After nearly 5 years, I finally decided to muster up the wherewithal to participate in the Anime Secret Santa project by the fantastic folks over at Reverse Thieves. In turn, I was suggested Gungrave, Princess Tutu, and Tatami Galaxy. The first I had been meaning to give a second chance, whereas the latter two I failed to finish as new anime seasons cropped up seemingly out of nowhere. Being a huge fan of Masaaki Yuasa I jumped at the chance at a kick-to-the-rear to finally finish another of his works. As such, I went with The Tatami Galaxy.
The plot centers around a freshman college student, “Watashi”.. He joins a campus club in search of his “Rose-Colored Campus Life”, to chase the love of raven-haired maidens, and find fulfillment in an important time in his life. He is hindered by Ozu, a young man resembling a youkai who makes it one of his missions to ruin everyone’s love lives. As Ozu brings Watashi hiss level, Watashi becomes hated to the extent that he is thrown off a bridge on the night of the Daimonji Festival. Along the way, he crosses paths with many others with whom he could have grown closer if he had only made different, better choices. In turn, he wishes he could have joined another club, and freed himself of Ozu. “And so, as a brand-spanking new freshman university student, countless doors to the mystical treasure known as that ‘rose-colored campus life’ lay open before him. And the one Watashi chose was…”