YOJOUHAN SHINWA TAIKEI

DESCRIPTION

CAST

SPECIAL ComedyYojouhan Shinwa Taikei Specials
MOVIE ComedyYoru wa Mijikashi Arukeyo Otome
ONA ComedyYojouhan Time Machine Blues

REVIEWS

• 

  ReBuggy

  90/100
  "There's a reason the show has such a strong cult following."

  I'm sure that most people have, at some point in their lives, asked themselves "If I had made a different decision in my life, how would I be different today?" It may take a few episodes to realize it, but this question is the entire basis of Yojo-han Shinwa Taikei, AKA The Tatami Galaxy. The story focuses on an unnamed narrator, sometimes dubbed "Watashi" by viewers for the personal pronoun he uses, as he attempts to have a rose-colored school life. In the first episode, he joins the tennis circle and meets a devious young man named Ozu, who drags him down with him. In the end, after a disaster, Watashi wishes he could go back and do it all again. In the second episode, Watashi joins the film club and meets a devious young man named Ozu, who drags him down with him. In the end, after a disaster, Watashi wishes he could go back and do it all again. In the third episode...well, you get the point.

  The episodic structure is rather unusual. It appears to be a Groundhog Day-style loop that the protagonist never realizes he's stuck in, and it's presented in such a way that a viewer might not even catch on for a bit. There are elements that keep popping up--a selection from a pool of characters, the fortune teller, the Mochiguma that Watashi finds--but each episode has its own plot. This, unfortunately, may be perceived by many as being formulaic and repetitive, when a closer look reveals it to be a gradual development of an overlying plot and the main themes of the story.

  The plot is simple: Watashi joins a club in hope of finding a rose-colored school life and his life suddenly spirals out of control. A fortune-teller gives him vague, cryptic advice (charging 1000 yen extra for it every time) that heavily implies that he'll find happiness with Akashi, an underclassman he's taken interest in. He ignores or misinterprets the advice and makes a life-destroying decision, then reflects that he'd do things differently if he could. A clock rewinds, and the next episode Watashi joins a different club. It's only in the final episodes that the show diverges from this formula, and when it does, all the pieces begin falling into place.

  There are roughly six primary characters who keep popping up throughout the stories, and though the only difference between the timeline of each episode is a decision that Watashi makes, every episode gives a new, fresh view of the characters. For example, Jogasaki is initially introduced as an arrogant and dictatorial jock, an archetype that is instantly identifiable and understandable. Watashi runs an expository film on him and portrays hidden aspect of his character in a negative light, but when Jogasaki appears in later episodes, he seems quite different, whether he's engaging in prank war or showing tender romantic devotion to his love doll. He's still undeniably Jogasaki, but the context in which he's being portrayed is different and you get a better understanding of him. The same happens to all characters, and when all the pieces begin falling into place at the end, it is this realization that there's always more to a person than you can initially see that makes Watashi reevaluate his relationship with Ozu.

  The anime adaptation was directed by Masaaki Yuasa, famous for his unorthodox animation direction. The Tatami Galaxy is no exception. Much of the art is symbolic and representative. Viewers instinctively understand that when Ozu is portrayed as having fangs or the softball circle is given a bee-like color scheme, it's Watashi's own symbolic perceptions of events rather than a literal representation. Watashi sees Ozu as devious and the softball circle as an incredibly driven hivemind, so the animation reflects that. In fact, Ozu's appearance grows less monstrous as the show goes on and the narrator gains a better understanding of him. Most notably in terms of art, when the show takes a turn for the more bizarre near the end, there are more colored filters and there is occasionally live-action footage included alongside the animated footage, creating a much more deranged experience. Overall, it's quite a surreal experience, but it's very much a visually interesting one.

  Finally, the soundtrack is very solid. The OP and ED are both wonderful, and the visualizations present in both manage to wonderfully summarize and encapsulate the entire series, although it's only at the end that the viewer is able to understand how.

  The series does have a very few flaws, as all things do. While I found the repetition at the heart of the show enjoyable, others might not find it worth sitting through for the final payoff. In a lot of ways, The Tatami Galaxy is very didactic, and often borders on esoteric as a result. This is not easily classified as action or romance or even slice-of-life. The Tatami Galaxy can best be described as an artistic piece that's both philosophical and introspective. You watch it to think and reflect, and those who don't like those types of shows will probably hate The Tatami Galaxy. On top of that, Watashi is an incredibly wordy narrator. To my knowledge, there is no English dub available, so if you want to watch the show I hope you enjoy reading.

  Overall, though, these flaws are only minor. After all, there's a reason the show has such a strong cult following. The Tatami Galaxy is an incredible experience that will leave you thinking about it long after you've finished it. If you're in any way appreciative of experimental or artistic storytelling, you'll absolutely adore it. 5 stars.

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• 

  WanderingSage

  77/100
  Unique Style, Interesting Messages for the Introspective

  Tatami Galaxy is an interesting anime to watch and ideally rewatch a time or two. I've tried to think of another anime that matches it or something to compare it to that's equivalent and it's a bit tough to pin it down. In the modern age of anime with very established tropes and expectations, this alone makes Tatami Galaxy something that should at least be watched for the experience.

  It's going to be really hard to offer a review of this show without going into spoiler territory, so if that bothers you, stop reading immediately and watch the anime instead of looking at my semi-drunken ramblings.

  Some technical and story background for Tatami Galaxy:

  First off, this is a very visually interesting anime. The blend of styles is pretty "artsy" and quite a bit surreal at times. It is also mixed in with live action scenes and sometimes monstrous imagery. It doesn't stray too far from reality, but there's enough weirdness that it gives things a dream like quality at times. Those looking for something super realistic are going to be disappointed, but the style works for the narrative and is impressive to look at. The sound and voice acting is done very well. The protagonist spins narrative at a pretty incredible rate, and it always sounds really good even though it has to be difficult to sustain the pacing. If you can't understand spoken Japanese and rely on reading the subtitles, you will probably have to pause a few times to catch what is said and what is going on visually. The OST is great. The opening and closing songs fit the moods very well. The prepare you for what you are watching and wrap up the plot quite nicely each episode. What is also pretty unique, or at least experimental is the plot and narrative itself, which complement the style pretty well.

  At a broad stroke, this is an anime about a young man (never named) and his strange quest for a grand experience in university that has seemed to be a failure based on the opening scene's narrative at a Ramen Restaurant. The venue alone is interesting in itself. Most school anime focus on high school shenanigans, with university life ignored for the most part. This provides us an opportunity to avoid many tiring cliches of high school based anime and explore the harsher realities of life outside of the comfort of the parent's place, with a more mature look at relationships. Our intrepid protagonist believes that this is his time to shine and he is seeking to create for himself "the rose colored life surrounded by raven haired maidens". The kind he has no doubt enjoyed in popular light novel adaptations and harem anime. Somehow, he seems able to try again after his interesting failures (some spectacular in their disappointment or comedy) and take a new look at what might have been in another trial run of his first two years of university. He also runs into the same cast of characters repeatedly, although with slightly different perspectives. He always has that goal of the perfect life in mind, and all those raven haired beauties no matter what he's doing.

  The following thoughts are my own and just one of a great many ways to interpret the relationships in Tatami Galaxy.

  There are a couple interesting lines in Tatami Galaxy that keep popping up in analyses of the show. After hearing them (over and over in the show dialogue), you'll quickly understand what the basic message of the program is. If you have any modicum of insight, you'll also realize what the protagonist needs to do in order to be happy quite quickly as well.

  I'm not going to repeat those lines from the show, but suffice it to say, this show initially seems to subscribe quite a bit to the very Japanese concept expressed in translation as "it cannot be helped". There is an almost oppressive level of doom in the protagonist's story and cycle of do overs. How one feels about the concept of fate vs. free will likely color quite a bit of your response to the protagonist and the overall message that the show seems to try to convey to us.

  This is especially conveyed through the recurring "best friend" character of Ozu who's goal (at first) seems to be breaking up people's attempts at happiness. So much so that the main character sees Ozu as a type of demon in the early episodes. Although from an outside view, Ozu is working towards getting our thick-headed hero to do what will ultimately make him happy and break out of his bizarre quest for the perfect everything in life, which is a questionable goal. (I suspect this is why Ozu slowly becomes less demonic looking as the show goes along and the protagonist is slowly starting to understand what will make him happy).

  I'm torn between two divergent ideas on the protagonists quest for that "rose colored university life". The message that the show seems to give us is that accepting your lot in life and being happy with what is in front of you does have merit. Many people have very unrealistic ideas about the way that life works, and life can kick your butt pretty hard if you let it.

  However, I did have a lot of admiration for the protagonist trying out all the different possible "lives" for himself and seeing where he fit in. There is a lot to be said about not accepting your fate and struggling to see where life takes you with hard work. In fact, the protagonist tries many strategies in his do overs, none of which ultimately work for him and it seems like he cannot escape what's "in front of him all along". Hard work doesn't solve his problems, nor does hedonism, breaking the rules, revenge, trying multiple relationships, trying solitude, dropping out of society, fitting in to society, etc. Nothing seems to solve our protagonist's problems at all.

  This is where it's easy to take the route of "it cannot be helped" and say that the protagonist's problems can all be solved if he goes with the flow and just bebops along like he is expected to and takes the obvious way forward, that is the only choice that will work. If the show focused more on what career or what club or major that the protagonist settled on, it'd be a cleaner message. There's something else at work though, as that really isn't the ultimate focus in this series.

  The anime begs several questions. What exactly is the protagonist's problem that he finds himself stuck in this loop no matter what action he seems to try? What is the common issue across all his attempts at life across all the episodes? Why does he continue to be miserable?

  Much like the movie Fight Club told us that most of this is really about a girl named Marla Singer, most of Tatami Galaxy really is about a girl named Akashi. Akashi is a conventionally pretty, yet very understated cool collected type. Our hero doesn't find satisfaction until ending up with Akashi, which sort of makes you wonder if he is kind of an asshole for spending almost two years doing all kinds of different things trying to find some perfect girl when he was already in love with Akashi. While this becomes clear later on, it comes to light that early in his interactions with Akashi, the protagonist became infatuated with her. So why was he continually trying to join new clubs and meet these raven haired beauties? Was he hoping for some kind of upgrade over the somewhat plain Akashi? Did he look at her and think, "man, she's so dull or average". What exactly was the issue if he realized it so early in the series of events that made him keep trying to find some other solution? Was Ozu really the demon, or was the protagonist?

  Our "hero's" problem seems to be that he has a vastly distorted and idealized view on life and that he cannot seem to see the people around him as complex individuals that have flaws of their own. Life isn't a fairy tail as much as we wish that it were, and it seems that the protagonist believed that somehow, if he can only do things in certain ways, he'll find that idealized version of life that he fantasizes about. People around us don't work like the tropes that we see in media. People are a great mix of good and bad, beauty and ugliness, cleanliness and untidiness. Yes, even your horrible (or wonderful) boss or girlfriend, or that politician you're obsessed with who will either fix or destroy everything, and everyone in between. Expecting people to be perfect, or worthy of pedestals just isn't realistic.

  Our hero interacts with a great many individuals and seems greatly disappointed in all of them in some way or other as they don't live up to these types of expectations. While seeking that "rose colored life" he seems dismayed and can't accept that there are shades of grey, blue, red, and all the other colors of the rainbow. Whether these are good or bad doesn't really matter, they are just a part of the world around him and the hero can't quite come to terms with this. Ultimately, this leads to his continuing lack of satisfaction with things and a wish for a do over in life that will surely get him to utopia. Eventually, he withdraws altogether for a couple episodes and finally has some introspection on things leading to the resolution.

  Most frustrating for me, the protagonist seems to be staging all of his hopes on his idealized goal of feminine perfection to make himself happy as we very rarely see him working academically or towards a career. I wonder what in universe media he has consumed to think this perfect world exists. It's blatantly obvious that the protagonist should end up with Akashi and everything foreshadows it so hard as to basically bludgeon the viewer with it. Why is the protagonist dodging the issue for two year stretches? One can't help but feel that even though he says he is head over heels for her, Akashi just doesn't measure up to his ideal in some way.

  Most of the message I got out of the story came out of the middle of the series. A major crux of the series are the three episodes where he is caught in a bizarre love situation with three different "women", or more importantly, his conceptualizations of these women in his life. One of them is actually inanimate, and oddly causes him issues because he can project his fantasy of this perfect girl onto her. Hilarity ensues as he pursues this girl in one time line. This is his constant pursuit of the love of perfection that just cannot be. One would think he would learn, but that's not the end of it.

  A second girl, named Hanuki (far less inanimate), that he is interacting with is in his English speaking club (joined of course to become popular with all kinds of people and women even though he has no great skill with English) is actually a mutual friend of his who is interesting in her own way and actually providing him with female friendship and to some extent companionship. He repeatedly says that there is nothing about her to complain about, in mind and body, and it seems as though he's pursuing a romantic relationship with her in his own bizarre way. Yet, she still does not meet his standard of perfect femininity and is ultimately rejected (although not before some rather interesting comedic symbolism after a drinking date). Whereas the inanimate doll was perhaps too perfect, it seemed as though Hanuki was almost "too real", and too passionate for our protagonist. Hanuki, while perhaps not at that specific moment, seemed a good match for our hero in some ways to counteract his personality, yet our hero retreats.

  A third candidate in a pen pal that the protagonist believes is the perfect beauty, set up as a prank by Ozu, rounds out a third possibility for our hero. The protagonist tries to woo her through increased exaggeration of his qualities in some sort of dream world fantasy version of himself to match his view of his pen pal's perfection. This is especially ironic when we figure out that it is Akashi who is writing to him, (whom the protagonist is supposedly head over heels for), first as going along with Ozu's prank, but implied that it is out of genuine interest. The right time for introspection could have been immediately when the protagonist figured out that he was trying to make himself "perfect" for Akashi, even though he was already in love with her, despite her falling short of his ideals of long raven haired sparkly beauty. The time to go to Neko Ramen with her was right then, and the story could have concluded, yet he wasn't quite ready for some reason. Poor Ozu was obviously shaking his head, and poor Akashi sits out for a few more episodes.

  Anyhow, long story short, I think that there's more to this than a simple, be happy with your lot in life mantra. I'd argue that a more nuanced message exists here of stop chasing perfection and don't make perfect the enemy of the good is a better take away from this story. As our protagonist discovered when he withdrew to the Tatami Galaxy, he missed living and interacting with people regardless of whether or not things went well for him. Chasing perfection is unwise, as it doesn't exist. Hanuki has her flaws, but she would have made a good companion and grounding influence. Ditto Akashi for other reasons, and that's ultimately where it went after a lot of adventure and (admittedly enjoyable to watch) silliness. It's a good idea to realize that what's right in front of you can be pretty darn good if you're willing to give it a chance.

  Time to wrap these thoughts up.

  I recommend that you watch Tatami Galaxy and see if it opens your mind up to a new way of looking at things. This is one of those shows that can make you take a time out and ponder your approach to things.

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• 

  LIQfilms

  100/100
  A work of shining creativity and passion, The Tatami Galaxy is easily my favourite anime series ever made!

  The idea of perfection is something that, I believe, not any piece of media has been able to attain, and that makes sense. Nothing is 'truly perfect' and every piece of media, no matter how great that product actually is, will still have flaws in one way or another and this philosophy also applies when I give tens to shows. When I do so, I don't reward an anime a ten because I believe it is perfect. I reward a ten to an anime that does the most good, or is a shining example of what the medium is capable of. The Tatami Galaxy is one such example of this. A show that perfectly conveys the power of the medium and all of the limitless possibilities it contains, this show, despite the medium's tropes and cliches, still remains an anime unbound by genre convention and is oozing with so much creativity, charm and great writing that it has become my personal favorite anime of all time! A such, I apologise in advance if I sound like I'm being a little too biased throughout this review, but I absolutely adore this show! Everything from the characters to the narrative is handled with such care that it's hard to for me to even articulate properly into words, but, alas, I will god damn try! This, ladies and gentlemen, is The Tatami Galaxy in a 4.5 tatami mat nutshell: (pssst, only those who have seen the show will get the reference!)

  The Tatami Galaxy has a rather unconventional narrative structure, which, at first, did put me off from even watching the show. The show stars a nameless protagonist, who attends college for the first time hoping, as he himself puts it, for a rose-coloured campus life. At the end of each episode, the clock goes back once again and essentially resets the whole episode, back to when the main character starts college once again. Each episode pretty much starts out in the same fashion but in every story, the main character joins a brand new club, meets new people and each episode is just a small segment in a much larger picture and narrative. In one episode, the show may begin one story thread which will be connected later on in another episode while, at the same time, systematically resolving older narrative threads established in previous episodes. Now, I'll admit, that it did take me time to accept this fact and structure, but thankfully each episode is vibrant enough and distinct enough to work by itself and the constant juxtaposition of endings and resolutions to each episode felt fresh, original and the entire show has a very addicting and fast paced nature about it. There is always this lingering sense of desire to know what happens next and to fully understand this crazy world we have been pushed into and this is part of the fun of The Tatami Galaxy.

  Much of the appeal of this anime is trying to figure everything out as we watch more and more of the show leading up to the most satisfying conclusion I have ever seen in which everything gets brought together in such a neat and tidy way while also making complete sense at the same time. This sense of satisfaction is only enhanced on my repeated viewings of the show. The more and more times I watch The Tatami Galaxy, the more I am able to pick up on small details and thus, I appreciate the ending even more than I did the first time around. Not only that, but the show's pace, as mentioned before, is crazy. If you've ever seen the Bakemonogatari franchise in which its characters speak about five hundred lines a minute, then you already have an idea about the pace at which the Tatami Galaxy goes. The characters speak so fast in this show and dish out so much comedy and wit that it can be hard at times to keep up, but I believe this is one of its strengths. The insane pace and nature of the show mirrors real life too, and, in particular, how fast your college life will zoom by. As someone who has only two weeks of college left myself, this theme in particular, and the way the show is structured, speaks volumes to me personally and is one of my favorite things about this show.

  Part of the anime's charm is in its wit, metaphorical line delivery and meaning. The entire script is loaded to the brim with clever jokes, play on words and the character interactions is by far the most entertaining aspect of this show. The internal monologues the main character has are both so funny and relatable to anybody wanting to fit in while attending school, that it's genuninly charming. The comedy is easily the strongest part of this show, and I believe it's a show that gets funnier the more you age and the more cynical you become. It invites you to laugh at the ridiculous situations everyone encounters in their day to day life and all of the clubs the main character joins each bring something new to the table and each have their own unique gags and jokes which never made the show feel as if it were repetitive. Complementing this story is a varied and likeable cast of characters, all of which are unique in terms of designs and personality. My personal favorite being Ozu, the main character's, sort of, friend out of circumstance who seems to be out just to make our protagonist's life a living nightmare. The fact that we never even learn the name of our protagonist just goes to show how well written this anime is since he is still so endearing and entertaining to watch on account of how relatable he is.

  Describing The Tatami Galaxy is a rather difficult thing to do considering how experimental everything is and how it combines so many different genres together into one blender; it's a show that's best to be experienced by the viewer on their own. It has elements of being a love story, but not really. At the same time, it is also a coming of age story but presented through surrealism and comedy. What's great about the show is how all of these elements and genre staples never feel forced or intrusive on any other areas of the show. The show combines them all together and presents them in such a colourfully, creative way that it comes across as so charming and lovable while allowing each respective element time to develop. For example, the love story, despite being fragmented due to the nature of the show, has a genuine sense of progression during its run while also never feeling too over bearing or soppy. Adding onto the wacky nature of the show, is one of the most unique and vibrant art styles in the medium. Everything pops out at you and the visuals are wonderful, conveying the emotions of the characters in interesting ways. My favorite being the scenes in which the main character speaks to his penis, who he calls 'Johnny'. 'Johnny' is presented as a cowboy on a horse and this makes for some very creative and very funny comedy, and the whole show is like this! The music is also superb, and I LOVE the ending and opening tracks! Two of my favorite pieces of music in the entire medium. The show has a very distinct art style which is oozing with style, creativity and colour, and much of it feels very much like a pop-art piece of art. The animation and art style is endless imaginative which brings this vibrant world to life; it feels very postmodern and experimental, but, in a good way.

  Now, as I said in the opening paragraph, nothing is truly perfect, and this also applies to The Tatami Galaxy. There were a few moments that I felt were kind of weak and some moments that were just straight out boring, in particular episode ten. In addition, watching the show can also be highly tiring due to the fast nature of the show, but these elements were few and far in between and everything I have praised makes up for it. The Tatami Galaxy is a strange show but one brimming with personality, fantastic dialogue and a great cast of characters. It fully shows us what the medium is capable of and is by far, one of the greatest anime out there. It also goes to show that an anime doesn't have to have a complicated narrative or be buried underneath deep and thought provoking themes. If anything, this series plays it rather safe with its themes and narrative thematics. It's a series that, while certainly not everyone will like, anyone can understand after their initial watch of the series. And that, is one of the reasons why I love this show so much. Madhouse proves once again why they're one of the best anime studios out there and I wish them all the luck on future projects in the future. I would highly recommend this show (if it weren't obvious at this point). As a final side note as well, the series has finally been licensed and as such I decided to go ahead and purchase the collector's edition, which has a shit ton of awesome posters, making-of books and title cards. If you're a big fan of the series yourself, I would highly recommend buying this too

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