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The Tatami Galaxy brings us into the mind of our protagonist, Watashi (Literal Translation: I / Me). Watashi seeks to experience a rose-colored college life. He never clearly states what this entails, though he seems to define it as one where he finds love with a raven-haired maiden. He tries, but he fails. In the closing frames of the episode, a clock rewinds - bringing us back to the start of his college experience.

Immediately, what stands out about The Tatami Galaxy is this interesting narrative structure. It's a time loop, where we follow Watashi's journey through different college experiences. He always works towards that same goal ... of a rose-colored life, but makes a different decision at the start of each loop, choosing to join a different club. However, despite his efforts, he still always ends up short, ending up in a situation where he claims that he has wasted his college life.

Through these loops, The Tatami Galaxy uses repetition to highlight several key threads. An unfulfilled promise with Akashi. A mochiguma hanging from the ceiling. As well as a constant reminder for Watashi to grab the opportunity in front of him. Even from the first few episodes, it's easy to guess how the show might conclude. To exit the loop, Watashi has to take the active step to grab the happiness that is dangling in front of him. But episode after episode, Watashi fails to do so - and so it repeats, again.

Whose Fault is it? It's all Ozu's fault, of course. Meeting Ozu in the first place was a mistake. Loop after loop, we are reminded that Ozu is his worst contact. Ozu is portrayed as a devil that drags him into silly schemes that ruin his life. His presence is why things don't work out.

What's really interesting though, is the realization that what we see and hear (or rather, read) on the screen is simply a portrayal and not reality. There's a reason why the protagonist doesn't have a name other than 'me' - it's a hint that this is a story told solely from his perspective. We are working with an unreliable narrator here, going into his mind to understand his perspective.

It's not just the dialogue or thoughts, but also the visuals. How Ozu is drawn throughout the series is a clear example. Let's compare how he is drawn throughout most of the series and how he looks in the end. It's a really interesting visual tool (that can only really work in animation - great use of the medium!) that the show uses to clue us in on both Watashi's mental state as well as his unreliable narration.

Ultimately, Ozu isn't really the cause of Watashi's problems, despite what Watashi tells himself and the audience. Usually, Watashi is already in some way not really fitting in even before he meets Ozu. An example of this is in episode 2, during the movie club loop. He didn't like Joguasaki's movies, didn't seem to fit in with the other club members, and wasn't exactly happy either. In fact, he seemed happier after Ozu came in, being the one that was willing to make a bunch of movies with him.

Why then, is Watashi never really satisfied?

Higuchi sums it all up in episode 9.

"You must accept the person that you are here, nowand that you cannot become anyone else but that person."

Ultimately, Higuchi sums it all up. It's a beautiful exchange that touches at the heart of the show. Near the end of yet another loop where things don't seem to work out, Watashi is upset. He expresses his frustration at not having achieved a rose-colored life, believing it to be a mistake of the past. He argues that there should be another version of his college life that would be rose-colored, free of dark clouds, one he would be satisfied by - only if he made another decision in his first year.

Of course, having gone through this many loops, we understand that this probably isn't true. The Tatami Galaxy, through Higuchi, uses this opportunity to deliver some of it's key messages. The show argues that Watashi is unhappy due to his own expectations and desire for a rose-colored life. A futile effort - there really isn't such a thing as a rose-colored life, after all.

"Everything is all a bunch of colors mixed up, you see."

Going towards our ending, Watashi gives up - locking himself in his 'beautiful' 4.5 tatami room.

Even as the show uses Higuchi as a mouthpiece to tell Watashi what's wrong, he doesn't really take it well. If there's no such thing as a rose-colored life, why try so hard? Why try so hard, when the outcome is going to be the same anyway? In our final loop, Watashi decides that he has had enough. He decides to become a shut-in, not participating in college life, locking himself up in his 4.5 tatami room.

Breaking away from repetition, the show uses the fortune teller to show us that we are beginning a very different loop. The colors are darker and her dialogue is grim. Still, there's some familiarity from the previous loops here. She once again urges him to grab the opportunity in front of him. Of course, Watashi, having not learnt anything just yet, firmly rejects that notion. She proceeds to laugh evilly...

And so our Watashi is locked into a never-ending maze of 4.5 tatami rooms. He's isolated. We watch his mental and physical state deteriorate as he struggles to adapt to what's going on, and he soon realizes that each room is a reflection of a possible alternate timeline that he could have lived. What I really appreciate about this sequence is how many callbacks it makes to all the previous episodes, and how much it has been foreshadowed throughout all the different loops - very nice directional touch.

As Watashi is given a chance to observe all the different possibilities he has been through, he finally has the opportunity to reflect. We view through his lens now as an impartial outside observer, and not an unreliable protagonist. It's a beautiful sequence of events.

Through the different rooms, he observes the different lives he could have possibly led. He realizes that each of them looked fun in their own way. That each room, despite not being rose-colored, had it's own color. He thinks about the different characters he could have encountered. He realizes more about the different sides of them that he sees throughout different loops. He realizes what Ozu really is to him - a true friend.

And that the only thing that stopped him from being happy all along was himself.

It's pretty much the exact same message that Higuchi has already spelt out to both Watashi and to us earlier, but it's so much more powerful experiencing it alongside Watashi. This sequence of events paints all the previous loops we have seen in a new light. They aren't failed attempts at a rose-colored life, but each and every one was a beautiful journey that was fun in it's own way. It's all a matter of perspective.

And so Watashi finally lets go of his delusion of a rose-colored life. He gets the courage to to accept himself for who he is, to grab onto the opportunity that has been dangling in front of him, to go for the girl that he has fallen for. He grabs the mochiguma, we see a beautiful shot that creates the impression of a moving train, and he breaks free of both the tatami maze and the time loop. He does what he needs to do, and we get our happy ending.

There isn't anything that's quite like The Tatami Galaxy. It's stylish with it's simple yet expressive art style. It's direction is bold with quirks such as its rapid-fire dialogue. It's packed full of foreshadowing and symbolism. It's brilliant in its use of distinctly different color palettes to depict different scenes. It has unconventional but great, layered characters. It's entertaining with a great sense of humor, with the highlight being Johnny, a crude yet hilarious representation of sexual desire.

All of this is tied together with a perfect final arc, where it brilliantly and clearly delivers its themes and message. It's a simple message, but it's what sticks with me the most, and what makes The Tatami Galaxy special to me.

Life isn't perfect and will never be. All of us can probably attest to that. But The Tatami Galaxy argues that that's okay. As long as we accept ourselves for who we are, as long as we make the effort to live our individual life to the fullest, as long as we keep a healthy perspective, that's fine. It's alright if things aren't perfect. It's not rose-colored, but the very journey and struggle of life itself is full of color.

To me, it's a very optimistic world view. It's a view that encourages us to do our best in life, but at the same time, to be happy with what we have. I first watched this show 7 years ago. Memories about that first watch are hazy at this point, but I recall really liking the show for its message. Today, having recently re-watched the show, I think its message resonates with me even more. A timely reminder that life doesn't need to be perfect for us to be happy. That there's no need to regret too much about the path not taken.

And that's The Tatami Galaxy - a beautifully crafted masterpiece which delivers an even more beautiful message.

Boku Dake ga Inai machi - The Town where only I am missing. It's an interesting title, and it's also the title of a sad little essay written by an abused young girl within the show, about how her town would be without her alone - and how she doesn't mind that at all.

Reading that, you might be wondering what exactly the show is about. Isn't this supposed to be a show wherein the protagonist jumps back in time in order to find a murderer and stop him? Well, it is, but what makes the show so special is that it chooses to focus much ... on it's time on human drama rather than the murder mystery. Instead of having the focus be on finding out who the murderer is, the protagonist uses his knowledge from the future in order to help the victims - removing their 'alone time' so that the murderer would not have a chance to act. It's an interesting choice, and one that ultimately benefits the show.

The path the show takes allows it to have a very strong first half - probably one of the most emotionally powerful and great experiences that I have experienced in the medium. It's easily the high of the show, following the protagonist as he works to befriend and bring joy into the life of a girl who faces painful physical abuse at home to the extent that she wishes that she herself could simply disappear. This portion is aided by very strong visuals and direction, as well as the contrast between the short and painful scenes of home abuse compared to the moments and glimmers of hope and joy that the protagonist brings into her life. It's an arc that is both uplifting and painful at the same time - and something that could have perhaps worked even better without the mystery backdrop that the rest of the show focuses on.

Unfortunately, the rest of the show simply isn't as strong as that first half. As a human drama, the show is brilliant. As a thriller, it works okay, having many strong scenes with plenty of tension, plenty of little directional quirks combined with a conflict that the audience is easily invested in, making the show highly entertaining at most points, though the direction does go a little overboard into silly territory at points. As a mystery, however, it pales in comparison. Due to the setup of the show, the focus eventually has to shift towards answering the big question - who did it? Unfortunately, the show never really takes the time to set up potential suspects - it does take the time to throw a little suspicion here and there at times, but the 'answer' is really obvious as time goes by since there is only one plausible suspect. It simply doesn't function all that well as a murder mystery, making the later half of the show seem that much weaker as a result.

Although it might seem from what I have written that the show has two distinct halves, it must still be noted that the show does a fairly good job of maintaining its core thematic threads throughout the show, most notably though the growth of our protagonist - showcasing the themes of the importance of hope and believing in other people, as well as that of having the courage to take that first step to get to know others on a more personal level. It does portray it's message well, managing to wrap up the show quite well thematically.

Ultimately, is the show worth watching? Definitely. Although some might find the end result a disappointing one due to the initial hype that the first few episodes brought, it is still a very strong show that simply peaked really early on. Despite that, the rest of the show is still fairly good if unremarkable, and the high points of the show were easily some of the strongest and most powerful episodes in the medium. It's still a great show overall, and one that I would easily recommend any day.

Despite a wonderful opening sequence and captivating premise, Colorful turns out to be a mediocre disappointment that doesn't manage to attain much depth despite its attempts to do so.

The film's main failure can be attributed to its lack of focus and scope, choosing to jump between several different characters that were related to the life of the protagonist. Whilst each of these characters and their inner conflicts had the potential to be very interesting upon exploration, the film never delves too deeply into any of them, choosing to take more of a touch and go approach, jumping from character to character, and developing none of ... them fully. It is due to this that it often feels as if there are jumps in characterization - most notably with relation to the crush of the protagonist, who is left forgotten by the film after a chilling and memorable scene, only to be brought back at the very end in what seems to be a very clumsy attempt to tie up loose ends. Much of the film feels that way - Despite it taking 2 hours, it doesn't really feel as if we really got to know the characters.

Beyond that, the film can sometimes come across as preachy - it oftentimes lacks any subtlety at all. The message of the film is simple, about how us humans are often multifaceted and multicolored, how each of us have many different sides, and how each one of us are often suffering under our own burdens under the facades we put up. We are not alone in this world - your depression and sadness is not something that only you feel - but rather something that everyone goes through, and that we must push on and live life to the fullest even through sad times. It's a beautiful message indeed, but I personally don't feel that it is delivered well. Most of it is literally spoken out by the characters to the audience, most notably in the closing scene of the movie. It's a weak way to deliver a message, and it probably would have worked much better if the film found a way to show it more rather than simply preaching it in our faces.

That said, the film does do some things well. For instance, the final twist, as predictable as it might be, works wonderfully for such a film, and would perhaps have been much more effective if the rest of the film had managed to develop a stronger emotional attachment to the protagonist. It's also beautifully animated and wonderfully drawn, making for a great visual experience at times.

Overall, Colorful is a film that is perhaps brought down by the weight of its ambition. It tries to tackle a range of important issues and explore how we humans tick, but it never really delves deep into the characters and at most times only lightly touches on them. Jumps in characterization and relationships are probably the most problematic point within the film, and it simply doesn't make good use of its runtime.

The main theme behind Tsuritama is a very simple one, and one which is very common in media - the power of friendship. Of course, as this isn't a silly battle shounen, it is much more than a simple excuse to randomly power up a character to beat the big bad evil, but rather, is a simple and heartwarming tale of how a mysterious alien boy manages to break the barriers of a few boys, helping them form bonds that would last a lifetime, helping them to grow beyond who they are.

Beyond its excellent slice of life portion, the show also features a very bizarre ... plot. I often call these things silly, but it is done with some remarkable charm that I can't help but love it. Ranging from Tapioca to the D.U.C.K organization, the show mixes its 'serious' side with some very hilarious scenes, resulting in a great experience. The actual plot is pretty well done as well, resulting in a satisfying ending that perfectly concludes the series.

As yet another excellent entry into the slice of life genre, Tsuritama mixes the supernatural with strong characterization to create a hilarious and heart-warming work that can surely resonate with most.