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What It Means to Live, and to Love:
A thread on why you should (probably) watch The Tatami Galaxy
(spoiler-free)
A thread on why you should (probably) watch The Tatami Galaxy
(spoiler-free)
Perhaps the greatest love story of all is learning how to love oneself, and this theme is the very centerpiece of The Tatami Galaxy's narrative. The story starts off with our nameless protagonist, brimming with ambition as he starts off college with the hopes of living the-
rose-colored campus life he's always dreamed of, yet failing ever so miserably by the end. This very premise repeats itself over and over for most of the entire show's course, with each cycle presenting a different outcome based what our protagonist decides to do on that cycle.
The show presents itself in an episodic manner, but although each of these cycles follow almost the same narrative structure, they're all unique to their own regard, and they each reveal a different side to the characters and a part of the world that the story is taking place in.
How all these episodes create connections with one another and slowly unveil the different plot threads that weave the narrative together is a spectacle. Coupled with its eccentric yet engaging visuals and its quite verbose yet rich dialogue, it's all presented strikingly unique.
Dialing back to the dialogue, one common turn-off that most people have for this show is the way characters, especially the protagonist, talks in such a hastened pace that is poses a bit of a difficulty watching it. I have to admit that it can be pretty overwhelming at first,
but after a couple of episodes you'll eventually get used to it. The way it's presented in such a fast tempo is to both deliver a consistently entertaining experience while also retaining the quality and level of detail of the source material's literary aspects.
It's also something that serves a subtle thematic purpose. The story is mostly presented through the lens of our main character, and his monologuing is a huge chunk of the overall material. It shows how his thought process and decision-making capabilities work, and the way-
it is exaggerated to such a degree is to show the sheer absurdity of overthinking things too much, and just how harmful it is when making choices. As someone who also suffers from this, it's one of the most relatable things that I connect to with this show, and it is probably-
the most creative yet accurate depiction of such a case I've seen in anime. And in a show that explores the consequences of the choices we make in life, this internal struggle that our protagonist is suffering from is only fitting.
Ultimately his indecisiveness is the reason as to why he fails in each cycle. Or at least, what he thinks IS the reason. If anything, each cycle is only but a hypothetical string of events that start off different yet somehow always leading to failure due to unmet expectations.
Setting expectations and goals are important, but too much of it can bare immense pressure, and failing to reach such high standards set for oneself will always lead to crushing disappointment. The ideal life our protagonist is always chasing is quite ironically the very
harbinger of his own despair. The gap between his perception of his current self and his delusion of a perfect world he so desperately strives to be a part of is blinding him of the things that truly matter in life. And in a constant loop of hope and hopelessness,
where dejection is seemingly almost inevitable, he finds a way out. While I won't spoil any details, how he eventually prevails over despair to love himself and see the life around him is one of the most astoundingly beautiful finales I've seen in this medium.
Life isn't purely the pursuit of one's dreams. Life also exists within the smallest moments we don't often pay much attention to. To simply live in such a world, despite its flaws and shortcomings, is an experience we should be more appreciative of. The most important time isn't
the past, nor the future, it is exactly NOW. And how we choose to live the present is what makes life worth living. To live on is to keep moving forward. The future might be scary, but we'll never truly know what lies ahead of us unless we take that leap of faith head on.
The Tatami Galaxy, while being able to tackle dark themes, ultimately speaks of optimism, hope, and self-acceptance, all packaged in a tightly knit narrative. Masaaki Yuasa's directorial hand being able to shape and mold the world Tomihiko Morimi envisions through this-
adaptation is nothing short of a remarkable feat. In the span of just merely 11 episodes, this show was able to create a wonderful world full of life and color, with down to earth themes, a bizarre yet lovable cast of characters, and an incredibly gratifying conclusion.
If you've read this far well congratulations! And thank you for taking the time! I can probably expound upon more of the points I've presented here but I wanted to make this as spoiler-free as possible. So thanks again, I'm not going to make this any longer now.
