Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei (otherwise known as Tatami Galaxy) might be the most peculiar anime series that I have ever seen. Its protagonist and narrator is an unnamed college students whose search for a “Rose-Colored Campus Life” and obsession with raven-haired maidens lead him to many failures, only to go back in time to try all over again. This basic premise is interesting enough, but it failed to really enthrall me. While Tatami Galaxy is far from compelling, it doesn’t really try to be. What it does try to be is different, and it is in that aspect that it really succeeds.
I want to start by saying that the way Tatami Galaxy uses its animation style is something that I have never seen before. The series has a perfect combination of manipulated real-life scenery and whacky cartoon animation which gives it a tremendously abstract feel. This approach to visual style was a bold move by Gonzo, and one that could easily have gone awry. Striking this perfect balance made the series what it is. If it had been unsuccessful, Tatami Galaxy would have been totally ruined for me. The character designs, which lend themselves well to the visual style, are easily stretched and distorted to match the fluctuating animation. Every character can fit perfectly into the situations which they are put, and their reactions are never boring or repetitive.
My biggest problem with Tatami Galaxy isn’t necessarily even a problem. I don’t really dislike anything about the series, but the pacing and storytelling failed to really pull me in. I never felt a strong emotional attachment to any of the characters, and the first half of the series got really repetitive after a while. A lot of the things that felt annoying early on in the series did end up serving a purpose later on, but the pacing never really made me feel like the series was building up to anything. However, I didn’t get the feeling that the writers wanted me to be engrossed in the story. There were no half-assed attempts to be deep, nor were there any signs that they didn’t know they were being repetitive. What I did sense from the creators of Tatami Galaxy was a desire to do something that had never really been tried in the medium of anime before, and it is here where they really shined.
Unlike most series I don’t really like, Tatami Galaxy didn’t feel disengenuine. No attempt was made to trick the viewer into thinking it was deep, nor did they resort to cheap tricks to make it seem that way. While I may not have thoroughly enjoyed myself with the series, I did experience some things that I never have before and doubt I ever will again. Tatami Galaxy is a nice little art project of a series that proves there is still potential for new ideas in anime, even this far into the medium’s existence.
Best Episode: Episode 6
Overall Score: 3/5
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