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The Tatami Galaxy
The Tatami Galaxy (Japanese: 四畳半神話大系, Hepburn: Yojōhan Shinwa Taikei; lit. "4½ Tatami Mythological Chronicles") is a 2004 Japanese varsity novel written by Tomihiko Morimi and published by Ohta Publishing. Its first-person narrator is an unnamed upperclassman at Kyoto University reminiscing on the misadventures of his previous years of campus life, with each of the four chapters taking place in parallel universes in which he is enrolled in a different student society.
A sequel, The Tatami Time Machine Blues (四畳半タイムマシンブルース, Yojōhan Taimu Mashin Burūsu), was published in 2020, which combines the characters of The Tatami Galaxy with the plot of Makoto Ueda's play and film Summer Time Machine Blues. English translations of both novels were published by HarperCollins in December 2022 and November 2023, respectively.
The Tatami Galaxy was adapted into an 11-episode anime television series produced by Madhouse and directed by Masaaki Yuasa, which aired on Fuji TV's late-night Noitamina programming block in 2010. The adaptation was critically acclaimed, winning the 2010 Japan Media Arts Festival Grand Prize in the Animation Division and the 2011 Tokyo Anime Award in the Television Category. An original net animation adaptation of The Tatami Time Machine Blues produced by Science Saru premiered in September 2022 on Hulu in the United States and Disney+ internationally.
The Tatami Galaxy follows an unnamed third-year student at Kyoto University, using parallel universes as a plot device to explore how his life would have differed had he joined a particular student society (called a "circle" in Japan). The original novel follows four different timelines. The first has him joining the Film Ablutions Club where he works under the tyrannical rule of upperclassman Jōgasaki, the second timeline has him answer a "Disciples Wanted" notice where he is joined by fellow classman Ozu and Akashi to perform tasks for the eccentric Seitarō Higuchi, the third timeline has him joining the Mellow Softball Club, a cult-like group that he ultimately leaves, before he is thrown into a conflict involving Ozu and Jōgasaki's pristine love doll Kaori, and the fourth timeline has him join the underground Lucky Cat Chinese Food group, which he ultimately leaves due to their cruel methods.
In each timeline, the protagonist constantly runs into the devious Ozu who, despite his malicious and diabolical mind, considers him his closest friend. He also meets Akashi, a girl who is a year younger than him whom he slowly develops a close romantic kinship with, thanks to a mochiguman keychain she lost. Other characters he frequently meets, in differing situations thanks to the parallel universe theme, are the eccentric master Seitarō Higuchi, the jock-like film club leader Masaki Jōgasaki, and the lively alcoholic dental hygienist Ryōko Hanuki. Within each further timeline, the protagonist is convinced that life would be much different if he had chosen another club, mainly to avoid people like Ozu, only for this to be disproven with each timeline. His closeness to Akashi also changes from that of mutual respect, to that of genuine love.
He encounters a fortune teller who tells him that he is to pursue some kind of chance that he must take, adding that even if he was to pass it up, it will still come to him at some point. The prediction is "Colosseo", with the protagonist finding something in each timeline that seems to have a loose connection to it. This culminates in the last timeline: the protagonist decides that he no longer wants to attend any meetings or meet anyone, and finds himself in an endless universe of four-and-a-half mat tatami rooms (the titular Tatami Galaxy). He traverses the endless Tatami Galaxy for eighty days (from his perspective), during which he discovers that each tatami room is actually an alternate timeline. Coming to the conclusion that he misses his friends and that no matter what he did, he was never going to achieve a "rose-colored campus life", he finally escapes the Tatami Galaxy.
Each timeline ends with the protagonist, and a few of the associated characters, chasing Ozu onto a bridge above the Kamo River Delta, following him pulling one too many devious actions. A swarm of moths fly in (during which the final timeline reveals had come from the Tatami Galaxy) and coats the entire area. It always ends with Akashi running in terror from the moths (her biggest phobia) and Ozu falling into the Delta and breaking his leg. The protagonist comforts and later asks Akashi out (telling the reader that he doesn't want to "bore" them about his new relationship with her), and meets with Ozu in the hospital where he makes amends with him. The first three chapters end with a malicious Ozu telling the protagonist that he likes to show his "love" to him with his weird habits, while the final chapter has the newly appreciative protagonist turn the tables on Ozu's "affection".
The Tatami Galaxy was first published in Japanese in December 2004 as a tankōbon by Ohta Publishing; it was republished in March 2008 as a bunkoban by Kadokawa Shoten. The novel was published in Korean by Viche in August 2008, in traditional Chinese by China Times Publishing in December 2009, and in simplified Chinese by Shanghai People's Publishing House in August 2010.
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The Tatami Galaxy
The Tatami Galaxy (Japanese: 四畳半神話大系, Hepburn: Yojōhan Shinwa Taikei; lit. "4½ Tatami Mythological Chronicles") is a 2004 Japanese varsity novel written by Tomihiko Morimi and published by Ohta Publishing. Its first-person narrator is an unnamed upperclassman at Kyoto University reminiscing on the misadventures of his previous years of campus life, with each of the four chapters taking place in parallel universes in which he is enrolled in a different student society.
A sequel, The Tatami Time Machine Blues (四畳半タイムマシンブルース, Yojōhan Taimu Mashin Burūsu), was published in 2020, which combines the characters of The Tatami Galaxy with the plot of Makoto Ueda's play and film Summer Time Machine Blues. English translations of both novels were published by HarperCollins in December 2022 and November 2023, respectively.
The Tatami Galaxy was adapted into an 11-episode anime television series produced by Madhouse and directed by Masaaki Yuasa, which aired on Fuji TV's late-night Noitamina programming block in 2010. The adaptation was critically acclaimed, winning the 2010 Japan Media Arts Festival Grand Prize in the Animation Division and the 2011 Tokyo Anime Award in the Television Category. An original net animation adaptation of The Tatami Time Machine Blues produced by Science Saru premiered in September 2022 on Hulu in the United States and Disney+ internationally.
The Tatami Galaxy follows an unnamed third-year student at Kyoto University, using parallel universes as a plot device to explore how his life would have differed had he joined a particular student society (called a "circle" in Japan). The original novel follows four different timelines. The first has him joining the Film Ablutions Club where he works under the tyrannical rule of upperclassman Jōgasaki, the second timeline has him answer a "Disciples Wanted" notice where he is joined by fellow classman Ozu and Akashi to perform tasks for the eccentric Seitarō Higuchi, the third timeline has him joining the Mellow Softball Club, a cult-like group that he ultimately leaves, before he is thrown into a conflict involving Ozu and Jōgasaki's pristine love doll Kaori, and the fourth timeline has him join the underground Lucky Cat Chinese Food group, which he ultimately leaves due to their cruel methods.
In each timeline, the protagonist constantly runs into the devious Ozu who, despite his malicious and diabolical mind, considers him his closest friend. He also meets Akashi, a girl who is a year younger than him whom he slowly develops a close romantic kinship with, thanks to a mochiguman keychain she lost. Other characters he frequently meets, in differing situations thanks to the parallel universe theme, are the eccentric master Seitarō Higuchi, the jock-like film club leader Masaki Jōgasaki, and the lively alcoholic dental hygienist Ryōko Hanuki. Within each further timeline, the protagonist is convinced that life would be much different if he had chosen another club, mainly to avoid people like Ozu, only for this to be disproven with each timeline. His closeness to Akashi also changes from that of mutual respect, to that of genuine love.
He encounters a fortune teller who tells him that he is to pursue some kind of chance that he must take, adding that even if he was to pass it up, it will still come to him at some point. The prediction is "Colosseo", with the protagonist finding something in each timeline that seems to have a loose connection to it. This culminates in the last timeline: the protagonist decides that he no longer wants to attend any meetings or meet anyone, and finds himself in an endless universe of four-and-a-half mat tatami rooms (the titular Tatami Galaxy). He traverses the endless Tatami Galaxy for eighty days (from his perspective), during which he discovers that each tatami room is actually an alternate timeline. Coming to the conclusion that he misses his friends and that no matter what he did, he was never going to achieve a "rose-colored campus life", he finally escapes the Tatami Galaxy.
Each timeline ends with the protagonist, and a few of the associated characters, chasing Ozu onto a bridge above the Kamo River Delta, following him pulling one too many devious actions. A swarm of moths fly in (during which the final timeline reveals had come from the Tatami Galaxy) and coats the entire area. It always ends with Akashi running in terror from the moths (her biggest phobia) and Ozu falling into the Delta and breaking his leg. The protagonist comforts and later asks Akashi out (telling the reader that he doesn't want to "bore" them about his new relationship with her), and meets with Ozu in the hospital where he makes amends with him. The first three chapters end with a malicious Ozu telling the protagonist that he likes to show his "love" to him with his weird habits, while the final chapter has the newly appreciative protagonist turn the tables on Ozu's "affection".
The Tatami Galaxy was first published in Japanese in December 2004 as a tankōbon by Ohta Publishing; it was republished in March 2008 as a bunkoban by Kadokawa Shoten. The novel was published in Korean by Viche in August 2008, in traditional Chinese by China Times Publishing in December 2009, and in simplified Chinese by Shanghai People's Publishing House in August 2010.