Narration in Anime: The Tatami Galaxy and Beyond aka "This Podcast is (Not) About Evangelion" Welcome to our jam-packed episode on narration in anime! Starting with The Tatami Galaxy and branching from there, we cover different techniques and styles of narration including the minimalist, overbearing, unreliable and even fourth wall-breaking. We discuss how these styles affect the show and the viewer, and why they shape the story's meaning and enjoyment. Emotional contextualization IS storytelling! All shows mentioned are spoiler-free, so don't worry if you haven't seen them all! Titles in order of discussion: The Tatami Galaxy Princess Jellyfish Princess Tutu Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu Kino's Journey March Comes In Like a Lion His and Her Circumstances (KareKano) Space Patrol LuLuCo Arakawa Under the Bridge Baccano! UtaKoi (Chouyaku Hyakuninissu: Uta Koi) [Evangelion, unavoidably] "What Is Art?” = SOLVED Contact Info: Twitter: @animeislitpod Email: Opening song: "Kamisama no Iutoori" by Juuji Ishiwatari & Yoshinori Sunahara + Etsuko Yakushimaru Ending Song: "Maigo Inu to Ame no Beat" by Asian Kung Fu Generation
Sep 3, 2017 • Subscribe
The Tatami Galaxy, Arakawa Under the Bridge, Baccano!, His and Her Circumstances, Kino's Journey
More like this
The Tatami Galaxy
By Tomihiko Morimi and Yusuke Nakamura. Released in Japan as “Yojōhan Shinwa Taikei” by Ohta Shuppan. Released in North America by HarperVia. Translated by Emily Balistrieri. I was…
Books: Tatami Galaxy
By Tom Wilmot. Any mention of The Tatami Galaxy usually brings to mind Masaaki Yuasa’s much-loved 2010 anime. The charming series has become something of a modern classic,…
The Tatami Galaxy Before and After College
Obviously 2020 was one fuck of a year for everyone except for a handful of billionaires. Everyone’s coping mechanisms vary, but returning to old media is a classic.…
Anime Secret Santa 2014: The Tatami Galaxy
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…
The Tatami Galaxy – Episode 3
Returning to The Tatami Galaxy feels a bit like returning home. It was a show I initially watched early on in my post-college return to anime, and even…
OtakuGeneration (Show #271) Tatami Galaxy
Shownotes :: (show 271) :: () :: () :: () :: () With Tatami Galaxy, recorded live August 15th, 2010. This week we talked about the anime Tatami…
Fullmetal Alchemist, Origin: Spirits of the Past, Persona -trinity soul-, Shattered Angels, Toradora!
Is Tatami Galaxy still one of my favourite anime of all time?
The Tatami Galaxy is by the acclaimed auteur director Maasaki Yuasa. I saw it as it aired back in 2010, only 2 years after his previous work Kaiba,…
Buying anime, manga, and merch in 2021 (and beyond)
Sponsored only by my poor financial responsibility
Anime Secret Santa 2022: Shiki, Tatami Galaxy, Otherside Picnic, Santa Company, SSSS.Gridman, Dusk Maiden of Amnesia
The podcast is here! If you want to check out the reveal, click the link and you’ll...
Anime Secret Santa 2022: Shiki, Tatami Galaxy, Otherside Picnic, Santa Company, SSSS.Gridman, Dusk Maiden of Amnesia
A lot of stuff happened, but it all means that this won’t come out on time. I...
The Tatami Time Machine Blues
By Tomihiko Morimi and Yusuke Nakamura, based on the play “Summer Time Machine Blues” by Makoto Ueda. Released in Japan as “Yojōhan Time Machine Blues” by Kadokawa. Released…
[Feature] Women in the Kitchen: The unequal treatment of professional chefs in anime and beyond
Despite a broad range of titles, when looking at Japanese media about cooking at large, I’ve noticed a frustrating gender imbalance between stories about professional male and female…
The Year in Magic: Looking Back on the Anime, and Beyond, of 2023
A ramble; the anime, manga, and more that got me through 2023.
Soaring Sky! Precure, Tengoku Daimakyo, Undead Murder Farce, Magical Destroyers, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off
The Angriest Planet in Galaxy Express 999
I’ve been thinking a lot about subtlety and nuance lately. Yes, I know that isn’t the most exciting topic, but this is my blog, and I like to…
Science the destroyer in Galaxy Express 999
When I watch anime, I watch it from a Western viewpoint, or to be more accurate, a very American viewpoint. In a lot of ways, this is not…
The Mysterious Maetel in Galaxy Express 999
I’m going to get meta here for a second. As I’ve been writing about Galaxy Express 999, I’ve noticed lately that I tend to focus on a particular…
From Hibari to Yu and beyond – trans* characters in anime
In the previous post, I made some short mention about gender identity representation, but wanted to dedicate more space. Manga in general have faired better and you can…
Puritans, capitalism and hard work in Galaxy Express 999
(Note: I’m going to use U.S. and America interchangeably. I just want to say that I realize this is horribly unfair to our neighbors to the north and…
Tatami Time Machine Blues
As far as Science SARU productions go, this one threads the needle of accessible and off-beat better than most.
Love in the time of existentialism in Galaxy Express 999
No one really gets to live happily ever after in Galaxy Express 999. OK. That might not be entirely true. There are a handful of stories about people…
The 4.5 Tatami Room of Forking Paths
After finishing Tatami Galaxy, I am pretty sure that anime needs more Borgesian labyrinths. Actually, everything needs more Borgesian labyrinths, but especially anime. Because. Anyway, Tatami Galax…
The Evil that Live After in Galaxy Express 999
So, it’s always felt that the Friends, Roman, Countrymen speech gets an unfair shake in popular culture. It’s never gets treated with the same gravity as the To…
Anime Like A Galaxy Next Door
After the death of their father, Ichirou Kuga supported his two younger siblings on their inheritance and by taking up drawing manga. However, with tight
Nodame Cantabile, A Galaxy Next Door, Deaimon: Recipe for Happiness, Horimiya, Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun
To Popularity and Beyond!
Anime has been getting quite popular in recent years!
Be Curious Beyond Anime
You need hobbies beyond anime. It sounds obvious. However, I’ve encountered many people who are consumed by their interest whether it is anime or, more common to my…
Dark Africa, colonizers and Galaxy Express 999
Back when I was a freshman in high school, we had what I expect is a right of passage for any high school student — the state history…
To push the rock or not in Galaxy Express 999
Sometimes it’s best to start at the beginning with one of these posts. I don’t really have a clever anecdote or a personal revelation to start this with.…
Liz and the Blue Bird : Beyond Realism
This essay is dedicated to all the artists at Kyoto Animation who died in the 2019 fire attack and whose painstakingly beautiful work is here celebrated. What seems…
Lotus Eaters and Steam Trains: The Myth of the Galaxy Express
Author’s note: I wrote this after watching the first 10 episodes of the show. If there is anything further on that contradicts this, I apologize. Galaxy Express 999…
Food zombies and wildflowers: Galaxy Express 999 and poverty
Growing up Leiji Matsumoto had an up-close relationship with poverty. His father was a former Japanese aviator who gave up piloting after the end of World War II.…
The space train of Winesburg: Galaxy Express 999 and grotesques
“Anderson evokes a depressed landscape in which lost souls wander about; they make their flitting appearances mostly in the darkness of night, these stumps and shades of humanity.”Irving…
The Odds and Ends of Galaxy Express 999 (part 2)
I’ve almost made it halfway to the Andromeda Galaxy with Maetel and Tetsuro, which means I’m just about ready for another odds and ends post. I did one…
Not Watching Anime Beyond the Main Story
This post is the biggest self-call out post that I could ever write. At least according to some people who feel like when a person is a fan…
Galaxy Express 999
By Helen McCarthy. Rintaro’s 1979 film Galaxy Express 999 travels a very considerable distance, goes faster than you might expect, but skips a number of stations. And the…
This Week in Anime - Is the Anime Adaptation of The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window Any Good?
Hunting ghosts gets sexual but does the main couple's dynamic rub viewers the wrong way? Nicky and Jean-Karlo check out the anime adaptation of the fan-favorite manga.
Tatami Time Machine Blues: The Journey of One Remote
Random Introduction Thoughts If you haven’t noticed, Disney has gotten into the anime licensing game. They are only taking a small amount of anime compared to Crunchyroll and…
Books: Marriage, Divorce and Beyond
By Jonathan Clements. Lina is rushed to the infirmary at the edge of life, her body terribly battered and sliced by an encounter with a lethal dragon, surrounded…
Housekeeping: 2023 Plans and Beyond
Hey Guys. Well 2023 is here and I think it is time to sit down and do some housekeeping on the blog. Talk about where we are and…
Housekeeping: Spring Plans and Beyond!
Hey guys. It’s been a wild few weeks here at Shallow Dives in Anime, and now that most of the dust has cleared, I wanted to take the…
Housekeeping, Winter Plans and Beyond!
Hey guys. The year is almost over and it’s been a fun time here at Shallow Dives in Anime. I just wanted to take a moment to go…
Housekeeping: 2021 Plans and Beyond
Hey guys The end of the year is upon us. 2020 has been a good year, and 2021 seems like it’s going to be another baller of a…
Is it better to kill the babies in Galaxy Express 999?
I’m fascinated by the number of plants, animals, and even microbes that have traveled with people as they’ve moved from place to place. Once I listened to a…
All aboard the Galaxy Express 999
I have a strange love for Leiji Matsumoto. What makes this strange is I’m not from the right generation to have watched Star Blazers as a teenager. Sure.…
PODCAST: Galaxy Express 999 The Movie
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | RSS All aboard, anime fans! Join us as we punch our ticket to space adventure, science fantasy, and beautiful…
![Featured image for My Blood and Bones in a Flowing Galaxy (2021) review [Nippon Connection 2021]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20210617/1623895441.14889.39836.jpg)
My Blood and Bones in a Flowing Galaxy (2021) review [Nippon Connection 2021]
“A great narrative, due to its emotionally gripping finale and the crystal-clear manner by which Sabu explores and uncovers the impact of a vicious environment on the way…
Sword Art Online: Beyond the Legacy, Beyond the Reputation
Over the last two weeks, I’ve shared my thoughts regarding the first season of the hit anime Sword Art Online. With zero bias, no expectations and no real…
The “Essence vs. Fill” Priorities Tier List in Smash Bros. Ultimate and Beyond
Tier lists are a staple part of discussions in any competitive gaming community. No matter the approach or philosophy, they’re an attempt to make sense of a game’s…
Skeletons, murder and tragedy? More Galaxy Express 999
Sometimes a show hits me with a conundrum that I don’t have an answer to. Typically, this comes when I’m hit with a concept or an execution that…
Anime Taste Testing: Mashle, A Galaxy Next Door
Allow me to thrill you with my resounding “meh.”