Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - The Tatami Galaxy

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The Tatami Galaxy by Tomihiko Morimi

4 reviews

thedistortionist's review

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funny reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

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jaimee_reads's review against another edition

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Did not finish at 49%. Completed two possible futures before giving up. The Tatami Galaxy explores the unfulfilled college life of our unnamed narrator, and asks the question, if he had chosen a different club (from a selection of 4) would he have had his ideal rose-colored college life? Spoiler, the quick answer, is no. No matter what future he chooses, he ends up meeting the same people, although through different circumstances, and having the same unfulfilled experience, although for different reasons. Another spoiler, turns out the majority of the problem is him, who would have thought.
I was familiar with the story before starting the book, but had never watched the anime. I love literary fiction, and the premise is a good one. "What if" is a very relatable concept, especially during formative years, like college, especially when things aren't turning out the way you had anticipated or hoped.
Unfortunately, the four futures are too long (about 90 minutes each on Kindle) and too similar to each other, with entire passages copied and pasted. I understand what it was going for, but having to re-read content that you swear you read before, but don't want to miss little nuances just in case, is annoying. The story itself is also fairly boring. Our narrator is a fairly average college junior. He wants success and to meet a raven-haired beauty, but doesn't particularly want to put in the effort. Instead of recognizing this, we hear pages of him explaining how he was essentially an angel at birth and there's no way any of these failures are his fault, it must be someone else's. Someone like Ozu, his "friend" who he encounters in every story, no matter what club he joins. There are other repeat characters in each story as well, but it becomes obvious early on that our narrator is a huge part of the problem, and reading his point of view and how highly he thinks of himself gets tiring very quickly. At some points, he goes so far as to come off as a "nice guy."
I gave up after two futures (the half-way mark), and it took me about 3 weeks to get that far. I struggled to pick up this book. There was nothing to look forward to, and it didn't feel like I had to find anything out. I knew what was going to happen, I knew what the outcome would be, it would just be a matter of how. And honestly I didn't care. The film club future, the first one, is very slow. The apprentice future, the second one, is much better, but not enough to keep me going.
If you don't mind repetitiveness or are a big fan of the anime, I say go for it. If not, this is going to be a rough read.

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priyas's review against another edition

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lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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