A review by jan_coco_day
The Tatami Galaxy by Tomihiko Morimi

adventurous funny lighthearted 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

4.25

I, too, was once a college student who “accomplished absolutely nothing during the two years leading up to the spring of my junior year in college,” which, of course led to its own kind of existential crisis. However, unlike the nameless narrator of The Tatami Galaxy, mine didn’t involve alternate timelines or endless copy of the same room or an infinite moth glitch (I would have remembered that). 

Alternate timelines are hot right now, and the alternate presents found in The Tatami Galaxy are less “parallel worlds” than overlapping loops of the narrator’s stumbles, utterly charming at every gaffe and goof. Morimi is a master satirist of the self-obsessed college-age youth. 

If you’re in the mood for a low-stakes, amusingly eccentric romp through the surreal lives, divergent from the point when a generic college student chooses among four different extracurricular activities (I cannot stress how the stakes have never been lower), The Tatami Galaxy is your ticket.