The thought that there is something to get out of life that tomorrow will bring it to
you that in the course of time it will be alright and so you go round and round and
round ever chasing the illusion that there is something outside you’re here and now
that will make things better because you are forever the donkey with a carrot suspended
from his own halter.
That was philosopher Alan Watts and throughout this video I’m going to keep coming back
to this lecture because although completely unrelated it does a much better job than I
ever could at putting into words what makes the philosophy behind Masaaki Yuasa’s the
Tatami Galaxy and why I find it to be so special.
The Tatami Galaxy is a 2010 anime by studio Madhouse based on a novel of the same name,
and although it shares it’s protagonist with the film Night Is Short, Walk on Girl
it isn’t a direct continuation of the story which follows Watashi on his quest for the
rose colored campus life or in other words the illusion that there is something outside
his here and now that will make things better.
After a less than ideal high-school experience Watashi is ready to take college life by storm,
join a circle, make 100 friends, and win the heart of the raven-haired maiden.
But Watashi’s still as of yet rose-colored self was cut to the quick by that which is
called reality.
He only managed to make one friend an ominous man with a face of ill portent named Ozu.
Realizing his failure to socialize with his fellow club members Watashi seeks the counsel
of an overpriced fortune teller to set him on the path to the rose colored campus life
but according to her the opportunity is dangling right in front of his eyes.
Somehow through all Watashi’s shortcomings he has managed to catch the eye of 1 moth
fearing underclassmen by the name of Akashi But Watashi is far too caught up in his quest
to pay her any mind.
Rather than reflect on his own shortcomings he places all the blame on single decisions
that led him to this point.
He thinks to himself if he had only chosen another circle surely, he would have had quite
a different 2 years.
And so, time rewinds right back to the moment allowing him to choose a to join another circle.
Each episode plays out in a similar fashion with the same characters and relationships
just in different scenarios.
After 4 or 5 episodes of this it is abundantly clear that Watashi’s problem does not lie
in the decisions he makes but rather the attitude through which he experiences them.
You must shoot before you think otherwise it will be too late you do not aim and then
shoot it’s all one action you have to act and decide simultaneously.
One of Watashi’s main issues and something I can relate to strongly is his constant need
to overthink every action he takes.
There is an arc in the anime that spends 3 entire episodes focused on 1 single decision.
In one of the timelines he finds himself choosing between 3 potential lovers, Hanuki a mutual
friend who may or may not be dating a man with an abnormally large chin, Keiko a pen
pal to whom he’s built up an ideal fictionalized version of himself to and Kaori a Rabudōru
(ラブドール) he’s been tasked with guarding by a strange acquaintance named Jougasaki
and no you’re not confused, Kaori is a used inanimate doll, but given the circumstances
is a very valid option in Watashi’s eyes.
Hanuki has a rule that she only drinks with people she feels close to, so when she invites
Watashi out for the evening he knows she must like spending time with him, no instead he
assumes she is having trouble with big-chin and just needs some emotional support so he
turns her down to go home to Kaori.
Regretting his decision, he runs out into the night without giving it a second thought.
And thanks to this one moment of spontaneity Hanuki and him have an amazing night wondering
from bar to bar down the streets of Kyoto ultimately ending up at Hanuki’s apartment
where in her drunken state she makes some less than subtle advances on Watashi.
And just has he is about to live out his rose-colored campus life with the raven-haired maiden of
his dreams he breaks down and hides in the washroom.
He becomes more and more frustrated and he finds that it is impossible to do the right
thing because the right thing is always done for the wrong reason.
When the wrong man uses the right means the right means work in the wrong way.
Watashi justifies his actions to himself as it being wrong to take advantage of someone
in such a state, he is simply doing the right thing.
But deep down it is not Hanuki he is worried about; his real motivation is his inability
to believe a woman like Hanuki would ever be interested in someone like him.
And so, although ultimately making the correct decision, it was for the wrong reason and
therefor does not bring him any peace.
And as Watashi leaves the washroom he is greeted by the one man he wanted to see the least.
Man is in a certain sense redeemed by being something of a rascal because of he weren’t
we would be like a stew with no salt in it salt somehow is something that in a large
quantity is horrible but in a certain small quantity is delightful so everybody has to
be salted with a certain amount of unrespectability otherwise they’re impossible and intolerable.
What makes the Tatami Galaxy stand out to me is just how much depth all the side characters
have despite their limited screen time.
The side characters all exist solely through Watashi’s eyes, and therefore we only see
them as Watashi does without getting any insight into what they are like outside their interactions
with Watashi.
The character arcs begin in two ways, the first being those who Watashi places on a
pedestal like Akashi, and Hanuki who by the end of the story need to have their flaws
exposed to bring them back down to earth while the second is the inverse such as Higuchi,
Jougasaki, and one of my favorite written antagonists of all time Ozu all of whom we
are shown an incredibly biased image of as Watashi fails see past their flaws.
Throughout the series Ozu is constantly referred to as an alien, fish, snake and since we are
experiencing the story through Watashi’s eyes he is often drawn to match.
All we ever see of Ozu is him seemingly getting in Watashi’s way, egging Watashi on to make
wrong choices, and pulling annoying pranks on him.
He is a devoted student to his Master big chin Higuchi but at times a double agent who
is actually working for Jougasaki, an all-around untrustworthy snake.
But it isn’t until the end when we are shown the events of the series from a new perspective
that we figure out Ozu is actually just Watashi’s best friend and has gone above and beyond
to try and help Watashi see the error in his ways.
Everything he has done right from the begging has been in the interest of their friendship.
And despite Watashi constantly waxing depressed about his unfortunate circumstances he never
really inquiries into what Ozu’s life is like.
Which is we do not learn that he is in a committed relationship with the most popular girl in
school until it is almost too late.
Despite the skeezy box Watashi places Ozu into it is clear that all he is doing is having
fun, encouraging Watashi, and doing everything in his power to make his raven haired maiden
happy.
This might just be me but the more Watashi comes to understand Ozu’s true nature the
more human he is drawn.
We are always trying to get away from ourselves as we are now in one fashion or another and
we will only stop doing that through a series of experiments in which we try resolutely
to get away from ourselves as we are.
Each episode of this anime can be seen as a different experiment in which Watashi attempts
to escape from the inescapable, no matter what road he goes down, what choices he makes
he always ends up alone in his 4.5 tatami room which compared to a 1, 2, or 3 tatami
room is a truly beautiful square.
But his solitude is not because he is an un-likeable shut-in, or an introvert who prefers to be
alone, no he just plays into his own meta-perceptions.
His low self-esteem causes him to assume that people to look down on him and therefor he
plays into that role he’s assigned himself and doesn’t even notice the group of friends
he’s made along the way that all love and care for him.
The final arc of the show blends live action photography seamlessly with Masaaki Yuasa’s
art style and ties together every single timeline we have seen so far.
From this point on I’m going to go deep into spoiler territory, I’ve already gone
over character arcs and relationship beats but if you don’t want the rest of the actual
plot spoiled you can use the chapter markers on the timeline below to skip to safety.
In the penultimate episode Watashi wakes up to find himself lost in an endless labyrinth
of 4.5 tatami rooms.
Every time he opens the door, climbs out the window, or even breaks down a wall, he just
finds himself right back where he started.
After exploring a countless number of rooms, he starts noticing small changes and it soon
becomes clear that each 4.5 tatami room is another possible timeline of Watashi’s college
life.
Often ones we have seen in previous episodes but also countless new ones.
The only constant is the Mochiguman toy hanging from his pull chain, representing his failure
to seize the opportunity that has been right in front of his eyes all along.
It is not until Watashi seizes the opportunity and decides to enjoy his life for what it
is that he is able to escape from the 4.5 tatami galaxy and begin living his rose-colored
campus life.
Devotion of one’s whole being to a quest and as he goes on you see Because whatever
you gain in that direction you lose at the same time as we solve all our problems we
make more problems every problem you solve makes 10 new problems and it’s only in the
moment you see where you understand that your situation as a human being is completely insoluble
that there is no answer that you give up looking for the answer that’s nirvana.
Thank you so much for watching I know this video was a little different from my usual
content, but this series left a deep impression on me and I wanted to share my thoughts with
all of you.
I’d love to hear about other anime that have made an impact on you in the comments,
and if you enjoyed this video I make all sorts of anime content here every week from travel
tips to my own drunken adventures wandering down the streets of Japan.