KONSHUU | Volume 58, Issue 3
THE NATURE OF THE LOOP RAHM JETHANI
Editor-In-Chief
2nd Year, English & Japanese
Aka I really just wanna talk about Episode 10…
SPOILERS FOR THE TATAMI GALAXY! The Tatami Galaxy’s storytelling method is, in essence, a gimmick. Where anime with route-based structures accomplish the multiple “what-if” scenarios through mini-arcs and sometimes-jarring continuity resets, Tatami’s central gimmick is the fact that its resets are actually diegetic to its story. This anime also successfully confronts the nature of the resetting world in a way that enhances its thematic message. An advantage to this method of storytelling, specifically for The Tatami Galaxy, is that although a viewer might piece together Tatami’s relatively simple puzzle pieces, each of the show’s alternative realities make nods to previous and future continuities in order to keep the audience’s interest. These miscellaneous references (and more importantly, miscellaneous questions) are then able to be paid off when the mystery of The Tatami Galaxy’s loop is revealed in the brilliant penultimate episode.
Nine of The Tatami Galaxy’s eleven episodes follow a very similar format. The main unnamed character, deemed Watashi, recaps his college experience, with each episode having him join a different social circle. In each circle, he experiences many high hopes, but ultimately finds himself caught in one increasingly disappointing situation after another. In each reality, Watashi is told by a fortune teller that he needs to seize the future that lies in front of him, but he ultimately isn’t able to do so. Then, at the pinnacle of his struggles, he wishes he could have just joined a different group. Time resets, and the episode ends. This format introduces us to many characters, ideas, and situations that show up in subsequent episodes, and the audience quickly gets used to this formula. How-
ever, as each alternate time loop continues to end in disaster, we get the idea that maybe Watashi is doomed to live a horrible life, no matter what social circle he joins. This then leads to Episode 10, where Watashi decides not to join any circle. The initial impression of Episode 10 is its striking visual presentation. Blending grayscale photos of real life environments with Tatami’s fluid animation creates a powerful sense of surrealism which boldly stands out to viewers. This art style is drastically different from the rest of the show, which prominently features exaggerated abstraction combined with pleasing color schemes. Even though each episode looks and feels different, the aesthetics of Episode 10 are made to be distinctly unnerving.
The title “The Tatami Galaxy” refers to a realization made by Watashi in this episode. He, for a time, is comfortable staying inside his perfect 4.5 tatami room as a hikikomori. But when he decides to look outside, he finds more and more tatami rooms, each looking extremely similar to the next. Unable to escape, Watashi is forced to stay in this “tatami galaxy” until he realizes how to leave. This process takes agonizingly long, but each step Watashi makes in the right direction reveals the nature of his prison, and therefore the workings of The Tatami Galaxy’s mysterious gimmick. One notable discovery Watashi makes is that each tatami room is a representation of an alternate path he could have taken in life (he even briefly interacts with his Episode 5 counterpart). The second important discovery Watashi makes is the way to return to regular life. Because Watashi now has the point of view of an observer, not unlike the audience, he sees all of his lives and all of their meanings. He realizes that whatever path he takes in life, the most important thing is to keep going until he reaches a more positive result. After this profound realization, Watashi is finally able to grasp the future that lies in front of him, and he destroys the metaphysical tatami galaxy. The Tatami Galaxy is a simple anime with a poignant life philosophy. And, although we cannot reset our lives or sensibly reflect on alternate ones like Watashi, we still have the power to seize our futures, dangling in front of us.
