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The Tatami Galaxy

 The Tatami Galaxy
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 The Tatami Galaxy
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The Tatami Galaxy
 The Tatami Galaxy
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TheTatamiGalaxy
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The Tatami Galaxy (Yojo-han Shinwa Taikei, literally "A Compendium of 4.5 Tatami Mythology") is a 2004 novel by Tomihiko Morimi, narrated by an unnamed third-year agriculture student at Kyoto University. After getting dumped by a crush in his first year, he's become convinced the idealised, lovey-dovey campus life he expected will never become reality, 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 more frustrating monotony—the narrator realizes that he needs to get a move on and truly experience all that his college years have to offer.The novel was adapted to anime for Noitamin A's spring 2010 season, directed by Masaaki Yuasa of Kaiba fame, written by Yuasa and Makoto Ueda and produced by Madhouse. Funimation licensed it for a streaming-only, English-subtitled stateside release on the Funimation website, YouTube, and Hulu under the Market-Based Title The Tatami Galaxy.The series has a Spiritual Successor in the 2017 anime film, The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl, an adaptation of another Morimi novel produced by the same creative team featuring the same setting and sharing a few minor characters.In 2020, the original book received a sequel based on the Makoto Ueda stage play and film Summer Time Machine Blues. Titled The Tatami Time Machine Blues (Yojohan Time Machine Blues), this book follows Ozu and the Protagonist going back in time to prevent their dorm's air conditioner remote from being broken. In 2021, this book was announced to have a six episode anime adaptation—alongside an official English translation of both novels. This anime was released in Japan on Disney Plus and as a theatrical compilation film in fall 2022. The English translation for The Tatami Galaxy was released in December 2022 and for The Tatami Time Machine Blues in November 2023.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_1288367c
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Hero Stage Show
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Hero Stage Show: In the episode "Hero Show Association Circle", the main character works in The Moguchiman Show as a particularly pacifistic hero, White Moguchiman, in one timeline. The plot of the show is that the villain would hit White Mochiguman once, get deflected, and immediately surrenders and vows to change his ways. The character he plays is present in all timelines as a toy.
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Unreadably Fast Text
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Unreadably Fast Subtitles: The natural consequence of the narrator's Motor Mouth.
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Does This Remind You of Anything?
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Does This Remind You of Anything?: The tower in episode 6. Especially when it's aligned suspiciously with Jogasaki.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_1869b4b1
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Unreliable Narrator
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Unreliable Narrator: The protagonist is this to such an extent that even he doesn't realize how unreliable his view of the world is - the final two episodes force him to confront this aspect of himself by taking him through the different timelines from the outside looking in, causing him to realize just how wrong he'd been about the people in his life. Particular examples include: Although Ozu has certainly taken advantage of the Narrator many times, it never occurred to the Narrator that Ozu had been looking out for him in every timeline, helped him on several occasions, and sincerely cares for and loves him. Hanuki even point blank tells him this at one point, as a symbolic version of Ozu stands behind the protagonist, adjusting his chair for him, blushing in embarrassment when Hanuki mentions Ozu's concern for the protagonist, and even fixing the protag's glasses when they go crooked. When he's cycling between his three love interests, he deliberately leaves out his REAL love interest, Akashi, because he is too scared to admit his feelings to himself. Also, Ozu's Gonk is only due to this trope - the real Ozu is just a normal looking guy. The fortune teller's Gonk is similarly related to the protagonist's interpretation of her as being a "witch" of sorts - she is later seen with a normal nose and no longer radiating that "powerful aura."
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Title Drop
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Title Drop: While not formal, the last two episodes reveal why the American title has "Galaxy." In that the narrator travels (literally) through each alternate version of his room (which is sized at 4.5 tatami).
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Breaking the Fourth Wall
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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.
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Scary Shiny Glasses
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Scary Shiny Glasses: The narrator at times.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_22d2b473
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Share Phrase
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_22d2b473
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Share Phrase: Usually, after the narrator's encounter with the fortune teller, someone will run into him jovially asking "a lost little lamb, are we?". Respectively, the people saying this are Ozu (Misogi), Akashi (Proxy War), and Hanuki (Honwaka). Because the narrator doesn't bond with anyone in the final timeline, no one comes for him and says the phrase then.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_23473ae7
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Adaptation Expansion
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_23473ae7
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Adaptation Expansion: The original novel has four major paths the protagonist took (Misogi Film, Honwaka Baseball, being Higuchi's apprentice, and the Lucky Cat Restaurant secret society), plus a handful of other clubs that were mentioned offhandedly. The anime adaptation expands on this and gives the protagonist ten different outcomes, some of which include the throwaway clubs, and splits the final timeline where he locks himself in his room up.
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Literary Allusion Title
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_27690f66
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Literary Allusion Title: The novel's final chapter, "Around the 4.5 Tatami Room in 80 Days", is one to Around the World in 80 Days.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_292d1ccd
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Everyone Went to School Together
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Everyone Went to School Together: It's revealed sometime later that Jogasaki, Higuchi, Hanuki, and the Neko Ramen vendor all went to Kyoto University at the same time, which is how they all already know each other.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_34dcfc96
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Kick the Dog
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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 in the last episodes the narrator discovers the reasons behind Ozu's actions and re-examines his relationship with him and realizes that he is his only friend.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_37499c8
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OnceAnEpisode
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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. Although later the standard clock tower ending is missing from episodes 9 to 11. Every time the narrator meets Ozu for the first time (sic; no, really!), Ozu delivers a speech explaining that they really are comrades. This is reversed in the last episode.
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Character Development
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_3b113b7
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Character Development: By the finale, Ozu and the narrator have basically switched places, but definitely not in a bad way.
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Out-of-Clothes Experience
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Out-of-Clothes Experience: Subverted in the finale; the narrator symbolically goes through several outfits matching other lives as he dashes to save Ozu, which makes the fact that he ends up nude at the end of it seem like a mental thing, but nope, he actually is nude in public.
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Macabre Moth Motif
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_3ce914fb
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Macabre Moth Motif: Moths shows up in a massive storm in the final episode when the protagonist escapes the endless tatami rooms and serve as a means of symbolic rebirth for him when they strip away all his clothes and facial hair.
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Fortune Teller
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_3ce9c9fa
comment
Fortune Teller: Appears in each story, always giving the protagonist the same advice. And at least in the anime, increasing her fee by 1000 yen each time.
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Surprisingly Realistic Outcome
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comment
Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: In the Softball Circle episode, the protagonist puts his all into being able to purchase enough Royal Jelly as health supplements to raise in the rankings of the Honwaka circle. He ironically muses that he would be just as healthy if he had done nothing but sleep for the past two years, as he is overworked to have enough money to buy the Royal Jelly to begin with and has to consume massive quantities of it to justify the purchase, even as he recognizes that his body probably can't absorb nutrients past a certain point.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_40c57041
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Manipulative Bastard
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_40c57041
comment
Although Ozu has certainly taken advantage of the Narrator many times, it never occurred to the Narrator that Ozu had been looking out for him in every timeline, helped him on several occasions, and sincerely cares for and loves him. Hanuki even point blank tells him this at one point, as a symbolic version of Ozu stands behind the protagonist, adjusting his chair for him, blushing in embarrassment when Hanuki mentions Ozu's concern for the protagonist, and even fixing the protag's glasses when they go crooked.
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GreyAndGreyMorality
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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, that is kind of the point.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_47bf7e16
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Local Hangout
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_47bf7e16
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Local Hangout: Neko Ramen seems to serve as this. Most of the characters stop by for a bowl, it's the unofficial meeting establishment for the Proxy-Proxy War, and in all timelines, the protagonist is determined to ask Akashi out to eat there.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_4a852458
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Big Good
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_4a852458
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Big Good: Higuchi, who tries to get Watashi to drop his dreams of a rose colored campus life and live.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_52d1f46e
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Not What It Looks Like
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_52d1f46e
comment
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. In a later episode, he actually is the one who stole the glider in that incident. In the novel, Ozu puts Kaori-san in the narrator's room to use him as a fall guy in the Proxy-Proxy War. This way, when Jogasaki comes thundering for his precious girl, he'd come after him rather than Higuchi and Ozu.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_54e3f941
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Hikikomori
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_54e3f941
comment
Hikikomori: The final stories of both the novel and the anime have it so that the Narrator holes himself up in his room for the rest of his time in school. The circumstances differ, however; in the novel, this was caused by the narrator striking out with the Library Police Force and becoming fearful of what they might do to him, while the anime version has the Narrator become so fed up with the "Groundhog Day" Loop (even if he's only subconsciously aware of it) that he decides to nix looking for a club and spend time inside. Of course, as he starts traveling across the various iterations of his college life, he starts to realize how much he missed out on by abandoning any chance of meeting the cast of characters that had defined his college life in the other iterations.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_564c1500
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Red String of Fate
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comment
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.
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Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?
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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.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_5cfeb43f
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Save Scumming
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_5cfeb43f
comment
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.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_5e50adfe
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Split Timelines Plot
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_5e50adfe
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Split Timelines Plot: While the base premise is simply the narrator picks a different club to go to in every timeline, the novel demonstrates that his presence has visible ripple effects on how Ozu messes with Jogasaki. In the first timeline, the two actively conspire against Jogasaki in the film club and Ozu never escalates (as far as the narrator and reader is aware) beyond their pranks together. In the second timeline, the narrator, Akashi, and Higuchi after some thought all veto Ozu's plan to steal Kaori in response to dyeing the yukata pink for the Masochistic Proxy-Proxy War and Ozu drops the issue in favor of other pranks. In the third timeline, since the narrator is not there to protest stealing Kaori, Ozu goes ahead with it and stashes the doll in the narrator's room. In the final timeline, Kaori is first stolen by Aijima to blackmail Jogasaki as a means of asserting himself after Ozu starts taking over the Library Police. Ozu is then inspired to do the same act during the Masochistic Proxy-Proxy War and steals Kaori again, but the narrator was out so Ozu has to go to someone else to ask to stash the doll at their place.
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Drinking Contest
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_5f2a34e5
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Drinking Contest: One between Jogasaki and the protagonist in episode 6. Hanuki joins in later. The protagonist wins, although it really seems that Hanuki did.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_5f611b7e
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Good All Along
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_5f611b7e
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Good All Along: Ozu is still kind of a jerk, but the main character eventually realizes why he does the things he does and that Ozu was always trying to help him, even if he did so in a roundabout way. He even admits to himself that, in every timeline, Ozu had been his best and only real friend.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_603f1a80
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Pragmatic Adaptation
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_603f1a80
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Pragmatic Adaptation: The novel has more or less complete timelines where regardless of what happens, the protagonist successfully takes the opportunity to date Akashi although he does wonder what would happen if things went differently. The anime, however, runs a thread through all of the timelines, and instead of letting the protagonist have a fulfilling life at the end of each timeline, deliberately leaves him unsatisfied until the final episode. In addition, instead of leaning on a different aspect of Akashi to start up a relationship with her, as in the novel, the one singular connection point that allows him to get that Relationship Upgrade is the Mochiguma (when it was only that important in Chapter 1, but even then, not so much). The anime also places greater emphasis on Akashi, and makes the narrator's romance with her the second biggest focal piece of the narrative.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_6056f853
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Homoerotic Subtext
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_6056f853
comment
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. Happens again in episode 5... only this time it happens at night, under the covers, on a boat on which the two of them are escaping down the river. Oh, and Ozu is dressed as a woman. In episode 2, they kiss in a movie. And knowing all the films filmed are in fact other realities, this could be another one we don't finally see!. Ozu claims that he and the narrator are connected by a "black string of fate" — a nod to the traditional Red String of Fate. "It's my way of expressing my love!"
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_653c5c73
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Cannot Spit It Out
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_653c5c73
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Cannot Spit It Out: The narrator can't return Akashi's Mochiguma and he can't ask her out to Neko Ramen, at least until the finale.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_680f950
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Gilligan Cut
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Gilligan Cut: In episode 8 features one.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_6aaf4011
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Apathetic Student
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_6aaf4011
comment
Apathetic Student: The protagonist is shown to care very little for his academic work, mainly just coasting in life as he chases fruitlessly after failed romances and the ever elusive "rose-colored campus life". Jougasaki and Higuchi are both said at points to be on paper university students who have been studying there for far longer than Akashi, Higuchi, or Ozu, and they are both shown to be doing very little, if at all, studying.
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Wine Is Classy
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_6ad19559
comment
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.
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_6ad19559
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_6b2b3b59
type
The Reveal
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_6b2b3b59
comment
The Reveal: In episode 9. Ozu's got a girlfriend — who is incidentally Honwaka's daughter — and has been doing all these questionably moral things for two years for the sake of the perfect date with her.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_6b2b3b59
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_6b2b3b59
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_6b2b3b59
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_6bda9a30
type
Meaningful Name
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_6bda9a30
comment
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).
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_6bda9a30
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_6bda9a30
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1.0
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_6bda9a30
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_6d5ab39e
type
Fractured Fairy Tale
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_6d5ab39e
comment
Fractured Fairy Tale: The novel's version of the film that got the narrator kicked out of Misogi was a scathing satire of Jogasaki's reign in the club, told through a thinly veiled Momotarō lens. Here, the boy in the peach is named "Masaki" (named after Jogasaki), and he quickly tricks and manipulates his companions in Onigashima with food and ruling over them with an iron fist. In the end, two brave people humiliate him by dyeing him pink, rolling him up in a tatami mat, and throwing him away.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_6d5ab39e
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_6d5ab39e
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1.0
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_6d5ab39e
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_715704e5
type
Jigsaw Puzzle Plot
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_715704e5
comment
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 Ozu having a girlfriend, the Proxy war, the narrator's three love interests, the clubs Ozu joins and other things that happened in previous loops still happened if not mentioned.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_715704e5
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1.0
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_715704e5
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_735b3587
type
Naked First Impression
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_735b3587
comment
Naked First Impression: Pretty much everyone towards the protagonist, in the finale. Ozu's the only one to find it odd.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_735b3587
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_735b3587
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 The Tatami Galaxy
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_735b3587
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_7374ab13
type
Once More, with Clarity
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_7374ab13
comment
Once More, with Clarity: The first episode ends with the botched Daimonji festival after Ozu inexplicably crossdressing runs in, chased by a bunch of unknown characters, and is cornered on a bridge railing. All the episodes slowly reveal each element so that by the final episode when the same scenario happens again, all the pieces click together. Ozu has been dating Kohinata (the girl who dumped the narrator in the first episode and Honwaka's daughter) for two years, insinuated himself into the Lucky Cat organization by sucking up to Aijima only to backstab him and take over which is why Aijima chases Ozu, Jogasaki hates him for exposing Kaori, and the Honwaka are after him for stealing their planned ark and attempting to take Kohinata on their planned date for Daimonji. But after that plan went kaput, Ozu takes the same escape route along the river used in episode 3 in order to come back to the city and meet up with Higuchi, only for everyone who hates him to chase him down.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_7374ab13
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_7374ab13
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_7374ab13
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_740f59b4
type
ColorCodedForYourConvenience
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_740f59b4
comment
Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The major characters have their own color motifs, presented in the opening and occasionally in the show (the Protagonist has white/light grey, Akashi has light blue, Ozu has red, Jougasaki has orange, Hanuki has pink/red, and so on). Each episode tends to have its own set color as well. The episode color schemes become a piece of very subtle foreshadowing in later episodes.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_740f59b4
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_740f59b4
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1.0
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_740f59b4
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_7464705c
type
Arc Words
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_7464705c
comment
Arc Words: The most thematically relevant words for the story are "rose-colored campus life", representing the perfect, idealistic college experience that the narrator wishes will happen to him. The words appear for the last time when he realizes that there is no such thing as a perfect college life, and that he should appreciate life as he can take it. "Colosseum". The Fortune Teller asks the narrator to heed this word when she advises him to seize opportunity, but each timeline has it refer to something different. Akashi was interested in Roman architecture in one timeline, Hanuki had a photo of a colosseum in another, and in the last, the narrator thinks that his heavily rotted wisdom tooth looks like a colosseum when he looks inside of it. "You and I are bound by a black string of fate" is the key phrase describing the relationship between the narrator and Ozu, capturing the fact that no matter how chaotic it gets, the two young men will always be drawn to each other.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_7464705c
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_7464705c
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_7464705c
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_794f3589
type
Adaptation Explanation Extrication
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_794f3589
comment
Adaptation Explanation Extrication: The anime shifts various plot points around, but the most notable is the protagonist moving into a new apartment at the very end. In the novel, he's able to do this because he used up all the money he gathered from wandering around his tatami rooms. In the anime, he left his bag of money in a different timeline where that version of the narrator used it to buy the scrub brush instead of Akashi coming in with a save, leaving no explanation for the new apartment in the end.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_794f3589
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_794f3589
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_794f3589
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_7e081ea0
type
Slice of Life
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_7e081ea0
comment
Slice of Life: Outside of the "Groundhog Day" Loop, this can very much be considered a "Shaggy Dog" Story version of this.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_7e081ea0
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_7e081ea0
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_7e081ea0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_813e694d
type
Continuity Cavalcade
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_813e694d
comment
Continuity Cavalcade: Everything from the past episodes come back one way or another in episodes 10 and 11.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_813e694d
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_813e694d
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_813e694d
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_82518cf7
type
Motor Mouth
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_82518cf7
comment
Motor Mouth: Everyone indulges in it a bit, but the narration in particular can get a bit ridiculous.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_82518cf7
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_82518cf7
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 The Tatami Galaxy
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_82518cf7
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_83fb6177
type
First-Episode Twist
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_83fb6177
comment
First-Episode Twist: The anime seems like it might be an ordinary, albeit fast-paced Slice of Life at first... then the episode ends on the note of the protagonist blaming the club for his failures in achieving his rose-tinted college life and time being thrown back, setting up for the rest of the series.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_83fb6177
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_83fb6177
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 The Tatami Galaxy
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_83fb6177
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_88472ef3
type
Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_88472ef3
comment
Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: The protagonist's being so swept up in finding a rose-colored college life is what, ironically, blinds him to how meaningful his experiences really are.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_88472ef3
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_88472ef3
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_88472ef3
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_88965d8d
type
TricksterArchetype
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_88965d8d
comment
Trickster Archetype: Ozu. Depending on your point of view, he's also a Trickster Mentor... though what he has to teach isn't always good.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_88965d8d
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_88965d8d
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_88965d8d
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_890d4ef2
type
Humiliation Conga
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_890d4ef2
comment
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.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_890d4ef2
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_890d4ef2
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 The Tatami Galaxy
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_890d4ef2
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_898ff050
type
Villain Protagonist
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_898ff050
comment
Villain Protagonist: The narrator goes through a rather bad phase in episode 9.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_898ff050
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_898ff050
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_898ff050
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_8b6e8d7
type
Anachronic Order
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_8b6e8d7
comment
Anachronic Order: Within the first episode.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_8b6e8d7
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_8b6e8d7
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 The Tatami Galaxy
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_8b6e8d7
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_8f7b77d3
type
Cargo Ship
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_8f7b77d3
comment
Cargo Ship: Jogasaki is in love with a mannequin he named Kaori. In one timeline, the narrator falls in love with it as well. invoked
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_8f7b77d3
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_8f7b77d3
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 The Tatami Galaxy
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_8f7b77d3
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_912b24c4
type
Art Shift
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_912b24c4
comment
Art Shift: Frequently shifts to filtered photos of real life backgrounds when discussing life or other topics.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_912b24c4
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_912b24c4
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_912b24c4
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_9203bf6
type
Arc Number
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_9203bf6
comment
Arc Number: 4. There are only four chapters in the original book, four clubs/activities that catch the narrator's eye in the novel, the room the protagonist is renting out is a 4.5 tatami and Akashi has only four Mochiguman because she lost the fifth one. When the protagonist finally returns the fifth Mochiguman and decides to move out of his room to a bigger apartment, it symbolizes that he's moving past everything associated with four to better himself.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_9203bf6
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_9203bf6
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_9203bf6
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_985795ab
type
Medium Blending
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_985795ab
comment
Medium Blending: Most obviously in the last two episodes, where 2D animation mixes with real life.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_985795ab
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_985795ab
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_985795ab
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_9902398a
type
Beehive Barrier
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_9902398a
comment
Beehive Barrier: Akashi can erect one.◊ Figuratively, of course.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_9902398a
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_9902398a
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_9902398a
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_9d12bbc1
type
Foreshadowing
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_9d12bbc1
comment
Foreshadowing: All three stories of the protagonist and Ozu's directed films in Misogi end up happening to the protagonist within the narrative in later loops, as presented in the exact order that the protagonist made them. His first story, about two young men playing pranks on each other with the stakes increasing every time, is a condensed version of the origin of the Masochistic Proxy-Proxy War. Ozu dyes himself pink just as Jogasaki dyes Higuchi's kimono pink, and the final showdown takes place on the Kamo-Ohashi, just as all final battles for the proxies do. His second is a King Lear-inspired love dilemma surrounding three women, none of whom are played by women. The baseball timeline has the protagonist fall in love with a fake female pen pal, be shacked up with Jogasaki's beautiful sex doll Kaori, and the third is Hanuki, who he doesn't really consider a "proper woman" for her partying and drinking. His third film is a drama about a person wandering a maze of identical tatami rooms. This is the finale in both the novel and the anime.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_9d12bbc1
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_9d12bbc1
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 The Tatami Galaxy
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_9d12bbc1
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_9dd2cbc2
type
CloudCuckooLander
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_9dd2cbc2
comment
Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Pretty much everyone has elements of this, but particularly Higuchi.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_9dd2cbc2
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_9dd2cbc2
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_9dd2cbc2
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_a129cb19
type
Rock–Paper–Scissors
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_a129cb19
comment
Rock–Paper–Scissors: How do you think Higuchi and Jogasaki end their part in a years long tradition? With a dramatic duel over the riverbank...or so you'd like to think. It's really just a rock-paper-scissors game, and the winner gets to call dibs on which of the successors get to prank first.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_a129cb19
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_a129cb19
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_a129cb19
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_a6c69bd
type
MacGuffin
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_a6c69bd
comment
And in episode 4, he finds a bag of money in his room, which he assumes was planted there so he could pay for the turtle scrub-brush. In episode 10, we learn that it was his own money, which he amassed by stealing some cash from each alternate universe tatami room.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_a6c69bd
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_a6c69bd
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_a6c69bd
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_ab5677c1
type
Boy Meets Girl
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_ab5677c1
comment
Boy Meets Girl: The protagonist meets Akashi, Hanuki, and various other love interests while at university and then again... and again... and again... and again... as he constantly loops through his three years at university. It's pointed out that Akashi is the one constant in this pattern, leading to her and the protagonist becoming an Official Couple.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_ab5677c1
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_ab5677c1
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_ab5677c1
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_ac4ac8e5
type
Idiosyncratic Episode Naming
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_ac4ac8e5
comment
Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: The novel has each chapter named "The 4.5 Tatami [X]", with the X replacing some important aspect of that timeline. Every episode is named after the text on the flyer of the club the narrator is a member of in that episode.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_ac4ac8e5
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_ac4ac8e5
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_ac4ac8e5
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_ace5eb40
type
Clock Tower
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_ace5eb40
comment
Clock Tower: There is a huge clock tower in the middle of campus. In the anime adaptation, the hands reverse following the completion of a route, showing that time is rewinding and causing the protagonist to live his college life again each episode. When the protagonist is stuck in his room, its lack of rewinding shows that there's no more chances at resetting for him.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_ace5eb40
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_ace5eb40
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_ace5eb40
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_b1191cb2
type
I Ate WHAT?!
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_b1191cb2
comment
I Ate WHAT?!: Neko Ramen's noodle broth is often rumored to use actual cats for flavor. While everyone is disgusted by the idea, they think the food is too delicious to ignore.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_b1191cb2
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_b1191cb2
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_b1191cb2
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_b1ffea26
type
Shipping Bed Death
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_b1ffea26
comment
Shipping Bed Death: In-universe. The narrator lampshades this as justification in the finale to wrap up other loose ends as opposed to expounding on the details of his budding relationship with Akashi. In the book, this happens in every ending.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_b1ffea26
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_b1ffea26
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_b1ffea26
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_b5ac90ac
type
"Groundhog Day" Loop
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_b5ac90ac
comment
"Groundhog Day" Loop: It seems the narrator isn't totally aware of it, but he nevertheless joins a different club every time. Later events imply that we have seen only some of the loops. One of the screwiest instances is when Higuchi is revealed to have somehow kept the cash he won between time loops and uses it to fund his vacation, despite everything else seemingly being reset in-between each iteration of a loop. The narrator eventually becomes aware of the repeats in Episode 10 after busting through the various tatami rooms of each of the alternate universes. It becomes apparent that Akashi is the only girl for the narrator (episodes examining him in pursuit of other girls have all ended in miserable failure) and the fortune teller has said again and again (in so many words) that returning her Mochiguman charm and hooking up with her is the only way he'll be happy. The narrator himself has also come to take Ozu as more and more of a threat to all of this in spite of Ozu frequently coming to his aid. The protagonist's refusal to accept both of these things - that he loves Akashi, and that Ozu is his best friend - are the primary drive behind the frequent loops, and coming to terms with these facts also becomes his only way to escape the 4.5 tatami galaxy.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_b5ac90ac
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_b5ac90ac
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_b9c673a6
type
Market-Based Title
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_b9c673a6
comment
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.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_b9c673a6
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_b9c673a6
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_b9c673a6
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_ba0791de
type
First Girl Wins
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_ba0791de
comment
First Girl Wins: Akashi is the first girl the protagonist expresses interest in, but he has several other love interests throughout the series. For one reason or another, none of them work out, and towards the end of the series he realizes he's in love with her and finally does what it takes to get together with her.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_ba0791de
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_ba0791de
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_bc00493f
type
Precision F-Strike
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_bc00493f
comment
Precision F-Strike: The official English translation of the novel specifically responds to the hypothetical person saying people can still change, no matter how old, that they're fucking kidding the narrator. This helps punctuate his opening rant for every chapter and the book itself with one of the fundamental beliefs of the narrator that he refuses to believe he's capable of changing his life path from how it is, while also establishing that he isn't quite as sophisticated as he'd like the reader to believe.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_bc00493f
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_bc00493f
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_bc00493f
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_bcba27a1
type
Putting on the Reich
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_bcba27a1
comment
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.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_bcba27a1
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_bcba27a1
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_bcba27a1
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_bea77379
type
Youkai
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_bea77379
comment
Youkai: Ozu is compared to one in episode 1 and even grows a kitsune tail several times in episode 2.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_bea77379
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_bea77379
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_bea77379
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_bef696dd
type
Mind Screw
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_bef696dd
comment
Mind Screw: Copiously, but especially when the matchmaking god finally finishes reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and reaches Nirvana.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_bef696dd
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_bef696dd
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 The Tatami Galaxy
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_bef696dd
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_c2393191
type
Show Within a Show
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_c2393191
comment
Show Within a Show: Mochiguman, which is about five cartoon superheroes and their fight against villainy. It's very popular with its target demographic of kids, though Akashi is a very open fan of the characters. Details beyond that are very vague since the protagonist doesn't really care much about it and only becomes invested in them during a loop where he works as a performer as one of the Mochiguman.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_c2393191
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_c2393191
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_c2393191
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_c69902e7
type
Church of Happyology
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_c69902e7
comment
Church of Happyology: Honwaka. They only briefly touch upon it in the novel, but it's implied to be the same case there.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_c69902e7
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_c69902e7
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_c69902e7
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_c75df49a
type
Shout-Out
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_c75df49a
comment
Shout-Out: The beard the narrator sports in the final story is remarked by himself and others as something akin to Robinson Crusoe. The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl is one of the novels the narrator is seen reading in episode 8. One of the items that Higuchi requests from the narrator in the Masochistic Proxy-Proxy War is a life-size statue of Kamen Rider V3.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_c75df49a
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_c75df49a
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_c75df49a
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_ca87e3ec
type
No Name Given
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_ca87e3ec
comment
No Name Given: The narrator is never named but is referred to as "I" or "Myself" in the credits and other materials.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_ca87e3ec
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1.0
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_ca87e3ec
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_ca87e3ec
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Good Is Boring
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comment
Good Is Boring: The narrator hated being part of Honwaka because there was zero strife to be had. There was no need for seniority, ranks, or gender differences; everyone had a good time playing with each other and socializing with one another. The monotonous pleasantries and fluffy atmosphere suffocated the protagonist.
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Spoiler Opening
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comment
Spoiler Opening: Although you may not realize it at first. The opening contains scenes of someone moving through several rooms that are all the same, save for their different colors. This spoils the protagonist being trapped in the 4.5 tatami world and discovering all his alternate lives with the differently colored rooms. Someone with a quick eye will also notice human-looking Ozu toward the end of the opening. This spoils the Protagonist's unreliable storytelling.
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_cd83fa5b
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Toxic Friend Influence
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comment
Toxic Friend Influence: Ozu, in the eyes of the narrator. And vice versa by the end when he and Ozu properly meet in the final timeline.
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In Spite of a Nail
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_d243518d
comment
In Spite of a Nail: The novel has a few consistent points in every timeline: the protagonist runs into a Mochiguma, Ozu gets hospitalized after jumping off a bridge, and he and Akashi end up in a relationship at the very end. He also, no matter what club he picks, meets Ozu and becomes his friend, something that Ozu points out himself. In the anime, one thing is always shown to happen regardless of the protagonist rewinding time back to the first year of university; Akashi loses her Mochiguman with it ending up as the protagonist's light switch decoration. Only when the protagonist realizes that Akashi's been losing it in every single timeline and it always finds its way to him, does he finally take it upon himself to return it to her.
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The Tatami Galaxy / int_d243518d
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type
Mobile Kiosk
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_d5574e62
comment
Mobile Kiosk: The elusive but very good "Neko Ramen" stand where the narrator meets the matchmaking god. Akashi wants to eat there but has never found it.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_d7fc9fd0
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Vitriolic Best Buds
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_d7fc9fd0
comment
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. He changes his tune in episodes 10 and 11 after revisiting the other timelines and realizing that Ozu was always there for him.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_d848560f
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Unusual Euphemism
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comment
Unusual Euphemism: The narrator's "Johnny," which is visually represented by a silly-looking cartoon cowboy.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_db2b02bf
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Horrible Housing
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_db2b02bf
comment
Horrible Housing: Shimogamo Yuusinsou is a nightmare of an apartment building. The walls are thin, the floors even thinner, the kitchen an unused, filthy mess, and the halls thin and seedy. Barely anything gets fixed there, and it's a plotpoint in all the novel's timelines that the narrator gets soaked from Higuchi's antics a floor above him.
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Epiphanic Prison
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_db8ace03
comment
Epiphanic Prison: The titular galaxy is revealed to be one; the protagonist became locked in it after isolating himself completely for two years instead of joining any clubs or meeting any of the others.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_dba4ae4f
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Arc Welding
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_dba4ae4f
comment
Arc Welding: In episode 9. Episodes 10 and 11 also spell out most of the consistent factors of the setting across each timeline.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_dcbe8a6e
type
Chekhov's Gunman
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_dcbe8a6e
comment
Chekhov's Gunman: The moth in the narrator's room. Because the tatami maze is made up of identical but slightly different rooms, a moth also shows up in that one. Eventually, after breaking down so many rooms over the course of eighty days, a cloud-sized cluster of moths develops and is the source of that timeline's version of the moth swarm.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_dda99fa8
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Despair Event Horizon
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_dda99fa8
comment
Despair Event Horizon: The protagonist reaches it in episode 9 after he attempts to bribe Akashi, only for her to give him a slap and disappear completely. This is the catalyst for the protagonist's decision to rewind time once more and never join any clubs, instead completely isolating himself in his room for two years, to the point that he becomes trapped in the titular 4.5 tatami galaxy.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_e409de66
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Manipulative Editing
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comment
Manipulative Editing: The Jogasaki "biopic" Ozu puts together.
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Cult
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_e5411cdf
comment
Cult: The softball circle that the protagnist joins in one episode turns out to be sponsored by a shady company of health supplements that runs like a mix of a Cult and an MLM. Members are encouraged to eat Royal Jelly and act as if it is a magical cure-all for ailments and nutrition. This culminates in their belief that the world will end in 2012 and their leader building a blimp as a Noah's Ark recreation to save one man and one woman as well as a pair of each animal.
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Expy
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comment
Expy: The narrator has a certain resemblance to one Mr. Despair.
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Gonk
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_e542d80a
comment
Also, Ozu's Gonk is only due to this trope - the real Ozu is just a normal looking guy. The fortune teller's Gonk is similarly related to the protagonist's interpretation of her as being a "witch" of sorts - she is later seen with a normal nose and no longer radiating that "powerful aura."
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Suspiciously Specific Denial
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_e624f0e8
comment
Suspiciously Specific Denial: From episode 6:
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_e624f0e8
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_ea8ba51d
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No Full Name Given
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_ea8ba51d
comment
No Full Name Given: Ozu, Akashi, Kohinata, Hanuki, and Aijima's given names are never mentioned. Higuchi's first name goes unmentioned until the second timeline, at which point the narration states that Higuchi's first name is Seitaro. This helps set up the later reveal that Ozu has been pranking the narrator with the alias "Keiko Higuchi" in a different timeline, since they can catch on faster than the narrator that Keiko isn't real.
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Vomit Discretion Shot
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comment
Vomit Discretion Shot: Hanuki in episode 10.
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Food Porn
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_f23ad6de
comment
Food Porn: Neko Ramen is animated and described in loving detail as it's the one food the protagonist loves above all else, especially after he escape the infinite variations of his room and actually gets a chance to eat food that isn't the castella or fish fingers.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_f64a9cf7
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Earn Your Happy Ending
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_f64a9cf7
comment
Earn Your Happy Ending: After all the rewinds, troubles, and lessons learned, the protagonist has lost all the closeness he had with the other characters—but at least he knows to appreciate all of them more, and on top of that, it's implied that they have become fast friends after their first meeting, and will become even closer. Even better, he finally summons up the confidence to ask Akashi out to that bowl of Neko Ramen.
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_fbb54ba6
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Forever War
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_fbb54ba6
comment
Forever War: No one remembers how the Masochistic Proxy Proxy War started. The only thing that's concrete, at least in the novel, is that it was started by two high schoolers over some fight, and has since carried over with proxies when they got tired of antagonizing each other but not enough to actually bury the hatchet. Higuchi and Jougasaki are the 29th iteration (although there is no real bad blood between them), while the protagonist and Ozu would have been the thirtieth.
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Cherry Blossoms
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_fca96b8e
comment
Cherry Blossoms: They show up whenever the protagonist has his once-an-episode rant about the rose-colored life and his choice of club.
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_fca96b8e
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 The Tatami Galaxy / int_fe0330fb
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Brick Joke
 The Tatami Galaxy / int_fe0330fb
comment
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 actually does this. Episode 5 has a random man suddenly stumble into the room. The protagonist understandably freaks out. It's the protagonist from episode 10 and 11, where he's wandering the maze of 4.5 tatami rooms. And in episode 4, he finds a bag of money in his room, which he assumes was planted there so he could pay for the turtle scrub-brush. In episode 10, we learn that it was his own money, which he amassed by stealing some cash from each alternate universe tatami room. One chapter has the narrator balk at learning English, as he believes it's a primitive language that he shouldn't waste time learning. In another timeline, he falls in love with a girl so hard that he was willing to go through English lessons just to impress her.
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The Tatami Galaxy

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