that somehow motivates me to take the step further. Nevertheless, the important part is that I end up watching it, and sometimes I end up mesmerized. This is a review of an anime that has messed up with me so much that it’s unbelievable how I passed by it for so long.

               Yojō-Han Shinwa Taikei, or The Tatami Galaxy, is a 2010 anime from studio Madhouse directed by Masaaki Yuasa. Based on a novel written by Tomihiko Morimi, it focus in an unnamed protagonist that aims to live the rose-colored-campus-life - having many friends, meeting the girl of his dreams and overall succeeding in achieving that so wanted privileged social status. In order to do so, he decides to enrol in one of the various university clubs (here called “circles”), for he believes that being in the right circle will present him with the tools for achieving his objectives.

               However, things are not that easy. He ends up getting along with an alien-faced guy named Ozu, that can be as mischievous as the grin in his ugly face, and the plans of our protagonist get shattered by the problems this new acquaintance brings. He also manages to pass by the opportunity to impress that mysterious apparently stone-hearted girl that intrigues him so much, and ends up realizing that he has wasted two years of his life, wondering what went wrong in the way.

              Now, here’s one of the interesting things about The Tatami Galaxy – it has an episodic dynamic, with the same overall plot and a time-reverse sequence at the end of each episode. Each episode starts with our protagonist enrolling university, choosing a different club every time, and living its campus life full of problems, finishing with the realisation that he has wasted two years of his life. Then, the clock rewinds, and everything starts over.

               Even though each episode has its own narrative, there are plot points that remain constant. Our main character will always meet Ozu, will always have problems because of him, will always bond with Akashi (the mysterious apparently stone-hearted girl from before) and have the opportunity to be close to her, will always learn something with Master Higuchi, a supporting character that works as a kind of strange moral setter, will always receive advice from the strange old lady fortune teller and will always realise that two years of his life have gone by and he hasn’t reached that so wanted rose-colored-campus-life. Here lies the great gems about this anime. It presents us a multitude of parallel life threads with different plots, but somehow it shows us that there are parts in our destiny that will always happen, no matter how we try to escape them (am I sensing an Oedipus vibe here?). In the end, it makes us think that maybe the things that happen to us have some weird meaning and are there to teach us something, sometimes in the cruellest ways.

            Here is the reason why I was so taken by this anime – no matter how our protagonist tries to change its life path and achieve its objectives in a different way, he will always have the same outcome and will never be able to escape his fate. But every time he lives a different life, he always ends up learning something about him and the world around him, and at the ending (which, by the way, is one of the best anime endings out there), he realises something that had somehow been right before his eyes, but he hadn’t yet grown to see it.

            The plot is indeed one of the strong points of this anime, but even the best of plots needs the right way to be presented in order to be seen as that. In this case, the animation takes care of that, and oh my how it does a paramount good job. With Nobutake Ito as chief animation director (who is also the chief animation director of Ping Pong the Animation), the animation of this anime is quirky and expressive, with exaggerated designs and bold sequences. It’s an example of an anime that pretends not to accurately represent the reality and have great attention to details, but to convey feelings and sensations through colour schemes and distortions. It uses the liberty that animation provides to take the presentation of a narrative to an upper step, and creates an emotional ride that will leave you wishing more anime like this.

            The music in Tatami Galaxy is used as a background mood setter rather than taking a stand. It is composed by classical arrangements that do a great job at complementing the scenes, but for me it’s not a stand out soundtrack. The opening and ending themes, however, are another story. The opening theme, “Maigoinu to Ame no Beat", by Asian Kung-Fu Generation, fits the atmosphere of the anime very well, and if you pay attention to the lyrics, it’s even better:      

It’s like the shadows are walking, avoiding the sunspots

While the sunlight shouts down the streets unending

As if cursing the windless afternoon; that sort of Saturday mold.

People conceal their faces under thick clouds, and

Keep sharpening the feelings they hold that have nowhere to go.

Even if they’re buried down streets with nothing in them, they’re still there even now.

I have nightmares of dolls in a lined up in a string of windows,

Or of being locked away hidden inside a warehouse,

There was nothing but dust to tear through, I couldn’t find it.

There was no one’s hand I could reach out and touch.

Our reality

May just keep repeating – But yes,

One day I’ll meet you

So with that day in mind – Let’s keep on going!

               The ending theme, “Kami-sama no Iu Tōri” by Junji Ishiwatari & Yoshinori Sunahara with Etsuko Yakushimaru, is a funky electro beat that speaks about one person dealing with someone that has wronged her. I can’t say it is relatable to the story, but it’s quite pleasant to listen.

               Overall, and I can’t repeat this enough, The Tatami Galaxy is one of the masterpieces of anime. In my opinion, it has so much to it it’s a shame it’s so overlooked by other underqualified series. It’s definitely something worth of watching and praising, and you should recommend it to anyone interested in watching a mature and high-quality anime. Also, it manages to do all that I’ve mentioned in 11 episodes, so there is no excuse.  

grady.raegan - 2015-06-19 12:24:47

The Tatami Galaxy is about a guy stuck in a time loop and he is searching for his happiness. Thia anime is about how you you have opportunities in life and depending your actions, it changes your perspective on life and your life. It's also an anime about the start of adulthood and how in this period you have so many possibilities and how you want to become someone (identity and you want to accomplish things-a romance in the case of this anime-) Well, I appreciate the themes of this anime (at least the things I understood..I am sure there are more themes if you rewatch it and analyse it), I just didn't enjoy it for multiple reasons:

1) Themes doesn't equal high enjoyment for me. An anime can talk about something very unique and very true to humanity but I find myself that I ususally don't care unless I really like other things about the anime (CHARACTERS). The themes of Tatami were certainly interesting and all but I felt that the character department was not satisfaying enough for me. If Tatami didn't have the themes, I would have gave it a 1/10 because nothing else was sustainable enough for me to enjoy it without the themes.

2) Characters: characters are really important for me and I....just don't find them interesting or at least they were weirdly portrayed.

-Ozu: I get he's supposed to be the evil character but by the end, I just don't really understand him. He's just a really selfish character. That's how I see him but we don't go much more in depth.....so he feels a bit flat for me.

-Master: Hmmmmm what was he supposed to do here? I thought he was supposed to guide MC but no??? It's more the fortune teller that guides him imo. :/

-All the character except MC are not really developt :/

3)NOT ENOUGH AKASHI :( That made me really sad because she's the most enjoyable character imo. 

4) Time loops: I realized that I hate when thing repeat. Tho, Tatami is actually good at it. It shows same events but at the end we learn more about the story and it all makes sense at the end. That's good but I found myself bored because it was the same events. Idk I am just a fan of that.

5) TOO MUCH DIALOGUE. I am the type of person that likes visual metaphor that can replace a bit of writing. In Tatami, THEY NEVER STOP TALKING. After Bakemonogatari, I just know now that I hate too much dialogue/narration/monologue in a show. You never have time to relax and it's just urgh. Tatami might be good writing but I found myself being in my own mind instead of being in the anime. Immersion is really important for me and I think when there's a lot of subs to read, there's this wall that is created and I just can't immerse myself.

6) I really couldn't wait to finish it.

Things I liked: OP and ED were excellent. The OST was also really good. One of my favorite use of the music was in the last episode (when he was naked and running to Ozu). The animation was also very interesting. The harmony of colors and the style in genral was very "modern art"which is something I enjoy. I love when a series take a risk in terms of the art style (because it's not a style for everyone). Also, I think they filmed an appartment and I thought that was really cool! I really liked Akashi. She's really fun to watch. She's a woman that doesn't take shit from anyone and I love that! :) Mc-kun was also really interesting. I really relate to the fact that he has values and he really want to find happiness. I found that he was really mature and really respected all the women around him. I really liked the moments with Johnny because it was a good representation of how we have desires and values(your rationality) inside of us (well most of us because some people just don't have sexual desire and that's ok! )

So yeah...now I hope you understand my point of view. I like Yuasa's stuff and I think he's always interesting. My favorite anime from himis still Ping Pong, after it's Kaiba and finally this one. I am sad I didn't enjoy this anime as much as his other works :( Enjoyment rating: 5/10. I didn't hate it and I didn't love it! 

susanna.rice - 2015-06-05 09:13:16

Amazing college life, clubs, friends, doing some crazy things, and last you'll find that your already had the best time. 

ramon.olson - 2014-06-20 05:40:40

The choices you make might change, but the end result will always be the same.

For our unnamed main character—we’ll call him Watashi—this couldn’t be more true. He’s a college dropout at the end of his rope, eating a meal at the end of the night at a ramen stand. There, he meets a (self proclaimed) God of Matrimony. After this God’s inexplicably large chin tells Watashi that he basically knows everything about him, our hapless main character is sent on a flashback to his not so great college years.

The flashback of his college years zips on by, and so does Watashi’s narration of events. He talks at a thousand miles per hour, and that might keep people away from watching this show since the dialog is hard to follow. Don’t. Watashi is hard to follow, but the show he’s in isn’t. Think of him as a guy being forced to talk about what happened in his past but does so as fast and painless as he can. He’s selfish, and doesn’t care about easing the viewer into his life nor does he care for seeing people as they are.

You see, while Watashi’s lightspeed narration takes over the soundtrack, the way he sees the world takes over the visuals. Every backdrop looks like a cardboard cutout and the characters lack color, but the design choice is deliberate. The design shows the way Watashi sees the world, so focused on himself that what he sees around him might as well be a parody. The easygoing members of the Softball Club, for example, all have the same smiling face, while the repo men of the Bicycle Police (don’t ask) look more like gorilla’s in prison suits. Yes, really.

This narrow focus from Watashi also affects what the viewer learns about the people in his life, meaning not much is learned about them at all. Instead, the characters are closer to ideas in his life. Jougasaki, for example, is Watashi’s antithesis for success, being handsome, buff, and leads the Misogi Movie Club, while Watashi is average looking, scrawny, and barely keeps his place in any club. Jougasaki and his biceps often play the villain role to Watashi, and his other hobbies include boobs, a far cry from Watashi’s sexual repression.

Then there’s Ozu, the wildcard in Watashi’s life, the kind of guy who can be one’s best friend or worst enemy depending on how one approaches life. Ozu’s described as not having a single good trait about him, but as the show goes on he shows a wit sharper than his teeth and foresight wider than his narrow eyes. Watashi—and the viewer—is never sure how Ozu does what he does, whether it’s getting classified information or hijacking a blimp. But Ozu’s also the fall guy, who Watashi blames for the way his life has turned out.

You see, as Watashi is sent on a flashback through his not so great college years, he thinks that his life might’ve turned out better if he joined a different club, so he joins the Tennis Club. He doesn’t just want a good life, but a rose colored campus life. Through club activities, he plans to surround himself with raven haired maidens and reach sweet, sweet romance. But he can’t make any friends, let alone start a romance, and is instead stuck with Ozu. Whether from Ozu’s mischief, Jougasaki’s villainy, or his own selfishness, Watashi ends up not liking where his life ends up, and relives his flashback to join a different club in hopes of getting a rose colored campus life.

And does it again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

No matter what club Watashi joins, the end result is always the same, and he never seems to learn. Do more than a few things always go wrong after Watashi joins a club? Maybe. Is Watashi setting his expectations too high? Definitely. But how else would he act? He’s fresh out of high school and been sheltered all his life. A guy like that is bound to be a hopelessly naïve fool, as he often points out every time his hopes are dashed. But what’s really baffling—or believable, in his case—is how often he looks past what—or who—he does have, like Akashi.

This is because Akashi is that friend, who’s also a girl, who might become Watashi’s girlfriend if he just thought to talk to her more. She treats him more fondly than she treats others, but she doesn’t throw herself at him. She has other concerns, like her engineering, and always tells it like she sees it, able to keep even Jougasaki at bay. She isn’t the companion Watashi deserves, but the companion Watashi needs. That said, the romance is non-existent, but this show isn’t a romance; it’s a story about a guy who wouldn’t know opportunity if it dangled in front of his face.

And while Watashi ignores opportunity, he keeps reliving his college years in hopes of getting a rose colored campus life. Through this, the show becomes frustrating, but not for the right reasons.

For theme, it makes sense for the show’s story to be repetitive. Because no matter what choice Watashi makes, the end result is always the same. The problem is the show’s repetitive execution. The first five episodes have different set-ups, but the opening, middle, and final act of each episode is roughly the same. It tries to be different with each episode, but those common threads end up bringing focus to how similar they are.

On the other hand, the last six episodes take the same set-up, but they play out differently and are only similar in their final acts. They don’t try too hard to be unified, and this lets each episode be its own story while still keeping to the show’s theme, which makes for a refreshing watch. But this begs the question of why the show doesn’t do something similar for its first half. The show is supposed to be challenging, I get it, but until the halfway point it’s not even obtuse; just awfully repetitive.

That repetition also brings down the characters. As characters themselves, they’re all great. But their interactions with each other become repetitive. Seeing Watashi dread his first meeting with Ozu loses impact after the second time, and the scene of Watashi saving Akashi from a random moth can only be cute so many times before it becomes old hat. Until the show’s second half, their interactions with each other become predictable, and the sad thing is it doesn’t need to be.

Maybe the nature of the show’s theme ends up making it too easy for it to become repetitive. But since it was able to keep the story refreshing from the halfway point onward, I have to wonder what this show could have become if its effort were better directed in the first half. It definitely has thematic focus, it knows what it wants to say, and has a great cast of characters needed to say it. It could be an excellent show, but it’s not there yet.

I say “yet” because writing and directing is something that can improve with time. I’d like to see this show remade with that improvement in mind, its effort redirected to avoid being repetitive, to be better than it is now. It DID show the ability to be better than it is now, which makes it so frustrating it fell short of being excellent. As it is now, Tatami Galaxy isn’t a rose colored experience, but it’s definitely an opportunity worth grabbing.

kbruen - 2014-06-05 04:55:48

TATAMI GALAXY ~

'Tatami', the cultural knowledge of which probably is visually clear to everyone who have been accustomed to watching anime for a while now, you'll know when i say that it is a type of flooring material used in Traditional styled Japanese houses. The word is actually derived from the verb 'tatamu' which means, to fold or pile. Now, placing the word side by side particularly with the word 'Galaxy' definitely has a connotative implication of 'claustrophobia' which i guess most people did perceive. Yes, the shows throws the protagonist's life as living in a 4.5 tatami room, almost like in a huge cube and the events occurring all around his college life are directly relate-able to the claustrophobic experiences he comprehends while expounding in the aspects of the space.
The show exhibits traits of dark comedy, much relate-able to the anime 'Sayonara Zetsubo sensi', heck even the protagonists look way similar. Though Itoshiko is a character who completely taints himself to pessimistic way of life exhibiting suicidal tendencies, the protagonist here is ideologically much more alive and doesn't live by tending to hang himself everyday, nor is his life psychologically contorted to the point of living every second in horror within the walls of his apartment, as seen in the films of Roman Polanski who also dealt with the theme of claustrophobia. The show also perhaps is relate-able to the anime 'Welcome to NHK' which portrays the life of a shut in/NEET, but the line differentiating both the series is on the level of layered and visual symbolisms which is the main concern for this series, a symbolic succession resulting in an exhalting fulfillment.
The plot follows freshman 'Watashi' (which translates into the subjective pronoun 'I') as he narrates his life, ready to experience a “rose colored campus life”, putting aside with renewed optimism, his disastrous highschool life. His ideal of College/ Bachelor life is that of a conventional one, ready to stretch out an arm to a raven haired maiden by the grace of cupid and flowing down the river of young love. But the flow is dammed by Ozu, a mischievous character who is up to wreck everyone's love life in the college and ironically is Watashi's only friend and unfortunate for him, Ozu's accompaniment leads to complicacies and disillusionment towards his so called 'Rose colored campus life' as being associated with him leads to a bad reputation all around. As I've mentioned earlier, a lots of other references to the theme are brimming in ever symbolic corner throughout the series. Ozu keeps on reminding him how both of them are tied with the "black thread of fate" which resonates the claustrophobic nature of the title.
Watashi has seniors : Jougasaki, who is the president of the Movie club that he had once joined and Higuchi, of whom he is a forced disciple and is caught in between an aging tussle of pranks between these two characters, which goes by the name 'proxy-proxy war', in which one sides either gets their robes dyed pink or the other gets their film tapes replaced and vice versa. Our Protagonist droops with the weight from both sides, Jougasaki has a secrete which he heaves on Watashi fearing it might be a potential weakness on his part in the 'proxy-proxy war' and threatens to beat him up if it's out while being a forced disciple of Higuchi he has to go on with the pranks on Jougasaki, replacing his film tapes, releasing swarm of cockroaches into his apartment. Watashi is getting squeezed in slowly by closing in of the walls in his 4.5 Tatami galaxy.
Even with all the complicacies around him leading to his cornered situation, Watashi doesn't let go of his dream of living a 'rose colored campus life' and thus cooks up a make believe love triangle of his own, including 'Hanuki' a foxy lady who studies dentistry in the same university and is a senior of Watashi, and two other characters. He is well aware of the consequences he could end up in being in multiple relationships, which is again a cornered or claustrophobic one, as time ticks on his lovers are narrowing down their distancing from him and the moment of denouement in his 'rose colored campus life' is gradually coming to a close, a climactic revelation. But Watashi is addicted to this claustrophobia, he subconsciously finds a sort of masochistic pleasure in living inside the cube.
He won't avoid the make believe love triangle even though he is fully aware that it might end up earning him hate from every side. He keeps on repeating in monologues how Ozu's accompaniment has ruined his 'rose colored campus life', but not even for a single once does he let go of his side in pranking. He has subconsciously adapted to the claustrophobic outcast nature that society has deemed him for being associated with Ozu and he is happy with that. Watashi is a character who is caged between these conflicting layers of sub-conscience, and hence suffers from split personality, which brings us to the whole point of the series that follows his rehabilitation from this psychological disorder. Perhaps his plight is relate-able to the famous Campus Novelist Kingsley Amis' book 'Lucky Jim' in which the protagonist James Dixon strives within the brick walls of University life.
There are other characters who play their important part in accentuating the plight of the protagonist, fore-fronting them is Akashi-san a character with cold personality and surprisingly there is a dangling love tryst between Watashi and her, the job to rectify and grab hold of this situation infront which is repeatedly notified in every episode by an anonymous Fortune teller to him. In a way Akashi san could be the key to his rehabilitation. There are few other significant characters, delving into their characterization might leak unwanted spoilers.
About the animation and visuals, there is a lot to be observed in this part as it is the main force driving the plot and every other thing, the visuals fuel the entertainment in this series ! It is drenched in symbolic references, there are visual metaphors in every second following the narrative. The art and animation is surrealistic and perhaps a product relate-able to the avant-garde movements like expressionism, which was fore-fronted by paintings like 'The Scream' by Edvard Munch, the horrors of war was manifested in this piece, an epitome of visual metaphor. Very similarly there are instances throughout the series vibrant with visual metaphors pertaining to the situations, like everytime Ozu talked about how they were tied with the 'black thread of fate', it was simultaneously established with an image of Ozu and Watashi tied up with the 'black thread' as they fell into the depths of a trench. Infact every episode introduces Ozu in a new avatar pertaining to Watashi's initial reactions to his mighty evil grin, which adds to many of the reasons why the visuals also carry the humor in this series. At one point of time he looks like a kappa rising from the green swamp and dragging Watashi down back with him, and some other time he might look like a gigantic shadow of a demon hailing from the depths of hell reminding Watashi frequently of how much of a good friend he is of him.
Watashi himself is a connoisseur in cooking up visual metaphors as he is expounding within the expanse of his galaxy, he is a philosopher within his own boundaries as well as a scientist observing the various aspects occurring all around within his Tatami galaxy, and perhaps is content with all of it but yet again, he contradicts himself quoting Terayama Shuji : "Throw away books and go out into the city". Aside from all the symbolic aspects, the art in general is a beautiful one if you open up discarding the conventional detailing, this series goes back to the rustic style of applying cartoon-esque template for the characters, with feminine elegance established by the presence of Akashi san in vibrant colors within the frame and yet again dingy shades for ramen stalls, as well as vibrant color pallets for the rest of the part which adds to a sort of psychedelic demeanor. The drinking feud between Jougasaki and Watashi accompanied by Hanuki for an instance, which gradually deludes our vision and the colors seem as if being mixed up in a huge cauldron. The psychedelia is also accentuated by the beautiful muzak sort of background music comprising mostly of classical piano tunes. The animation thus relate-able to the likes of 'Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei' or even to the rustic demeanor of foreign animations like Marjane Satrapi's 'Persepolis'.

After all the exaggerations i would want to highlight an important point, 'weather one should approach the series or not' : A lot of people steer clear of this series because of the animation style which i think is wise if you are not big into visual metaphors and prefer more the conventional style of anime like Death Note and Monster which escalates the plot through twists and climaxes, the sort of excitement stimulated from thrillers. Tatami Galaxy is a series facing in exact opposite direction to that of exciting thrillers, it is more like a light headed and romantic Gondola ride through the city of Venice in a moon lit night, making you lay back loosely on your couch as the beautiful piano tune plays in the background. That is all.

patience21 - 2014-02-23 19:03:04

I had a chance to watch this at various times during my college days thanks to my Anime Club that I was a part of. I voted for it at least once when it came up to the club vote, because it looked interesting and was also a college themed anime. I thought it would be different than all these lame high school setting anime. Years later I saw that it was on Hulu, and also saw that many people gave it great reviews and recommended it to me. So I decided to finally sit down and watch it. I must say it is one of the best anime that I have watched in a long time.

“Finished Tatami Galaxy, never have I watched an anime that took useless plot threads, made them look random, and then spun them together into a masterpiece. It helps that I can totally relate to the protagonist myself being (well I was) a college student who never reached for that fruit right in front of me.” – Nerdwerld after watching the series for the first time.

Story 8/10
Pacing- The show's pacing is slow and random. It is somewhat episodic, but slowly the plot thickens.
world building- This isn't a show that has world building aesthetic.
Consistency- Each episode has new rules it throws into the mix so there is not consistancy, except the characters.
Flow- The story flowed at first pretty random, but connected in the end.

At first this show seemed pretty random and over-narrative in its execution. It didn’t seem to have a story to tell. The first episode at first glance is not related to the second and you get the feeling that our protagonist is repeating his various lives for no reason, but to miss his opportunities in front of him. This was my initial feel of the show when I was watching it. There were a lot of plot threads not matching up, and it seemed like I was watching Ground Hog’s Day the anime. Nothing was adding up, and I thought it was all metaphorical.

Then slowly, but surely I saw a pattern emerge and saw that this was more psychological than I had first thought. In fact, some of these threads started to link up in the most interesting of ways. So I thought to myself that this was starting to become very interesting. Then the series slowly started to make sense and there was indeed a plot. The character gets locked in this Tatami world, and you see that these previous lives were possible figments of his imagination, he questioned them and it seemed like some of these were fantasy and some actually occurred.

The series climax is the realization that the protagonist needs to leave his Tatami room, which he locked himself in after he knew that his friend/enemy/rival Ozu had a girlfriend while he wasted his two years of college. I can totally relate to the character’s frustration, and that he kept being reminded by the fortune telling to grab something in front of him, this as well was something I can relate to. The protagonist realizes that he must take his future in his own hands. He goes and saves Ozu from a problematic situation, which Ozu still injures himself in the process, then he goes and confesses to the girl which he had an opportunity too good not to miss. I have never seen an anime that could take these plot threads and turn them into a strong conclusion.

Animation 9/10
Character Artwork- This show has some of the most interesting artwork that I have ever seen in my life.
Backgorund scenes- by no means is scenery porn, but still interesting and unique to look at.
Animation- It looks crap and not well animated, but it isn't that is just the weird style.

When I first watched the first episode as a potential watch one semester on my anime club I was impressed by its bizarre production and animation style. Noitamaina really pulled off an interesting curve ball with this one. The hint of real life photography and almost south park like cut and paste skills make this a very interested production. To be sure it may not be for everyone, but it is polished and well done. Why can’t more anime be done in this style?

Sound/Music 8/10
Music- interesting opening and ending theme choices.
Sound effects- no real opinoin here.
Voice Acting- The actors talk fast, but at least there is subtitles.

The opening and ending themes are amazing, but in this series the in series background music take the cake. It helps the mood of the show, and makes it something worth listening to. You know shit was about to go down in the 11^th episode when the ending theme was going to play at the beginning.

Character 7/10
Relatability- As a college student I can relate, also for those who are older you can relate.
Development- As the series moves onward we see our main character mature, and even his relationships with others change as well.
Personality- He isn't your typical vanilla archeatype even though he comes off that way. He tries different things and tries to achieve his goals.

We have our protagonist who is the main focus of this show. All the other characters, although some more important than others are typically not on their outset 3D characters, but the show itself shows that in real life people may appear 2D, but in reality are 3D. The protagonist himself is a 2D character in a 3D world, to quote a Lord song. His shenanigans with his youkai looking friend, Ozu amount to his missed opportunities. The same opportunities that Ozu had, as well as the other characters.

Ozu himself is on the outset just a demonic antagonist who seems to do harm to the protagonist. Over the set of the series we see that Ozu is both trying to help the protagonist, but also has his own goals in mind. Ozu loves a beauty, the same type of beauty that the protagonist said he wants to fall for. However, Ozu’s plans make him the enemy of everyone and end up causing him harm in the end.
Jogasaki is another rather interesting character as he looks to be a generic idiotic character. He himself is involved in the proxy war with the “Master”. One wouldn’t imagine Jogasaki doing such a thing, but he shows his true character when facing “The Master” and has his own doubts about his own motivations. He is leader of the movie circle, and seems to be a total jerk. We eventually find out his girlfriend is a love doll which he pampers like it was a real woman. He is to be sure a bizarre character and one that shows a good deal of character depth.

Higuchi aka The Master- He appears first as a god of match-making, but he is just a lazy, take it easy eighth year student at Kyoto University. He appears as a mentor of sorts to both Ozu and our protagonist. He engages in the proxy war with Jogasaki, and is in love with Ryoko. He is the sensei or teacher character of the series, and his words of wisdom and his own motives are made clear near the end of the series.

Enjoyment 7/10
Engagement: I had troubles being engaged at first, but slowly the show hooked me.
Rewatchability: I would probalbly rewatch this show a dozen times.

I rather enjoyed the series, the first half I enjoyed it for the comedy, but I didn’t see any connection. Slowly I saw the plot threads weave into something quite interesting. So my love of watching the show just as entertainment turned into anticipation and marvel in how the story combined these elements. Overall it was a show that made be jump off my seat and continence. We need more anime like this out there.

Overall 8/10

nels14 - 2013-11-03 22:37:15

VIDEO REVIEW:

WRITTEN REVIEW:

Tatami. The room which one can equate to a studio apartment in America. A place where one grows and becomes stronger, struggling with the ordeals of love and career and college life. Tatami Galaxy is an unusual dark comedy slice of arthouse that is about the struggle for identity and is uncompromising in all that it does. It’s a rarity amongst your typical school anime and really struck me as a breath of fresh air. It rests between FLCL and Welcome to the NHK for best weirdest coming of age story, but arguably surpasses both in certain aspects--and doesn’t in others. I can tell you guys right now, If you can’t handle non-linear strange metaphorical anime that causes you to think, then I suggest you stay clear of Tatami Galaxy. This anime’s not for you. But if you can, then be prepared for an amazing adventure.

Thankfully, TatamiGalaxy doesn’t overstay it’s welcome clocking in around eleven episodes, but really manages to pound home it’s message and characters surprisingly well. Galaxy was made by madhouse studios, responsible for such works as the famous Death Note, Perfect Blue and Beck. It was directed Misaaki Yuasa and originally aired in April of 2010. The rights for an American release belong to Funimation Entertainment, but I don’t think we’ll be seeing a dub anytime soon. They’re more busy dubbing Attack on Titan or something. So put on your subs and brace yourself for some very fast moving text. These characters speak fast. And I mean fast. With that out of the way, let’s dive straight into the awesome sauce known as Tatami Galaxy’s story.

STORY

Imagine a weirder version of the Endless Eight from Haruhi Suzumiya and taking place in a college setting with interesting characters. That’s kind of the direction of Tatami Galaxy takes. I actually found myself relating to the story quite a lot, being a college student myself. It’s a dimension time bending tale that revolves around the unnamed protagonist who is officially referred to as Myself or in japanese Watashi. He was obviously named this on purpose as to be a metaphor for everybody going through college life. But he is his own character, so we’ll be calling him Watashi for now. Watashi’s at a crossroads, where has to make a life changing decision and join an extracurricular club at his school. This kind of defines what his life is going to be like for the next two years. Whether he’ll make film, play tennis or join a secret dark underground society. It all depends on what he takes. He meets people, and has fun at first, but is always let down mostly due to his own mistakes. Then the clock resets and he’s back to pick a different circle to yield different but similar results for the next two years of his life before the clock resets again. That’s not to say that every time he travels back, he experiences completely different events or events that are too similar and there is definitely a reason for this dimension hopping tale other than just dimension hopping for the sake of it. Galaxy loves to play around with your expectations as to what’s going to happen, but is never predictable. And that’s part of the beauty of it.

I seriously don’t want to spoil this for anyone, it’s a fantastic story that weaves into an intricate tapestry revealing it’s true colors at the end. It’s definitely one of the best payoffs to a show I’ve seen in awhile. The show succeeds in almost everything that it does and foreshadows like crazy. I mean jesus christ if this show foreshadowed any further it might as well just tell the entire story upfront. Even the opening to the show has foreshadowing to how the end is going to play out and that’s just how Tatami Galaxy rolls.

Galaxy has a diverse set of characters that seem like they’re going to be shallow at first, but actually round out a little towards the end. From the lovely cold eyed Akashi to the mysterious monster of a human being Ozu who plays puppet master. You’ll find a character you love in this show, that I guarantee. They’re all extremely fun and enjoyable and come full circle in the end. Watashi and Ozu definitely have the best closure and getting to the ending to see they’re outcome is worth it. On the critical side of things, I’ve got to say that a majority of these characters didn’t strike me as human as they should have been. Galaxy has a very odd set of characters to say the least. It almost feels like a summarization of various attributes attuned to a lot of people you may have met. That’s not to say they’re bad though. They all feel like their own characters and have quirks and flaws. Akashi for example is horrified of moths for example and is in love with a children’s show equivalent to power rangers with bears. She often locks herself away and doesn’t really let anyone into her circle of contact. These characters are interesting and somewhat relatable, but perhaps not as much as they should be. It seems as if they were trying to capture the metaphorical aspect of the characters a little too much to the point where I kind of get the feeling the entire set of characters are just parts of our protagonists’ being, representing different facets of his personality. Either way, FLCL did a fantastic job handling character and metaphor at the same time, so it’s a shame it couldn’t be more seamlessly merged into Galaxy. I do have to give it props though for being so short and succeeding as much as it did in the character department.

The humor in Galaxy, at least to me, is always fun and hilarious but not quite on a laugh out loud level if that makes sense. It’s too clever and regrettably fast paced for that. The entire show takes place in the first person and is narrated by our protagonist. He often spouting social commentary and dry sarcasm at lighting speed. One of the episodes towards the end is a satire of the hikikomori lifestyle of Japan for example. And for those of you who don’t know what a hikikomori is I direct you to Welcome to the NHK. Either way, the show is the type of thing you need to be paying attention to otherwise the humor will fly over your head. Watashi monologues like crazy and his speed is like watching the social network fast forwarded. There are also certain aspects of the show that are very Japanese in terms of symbols and terminology, but it does a decent job letting you know most things.

Tatami Galaxy is definitely what I’d call deep. It has themes of relationships between friendships, what love truly means, what it means to grow up, overcoming flaws to become happy, grabbing opportunities in life, perception of good and evil, the standardisation of the individual in a modern life, failure and triumph, destiny and change and the what ifs we so very much obsess over. It’s not pretentious though like some other nonlinear shows. It has answers to these themes via the ending revelation, even if the ending revelation is a little too obviously presented and suffers from some character exposition to explain the endings of the secondary characters. It absolutely succeeds at being an allegory for modern life of a young adult. It has a pretty equal balance between character and plot with varying degrees of success. It isn’t just chucking crap onto a screen and hoping you’ll “get it”. It’s dark, but charming and light hearted. The odd thing is that it’s somewhat average of a story on the outside. We’ve seen a lot of things like the story before. Time travel, coming of age, the supernatural etc. But because it’s packaged with polka dots and sparklers and sent to you by metaphorically advanced flying space fish ice cream. It truly is a novelty.

ANIMATION

The animation is absolutely jaw dropping. It’s the antithesis of what good animation is considered these days but manages to surpass a majority of the bigger names these days. Much like the story, it’s a breath of fresh air. It doesn’t need a crap ton of shaders or any detail really to look good. It’s got a very minimalistic design to it, often combining vectors with live action footage to yield very interesting innovative results. It brings to mind European animations like Persepolis and the Triplets of Belville as well as paintings by the artist Charles Sheeler. Color theory is all over the place, playing a key role in how it presents its emotion. From the bleak chiaroscuros of black and white to the complimentary colors of yellow and purple or selective color. All the characters are excellently designed thanks to the work of Yuusuke Nakamura, who should definitely be in charge of more animation’s art style. Proportions are also all over the place and I’d say this is the pinnacle of the runny eggs technique FLCL tried to do and is obviously intentional. While it’s not the smoothest anime in terms of framerate, it still retains a sense of gloriousness very rarely achieved in anime these days. It often brings to life feelings and metaphors in a literal way, making the characters and actions pop. While I’m not sure it’s quite a fit for what the story's trying to tell, it looks stunning.

It may seem low budget at first glance, but I’m not so sure. Even if it was, so what? If it had a budget of two cents, it’s still good because the direction is amazing.

MUSIC

The voice actors play an excellent job here and I’ve got to call out Shintaro Asanuma who read the incredibly fast paced script with such poise. I don’t even think they needed to speed him up, that boy has some mad skills. The rest of the cast was also quite superb in the Japanese language so I’m definitely not too disappointed we don’t have a dub yet.

On the music end of things this is the kind of stuff I’m a sucker for. Nice soft piano pieces. Guitars. Trumpets. Traditional western instruments. That kind of thing. It’s the type of score you honestly wouldn’t notice unless you were paying attention and sinks into the background unless it wants you to hear it. Tatami Galaxy has a pretty excellent track, admittedly bordering on generic, but that really does do the show justice and fits within the context of the scenes. It’s also a nice change from Yuki Kajira, which there’s nothing wrong with, but I can’t get over the fact she’s starting to appear in everything as of late.

I do have to mention though that the opening is quite excellent. It’s a song by Asian Kung Fu Generation, who also did the track for the fourth fullmetal alchemist opening (2003, not bro bro in da hood). It sounds great and I listen to it every now and then just because. On a quick note, the end theme is alright in my book. Nothing too special and nothing offensive.

OVERALL

So in the end, what did I think of Tatami Galaxy. Well dear viewers. I think it was fantastic for what it was. If you’re into the clever mind bending introspective philosophical metaphoric slice of crazy with a dash of good direction this is the anime for you. It’s not everyday you happen to stumble across a show like this--and while I would have liked some of the secondary characters to be more developed, it got it’s point across in an entertaining well executed way that ended on a high note.

Overall I give Tatami Galaxy and exceptional 9 out of ten.

If you liked this anime then I highly recommend checking out the craziness of Fooly Cooly distributed by funimation and made by Production IG and Gainax, or the obleak stupidity of Sato in Welcome to the N.H.K. made by Gonzo and also distributed by Funimation. Both excellent series and both worth your time.

For all you all watching, have a lovely day, evening or afternoon. And stay frosty snow cone melted in a pickle jar and shaken with a dash of nonsense everyone.

GJ~

destini.swaniawski - 2013-07-19 20:50:42

Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei (or The Tatami Galaxy) is an anime about a university student stuck in a Groundhog Day-esque time loop. In the span of each episode, our nameless main character (he is referred to as Watashi, basically meaning "myself") goes over the same two years of university, unaware of the loop, each time joining a different club, in search of a "rose-coloured campus life".Yojouhan is a rare example of a series with time loops where the loops themselves are actually played with. Throughout the 11 episodes, there are several different stories, but many of the episodes focus on the same stories as others. What makes these episodes work is that we see the stories from different angles. In some episodes, we see segments of the story that aren't entirely clear, though at the time are not distracting. In later episodes, these plot points are often explained when Watashi's perspective changes and we see what actually happened. The best part of this, though, is that every episode lends pieces to a larger story. While the series is episodic, what we see effectively falls into place like a jigsaw puzzle, all coming to fruition in the final episode making for one of the most satisfying conclusions I've ever seen.As a result of this, the first few episodes of the series don't make complete sense. They come off as being more abstract than part of an actual plot, but as the series goes on the beginning is referred to in a way that makes this start a vital piece of the puzzle. However, the start is hardly a throwaway. While not as strong as the rest of the series upon viewing, the bizarre and abstract style make the beginning an enjoyable watch anyway.On that note, the way the series is presented is part of the genius. Upon starting the show, the first thing that will strike you is undoubtedly the art. The characters are drawn in an oddly cartoony way, using only one-tone colours for the art and having a rubbery kind of movement to them. This seems like an odd choice, but it does help to draw you into the unique world of Yojouhan, and later in the story it even gets used for plot purposes. This is also combined with a lot of black and white live-action shots, wherein the characters are sometimes drawn over the actors.The strange presentation doesn't stop there, though. One strange feature of Yojouhan is that Watashi is very fond of monologuing, in a way very reminiscent of Kyon (from the Haruhi Suzumiya series, in case you've been living under a rock). He does so, however, at a very high speed. If the show has a fault, it is this, but it's more of a double-edged sword than a flaw outright. For people who aren't great at reading, the high speed of the subtitles can often make the things Watashi says hard to keep up with, but it's rarely overwhelming. On the plus side of it, it helps to keep the pacing of Yojouhan fast, which keeps the series interesting, an important factor in a series that is driven with an abundance of dialogue (excellent though the dialogue may be).For a show that could have easily been dull or just weird if it had been handled wrongly, it only makes sense that even more precautions are made to make sure that there isn't a dull second in Yojouhan, as evidenced by the motormouthed narration. What helps with this is that rather than being thrown into an entirely new plot every time, there are a few elements that remain the same throughout every story. The beginning and end of each episode are usually the same, as well as Watashi's meeting with a fortune teller. This helps the viewer to keep a pace with the series, which may have been otherwise hard to do.The characters of Yojouhan aren't really the focus point, but they aren't an afterthought by any means. While each member of the cast is a vibrant and distinctive individual in of themselves, the actual characterisation isn't really the strong point of the characters, but rather how they are used. Just like the story, each character and their actions throughout the two years are explained slightly more with each new perspective. This ends with more or less every character coming out good, but one character in particular sticks out as being an excellent example of defied expectations, showing their nature as a 3-dimensional character as we see their story from each side fall into place. I won't spoil who it is, but anybody who has seen the series should know who I mean. Watashi himself, while an unremarkable person, is hard not to like for his enjoyable musings and relatable situations, and as the series goes on he does develop well, if not remarkably so.Of course, the time loops persist for as long as Watashi continues to miss the proper way to live the two years, with conclusions that have been dangling in front of his eyes the whole time. Some of the conclusions become expected after a mere few episodes, but other, more important ones (as well as the entire point of the time loops) are less obvious and yet no less excellent.Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei is an exercise in series structure unlike anything before it. The way the entire series is built comes off as nothing short of genius. I have yet to see any of acclaimed director Yuasa Masaki's previous works, but Yojouhan makes it blatantly clear that he lives up to the reputation that precedes him. I can only hope Kaiba, Kemonozume and Mind Game are nearly as good as this, because now Masaki has set an excellent example of how to make a truly great, original anime.Story/Plot: 10/10Animation/Graphics: 9/10Music/Background: 8/10Characters: 9/10Overall: 10/10For Fans Of: Bakemonogatari, Welcome to the N.H.K!

jeromy59 - 2013-07-07 21:43:04

Quite the unique anime this is. The art is very odd yet amazing at the same time, as is the story. Takes a few episodes to get a grasp on what the series is about, and I am still confused, but severely entertained.From what I can gather, each episode is a different potential time line that (so far) resets after each episode, sort of like the arcs in Higurashi. However each timeline is completely different so, unlike the evil endless eight, there is some progression along with different hilarious storylines. You'll need to watch a few episodes before you get a hang of what's going on, otherwise I can see a lot of people dropping after the first episode.The characters are very interesting. The main character is just how I like them, kind of cynical but hilarious at the same time. The only problem I have with him is that when he narrates, he talks EXTREMELY fast. Sometimes I need to pause to read it. The way he interacts with the supporting cast and situations are pretty hilarious. All of the side characters are unique as well (especially Ozu, ugly bastard. But I still love him). Even though there isn't a whole lot of plot developement so far, the series has been very enjoyable. I will definitely continue to watch this until the end and I wouldn't be suprised if it makes it onto my favorites. It has that charming, goofy uniqeueness to it but still a touch of something much deeper. Definitely recommended, especially since it isn't doing so well with rating and views.

lucie80 - 2013-03-22 04:44:26

"It doesn't matter which path you took, you'd keep ending up where you are now. At any rate, once I met you I put all my efforts into making you no good."

College is an important turning point in the lives of many a young individual, a time of self-discovery where ambitions are realized, but also a time for making memories to be cherished for years to come. At a university that may not be entirely ordinary, a purportedly ordinary young man is faced with the pivotal decision of which club to join. In pursuit of the fabled "rose-colored college life" he so covets, he struggles against the venomous influence of the enigmatic, demon-faced Ozu while utterly failing to confront his feelings for his frosty but charming underclassman Akashi. It soon becomes clear that all is not as it seems, as this man is given the chance to relive and repeat his college years, guided by an aloof self-proclaimed "god of matchmaking" and an old fortune teller woman. But despite being blessed with endless opportunities, this hopeful young soul seems cursed to end up unhappy no matter which club he chooses. What is it that's keeping him from living the rose-colored life he seeks, and is that life truly what he should be looking for? If he can't find an answer, he'll be left forever staring at the ceiling of his 4 1/2 tatami room.

I did my best to make the plot sound compelling, I really did, but it's still very hard to effectively advertise a show about a guy going to a bunch of eccentric clubs and ending up unhappy at every turn. The show's animation style is atypical to say the least, the characters talk a mile a minute, and there's not even a dub to make it easier on English speakers. Oh, and the story is essentially an extended metaphor to boot. Taking all that into consideration, the show seems to have raised a high barrier of entry with the word "arthouse" stamped across the front gate, so it's no wonder this show tends to fly under the radar. It's quite well-respected in a few circles, but at its heart it's still a very niche title, which makes its lack of a proper Stateside release (and consequently a dub) understandable, though no less unfortunate.

Normally when discussing animation the first name that comes to mind is that of the studio, but in this particular case the director's signature is far more prominent. Masaaki Yuasa is known for forsaking many of the elements traditionally associated with quality animation--detail, consistency, realism--in favor of more minimalistic, free-form style you'd normally only see in an independent film or web animation. The designs are minimalist but still expressive and distinctive. The color choices are bright and diverse but ignore the conventions of shading or lighting, mixed with several unmoving cloth and wallpaper patterns reminiscent of Gankutsuou and a few instances of monochromatic live action scenery. Now I get to talk about the studio: it may come as a surprise to some that this was animated by Madhouse. This certainly isn't their best work by normal technical standards--frame rates and fluidity are pretty modest--but the studio truly lives up to its name with this creation, managing to make these simple designs pop off the screen with passion and finesse. There are some occasional animation loops and the like here and there, but overall this can stand on par with SHAFT's best artistic efforts. Of course, when an anime's visual style is so prominent, it becomes absolutely crucial that its artistry fit the story it's telling. I'll address that question in a bit.

Musically, the show's track is primarily comprised of light orchestral pieces that manage to support its comedic and dramatic moments equally well. The music itself is nothing you haven't heard before, probably even in other anime, but it generally fits. The show has a habit of reusing some of its tonal motifs regularly whenever a certain situation pops up, but considering the story is built around a Groundhog Day loop I can write that off as part of the joke. It's never abused to the point of becoming a distraction, so overall I can say that this show is perfectly competent in its use of sound.

Voice acting is always important, but here especially it's absolutely crucial. Though there's no dub, I must tip my hat to the Japanese voice actors for carrying the difficult script so well. Of particular note are Shintaro Asanuma as our protagonist and Keiji Fujiwari as Higuchi, both of whom have lines that require them to speak a mile a minute and manage to deliver them without a hitch. I'm not sure if they had some sound editing to help them along, but good editing only does so much for lackluster performances and even when speaking at a normal pace they still sound quite good. The voice acting as a whole leans a bit toward the cartoonish side but it's never flat or dull. I think this show would benefit from a dub simply because of the amount of subtitles you'll have to read to get through it if you don't know Japanese, even though you'd probably much rather be taking in the show's quirky visuals. In my personal experience, I had to pause the video a few times just to keep up with all the subtitles. Still, that's not to disparage an excellent Japanese voice track. I just hope that if someone (Funimation?) does eventually dub it they'll do the series justice.

So for all the college students out there in both Japan and abroad who watch and enjoy anime, it's kind of sad and a little surprising how few anime there are that make the effort to address life at this juncture. In recent memory, the only other such series that spring to mind are Moyashimon (which is also unlicensed) and Honey and Clover. As a college student myself, I'll take representation where I can find it. I should probably clarify that The Tatami Galaxy is more about college as a life experience than as an educational institution. That the show chooses this angle, particularly in Japan where the culture leans so heavily on academic achievement (I'm basing this on hearsay, don't quote me on it), is actually quite refreshing, and it certainly becomes more of a boon than a burden, to say otherwise would be missing the point. It could be argued that this show is an achievement simply for its choice of subject matter and for the fresh ground it chooses to tread. But the show also stands out for its style of storytelling. What really holds The Tatami Galaxy together more than anything is the consistency with which it delivers its central metaphor.

First of all, unlike the infamous Endless Eight, the Groundhog Day loop here actually varies its timeline. Most of the recursions, particularly early on, feature similar chains of events aside from the club our protagonist chooses to join, and on the surface it might seem like pointless repetition, but there is an underlying arc that creeps up on the audience over the course of these loops. Each episode gives a different angle on the same events, and small, seemingly pointless details from one cycle can become pivotal plot points in another. To say that every detail in this story has a purpose isn't entirely accurate, at least not from a plot standpoint. Thematically, though, it gets its message across loud and clear as we're shown all the different opportunities that can be found just by slightly shifting our perspective. However, the way to happiness isn't through the missed opportunities of another lifetime; as an old fortuneteller reminds our protagonist every episode, the opportunity to find happiness is always dangling right in front of him. It's a simple message, but the execution is unforgettable, bordering on downright groundbreaking. In many ways, this show seems to deserve a full 10/10, but for all there is to praise here, The Tatami Galaxy has some fairly serious problems.

Getting back to the setting I mentioned earlier, one of the main draws of The Tatami Galaxy is the fact that it addresses college life. Naturally, it's going to ring particularly true to people who have gone to college or are going to college. As an audience, we're expected to sympathize with the characters for the juncture they're at in life, and it works for some people. Still, even though their backdrop makes this easier to overlook, it has to be said: these characters do not act like real people.That's not to say that they're flat, static or archetypal, they are none of these things... and now I need to clarify. Many of the key characters of The Tatami Galaxy have traits common among ordinary college students you may have met, but they tend to come across more as the sum of their traits than as actual, believable people. Hanuki and maybe Higuchi are the most human characters of the cast, but aside from them the motivations we're shown are either simplistic or alien, if not both. Some of them still get their share of development, but when the characters feel like they sprung into existence as college students with no prior life experience you know you're in trouble.

I could have forgiven all that. After all, we're seeing the world through our protagonist's warped perspective, of course he'd fixate on the superficial, but now I get to address the elephant in the room. The astute readers among you may have noticed that I have yet to refer to the protagonist by name. Well, that's because he doesn't have one. Throughout the series he's never once referred to by name (not even a nickname a la Kyon) and he's simply credited as Watashi (Japanese for "I" or "me"). The intent behind this is obvious: he's supposed to be the everyman we can all relate to. Unfortunately, the writing only half-succeeds at getting this across, and the end result is basically an assemblage of human desires and flaws, and feels more like a symbol of college students in general than any actual college student I've ever met. I'm not saying Watashi isn't likable; he can still be fun to watch, and from time to time you'll probably feel something for him, but sympathizing with a character based on his situation only goes so far.

I mentioned earlier that Watashi's perspective is warped, and boy did I mean it. The Tatami Galaxy is at its very best when it utilizes this trait to its full potential, i.e. when there's a discrepancy between what's said and what's shown, or when Watashi shuts up and gives the audience a chance to take in the situation with their own eyes and ears. But this series is based on a novel, specifically a first-person stream-of-consciousness novel. This works well enough early on in the series, when Watashi is stumbling through timelines, misinterpreting his own mistakes and shortcomings, etc. Nor does the use of repetition bother me especially; it's part of the theme, and the meanings of some of the lines he repeats will actually change depending on the context. Still, when a character says in twenty words what could have been communicated in five, it gets frustrating. Worse yet, it's not uncommon for Watashi to explain in intricate detail the conclusion we're expected to draw from the scenario presented. How someone so messed up in the head still manages to be so eloquent is beyond me. We know you're trapped in the "what-ifs" of your life, so shut up and do something about it.

This problem reaches its absolute worst in the last two episodes, specifically the first episode-and-a-half of the last two episodes, where Watashi is forced to confront the manifestation of all the college years he's wasted in all the different lives he's lived. This could have worked if he was more of a character and less of a symbol, but instead we get a mouthpiece spouting explanations for things we should already be able to piece together on our own. If that was all, the conclusion would just be heavy-handed, which wouldn't be so bad, but then Watashi goes on to explain the understanding he comes to about all the other characters and their motivations. Looking back at the nine episodes that preceded, I can understand how the setup is present for many of these character arcs, but having Watashi telegraph his conclusions at us does not wrap them up in a way that feels natural. This is lazy, manipulative storytelling that ignores one of the most basic narrative principles: show don't tell. To be fair, the latter half of the final episode is actually quite fitting, and it successfully ties up the story's central metaphor, but the story's humanity is lost in the process.

For those of you who argue that the story doesn't need a human side precisely because it's symbolic: saying it's okay to forsake that element because it's "a necessary sacrifice" is not only a pitiful excuse, but also completely untrue. It's not easy or common, but it is perfectly possible to merge metaphor and humanity. Revolutionary Girl Utena did it. FLCL did it. The presentation may be "avant-garde", the subject matter may be fresh ground, and to a certain extent I respect it for that, certainly enough to warrant a recommendation, but the lack of a human heart holds this series back from being the masterpiece it could have been. On a more subjective note, I have to wonder if Yuasa's artsy direction was really the best thing for this show. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad, but at a time when more and more people are going to college and it's becoming a more universal part of growing up, mightn't an earthier, more realistic art style have made the show more accessible to a wider audience? Just food for thought.

Despite all my gripes and frustrations, the series' merits as an allegory are still perfectly valid, and I commend it for that. The reason I emphasized the series' flaws so much in this review isn't that the show is bad, not by any stretch. The Tatami Galaxy is a thoroughly admirable creation that delivers spectacularly on the intellectual front, but never quite reaches for your heart the way it really should, and much like its protagonist it can get pretty far up its own ass. Still, the unique artistry and storytelling set this series apart, and it does have something to offer for anyone who's been to college.