Jul 23, 2020
~SPOILERS~
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The Tatami Galaxy is an idiosyncratic fish in a sea of slice-of-life shows. This, however, doesn't mean it's a masterpiece. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was a decent show. It features a fast-paced stream-of-consciousness-style narrative with quick and witty dialogue. Whether you like it or not is ultimately up to you. Nobody else can decide for you. That said, I believe the show was relatively boring, but you can be the judge of that. I'm only here to provide a fair review.
The premise of this anime is as follows. A university student called Watashi finds himself repeating his past 2 years at school over and over again, trying out different approaches to his campus life each time. His ultimate goal is the rose-colored campus life, complete with fun social clubs and a fulfilling romance. The story revolves around Watashi's repeated attempts to find the perfect campus life by joining different university clubs, each episode focusing on a different social club.
The art-style, while unique, doesn't really turn any heads. In my opinion it was rather bland and, at times, felt poorly done. The character design didn't stand out and the animation wasn't the best. The visuals weren't terrible, but they didn't strike me as particularly good either. I found it to be quite uninteresting, but I do have to give credit to their surrealistic style. That one aspect stood out to me, and makes things fun to watch, in spite of the show's boring colour palette.
The sound was...okay I guess. The show's music wasn't bad by any means, but isn't spectacular either. Like the artstyle, it suffers from a case of mediocrity.
The characters are one of this show's main strengths. Everyone in the main cast was nuanced and fleshed out. More importantly, they all receive rounded out arcs that adhered to the underlying philosophies of the anime. The show's well written characters are its main talking point, and I highly recommend you watch this show for that sole reason.
Now here's the question that we all want answered: is The Tatami Galaxy enjoyable to watch? Personally I found it rather boring. The premise was interesting at first, but once I got through the first half of the show, I found myself completely and utterly bored. It got a little better by episode 11, but I still didn't enjoy it as much I could've. To be honest I would've rated this show higher had I found it more entertaining, but that unfortunately isn't the case. As for whether you'd like it, I can't give you the answer to that. You'll just have to decide for yourself once you watch the show.
Overall, I give this show a 6.5. At the end of the day, it qualifies as a "good show," but given that the sound and art were mediocre and the plot wasn't particularly entertaining, I'm inclined to not rate it as high. It's still worth a watch. It might not be your cup of tea (like in my case), but I still recommend you check it out for yourself.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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