The Tatami Galaxy

"Then I was a brand-spanking new freshman university student and countless doors to the mystical treasure that is known as that 'rose-colored campus life' lay open before me. I was half-swooned with glee. And the one I chose was...!"

Yojo-han Shinwa Taikei ("A Compendium of 4.5 Tatami Mythology") is a 2008 novel by Tomihiko Morimi, narrated by an unnamed third-year agriculture student at Kyoto University. After getting dumped by a crush his first year, he's become convinced the idealised, lovey-dovey campus life he expected to have will never come, and as a result, has wasted the last two years ruining the love lives of others at every opportunity with his partner in crime, Ozu. Despite this, the narrator has taken a liking to Akashi, a girl one year his junior.

One late night while eating ramen at a cart near his boarding house, our narrator meets a man claiming to be a god of matrimony. The god tells the protagonist that come the tenth lunar month, the gods will gather in Izumo and determine who will marry whom--and Akashi's hand is either going to him or Ozu. When a fortune teller further tells him he's at a crossroads--one path leading to a life of happiness, the other leading to one of the same frustration and monotony he's currently experiencing--the narrator realizes that he needs to get a move on.

The novel was adapted to anime for NoitaminA's spring 2010 season, directed by Masaaki Yuasa of Kaiba fame and produced by Madhouse. FUNimation has licensed it for a near-simultaneous, English-subtitled stateside release on the Funimation website, YouTube, and Hulu under the title The Tatami Galaxy. -

"Watashi: Out of the question! Visiting the home of your pen-pal is completely unacceptable! That's breaking the most fundamental rule! I absolutely will not!
 * Anachronic Order: Within the first episode.
 * Arc Welding: In episode 9.
 * Armor-Piercing Slap: Akashi can pull these off (and does so, several times).
 * Art Shift
 * Asian Kung-Fu Generation: Performs the opening song, "Maigo Inu to Ame no Beat" ("A Stray Dog and the Beat of the Rain"). The guy who does all their CD covers, Yusuke Nakamura, also did the character designs.
 * Beauty Mark: Akashi and Hanuki both have one.
 * Beehive Barrier: Akashi can erect one. Figuratively, of course.
 * Big Good: Higuchi, who.
 * Bonus Material: The Japanese DVD/BD releases include unaired shorts.
 * Bottle Fairy: Hanuki.
 * Breaking the Fourth Wall: Since the narrator doesn't seem to be aware of the time loop, his references to the fortune teller's prices increasing and their conversation getting shorter each time probably qualify as this.
 * Brick Joke: There are several--for example, the situations the narrator imagines before picking a club every episode eventually all come to pass; in another example, the proxy war first explained in episode 4 :appears in episode 2 as a student film of the narrator's.
 * Episode 7 has the narrator use a metaphor about wandering a maze of 4.5 tatami rooms, which is the literal subject of one of his other student films in episode 2.
 * In episodes 10 and 11, the narrator.
 * Bromantic Foil: Ozu.
 * Cannot Spit It Out: The narrator can't return Akashi's Mochiguma and he can't ask her out to Neko Ramen,.
 * Cargo Ship:
 * Character Development:
 * Cherry Blossoms
 * Church of Happyology:.
 * Cicadian Rhythm
 * Clock Tower: It shows that time is rewinding, causing the protagonist to live his college life again each episode.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: pretty much everyone has elements of this, but particularly Higuchi.
 * A Date with Rosie Palms: Implied in a couple of instances in the episodes dealing with the protagonist's romantic pursuits. His sexual desire is represented by a sort of phallic-looking cowboy named Johnny, and in some instances, Johnny is shown kept at bay in a hamster wheel with a girly mag and kleenex box close by.
 * Deranged Animation: It's a Yuasa anime, isn't it? It's positively tame compared to his other works, however.
 * Epiphanic Prison:
 * Expy: The narrator has a certain resemblance to one Mr. Despair.
 * Eye Beams: Akashi can also (figuratively) fire these.
 * Fan Nickname: "Watashi" for the protagonist, after a common pronoun he uses to describe himself.
 * Fortune Teller: Presumably appears in each episode, always giving the protagonist the same advice.
 * Gilligan Cut: In episode 8 features one.
 * Gilligan Cut: In episode 8 features one.
 * next shot cuts to him standing in front of his pen-pal's home*"

"Narrator: That's just a hobby! It's not like I'm trying to add some extra flavor to my campus life or something!"
 * Gonk: Ozu. The narrator even compares him to a Youkai several times. However, the opening and episode 7 hint toward this being more than it seems, and the finale makes it clear that.
 * Grey and Grey Morality: Absolutely every main character has done some good things and some questionable ones. It is all about perspective, and we discover that both the good and the bad stuff are who they are. In fact,
 * Groundhog Day Loop: Although it seems the narrator isn't totally aware of it and will be joining a different club every time. Besides, it's directed by Yuasa. There had to be something Mind Screwy about this show.
 * The narrator eventually becomes aware of the repeats in Episode 10 after
 * It becomes apparent that
 * Hey, It's That Voice!
 * Maaya Sakamoto: Akashi
 * Hiroyuki Yoshino: Ozu
 * Junichi Suwabe: Masaki Jogasaki
 * Keiji Fujiwara: Seitaro Higuchi i.e. the marriage god
 * Yuko Kaida: Ryoko Hanuki
 * Nobuyuki Hiyama: Cowboy Johnny!
 * Hikikomori: In episode 10, the Narrator has become so fed up with the Groundhog Day Loop (even if he's only subconsciously aware of it) that he decides to spend as much time as possible in his 4.5 tatami room.
 * Homoerotic Subtext: Ozu rubs up against the narrator when they're about to sabotage a romantic night for several couples with fireworks from across a riverbank. "But it's so cold..."
 * In episode 2, they kiss in a movie.
 * The so-called "black string of fate".
 * "It's my way of expressing my love!"
 * Humiliation Conga: In episode 2 the narrator and Ozu replace Jogasaki's Alexander the Great movie with a series of clips demonstrating that Jogasaki is not exactly perfect.
 * Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Every episode is named after the text on the flyer of the club the narrator is a member of in that episode.
 * Jigsaw Puzzle Plot: The narrator does different things each loop but because of this we learn more on the other characters who more or less do the same things each time. Things like and other things that happened in previous loops still happened if not mentioned.
 * Kick the Dog: Ozu is actually sort of likeable in episode 1 and even seems to be trying to set up the narrator with Akashi. As the series goes on Ozu gets progressively more morally ambiguous until he starts to seem like little more than a sinister criminal, until.
 * Kuudere: Akashi.
 * Loveable Sex Maniac: Jogasaki and, arguably,
 * Manipulative Editing: The Jogasaki "biopic" Ozu puts together.
 * Market-Based Title: As the original Japanese name translates to "A Compendium of 4.5 Tatami Mythology" or "The Four-and-a-half Tatami Mythological Chronicles", it's no wonder they marketed it in America as The Tatami Galaxy. The original title is a mouthful, the 4.5 part (which refers to the size of the narrator's room) would be lost on American viewers.
 * Meaningful Name: Ozu's name is pronounced the same way as a Japanese word for "fearful". Same with Akashi ("evidence" or "testimony") and Hanuki ("tooth extraction", appropriate for someone who works at a dental practice).
 * Medium Blending
 * Mind Screw: Copiously, but especially when the matchmaking god finally finishes reading "20000 leagues under the sea" and reaches Nirvana.
 * Motor Mouth: Everyone indulges in it a bit, but the narration in particular can get a bit ridiculous.
 * No Export for You: You live in America and want to see the 3 bonus episodes? Good luck.
 * No Name Given: The narrator is never named but is referred to as "I" or "Myself" in the credits and other materials. Ozu's and Akashi's given names are also never mentioned.
 * Not What It Looks Like: The narrator gets manipulated into looking like he's confiscating stealing the Birdman Team's plane. Of course, Akashi just happens to arrive and comes to the wrong conclusion...
 * Once an Episode: The narrator will deliver the page quote verbatim right after the opening plays, and later on he'll run into the fortune teller, who will have hiked her fee up another thousand yen. At the end of the episode, the university clock tower will appear and run backwards and blur into the series logo as the credits start.
 * The fortune teller bit is double-subverted in episode 8, where she initially only charges 6000 yen, but later on addends to the narrator's fortune and charges him another 2000.
 * Every time the narrator meets Ozu for the first time (sic. No, really!), Ozu delivers a speech explaining that they really are comrades.
 * Out-of-Clothes Experience:
 * Putting on the Reich: Jogasaki is compared to a charismatic dictator, and there are scenes that depict him in appropriate dress along with his club members in uniform and goose-stepping.
 * Save Scumming: You could call the whole concept this, but the trope fits episodes 6-8 especially well, where the narrator rewinds his life only by a few hours so he can try every path in a situation where three girls want him at once.
 * Red String of Fate Black String Of Fate: Ozu claims he and the narrator are linked by one. This is usually accompanied by a visual of the two tied up together in black cord and sinking into the Mariana trench.
 * In a more straight example of this trope, Akashi and the Narrator seem to be tied by the Red String of Fate. He simply cannot be happy without her, and Akashi's behavior seems to demonstrate that she likes him too.
 * The Reveal: In episode 9..
 * Scary Shiny Glasses: The narrator at times.
 * Shaggy Dog Story: Every episode so far.
 * Shoot the Shaggy Dog: The third episode.
 * Spoiler Opening: Although you may not realize it at first.
 * The Stoic: Akashi, but she has her moments.
 * Suspiciously Specific Denial: From episode 6:
 * Spoiler Opening: Although you may not realize it at first.
 * The Stoic: Akashi, but she has her moments.
 * Suspiciously Specific Denial: From episode 6:
 * Suspiciously Specific Denial: From episode 6:


 * Title Drop: While not formal, the last two episodes reveal why the American title has "Galaxy." In that
 * Trickster Archetype: Ozu all the way.
 * Depending on your point of view, he's also a Trickster Mentor... though what he has to teach isn't always good.
 * Unreadably Fast Subtitles: The natural consequence of the narrator's Motor Mouth.
 * Unreliable Narrator: Despite his protests, he really does seem to have some feelings for Akashi, even before his eventual (and too late) revelation. Also, even though Ozu has taken advantage of the Narrator many times, it doesn't seem to have occurred to the Narrator that Ozu has actually been looking out for him and has helped him on several occasions. Also,
 * Unusual Euphemism: The narrator's "Johnny," which is visually represented by a silly-looking cartoon cowboy.
 * Perhaps not so unusual when one compares "Johnny" with another kind of toy.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: The narrator and Ozu, the former supplying the vitriol. The narrator is also very quick to point out the reasons Ozu is a terrible guy in the narration.
 * Vomit Discretion Shot: Hanuki in episode 10.
 * Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Akashi is terrified of moths; a moth landing on her face and the aftermath demonstrate the only Moe chink in her poker face.
 * Wine Is Classy: In the romance-geared episodes, as the protagonist tries to present himself as suave and worldly, several scenes show him as better looking than in reality and lounging in a fashionable apartment (also not the reality) with a glass of wine in hand.
 * Youkai: Ozu is compared to one in episode 1 and even grows a kitsune tail several times in episode 2.
 * Youkai: Ozu is compared to one in episode 1 and even grows a kitsune tail several times in episode 2.