Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei Specials

I enjoyed the original and everything that it had to offer from the way it was conveyed, the art style, the voice acting, and to every bit of dialogue that it had.

Did you enjoy the original? Did you enjoy the stuff it had to offer with all it's set of characters? Yes? Then you are gonna love this one as well.

Ignore the other silly reviews. I felt my brain cells dying reading them.

Just go ahead and watch it. You'll enjoy it too.

The story is good. The dialogues are good. The characters are good. The art is good. And pretty much everything is good.

“The Tatami Galaxy Specials Wasted My Time… and I Don’t Even Regret It”
Okay, hear me out. Watching The Tatami Galaxy Specials feels like getting hit in the face with a philosophy textbook while sleep-deprived and locked in a kaleidoscope. Twice. And both times, you’re pretty sure it’s your fault.
And for the record: I adore the original "The Tatami Galaxy". It’s weird, it’s fast, it’s brilliant, it literally rewired my brain when I first saw it. But these so-called "Specials"? They’re like the drunken afterparty of a genius series. Everyone’s still there, but the vibe is… off.

This Ain’t “Special,” It’s Deleted Scenes With a Fancy Hat
The ... first special? It’s like a fever dream version of the main show. Same college clubs, same looping regrets, same overly-dramatic monologues about life’s endless roads… but without the impact. It kinda felt like Yuasa let some intern mess around with the script and then said “yeah sure, throw it on the DVD.”
The second one? Absolute chaos. Not the fun kind, either. Imagine if someone tried to compress all 11 episodes of the main series into a blender and hit purée. Everything’s moving, everyone’s talking, the clock is melting, and you’re just sitting there like: “...am I supposed to understand any of this?”
And honestly? Probably not.

“If You Like Surreal Nonsense, You Might Dig It. If Not - Run.”
This is not for casual viewers. If you’re the kind of person who watches anime for character development, plot arcs, or even basic logic - turn back now. But if you're the type who thinks "Evangelion wasn't confusing enough" or "I wish FLCL talked faster," then this might scratch that bizarre little itch in your brain.
The pacing? It’s like they crammed 20 minutes of dialogue into a 5-minute slot. Subtitles fly faster than my will to live during finals week. It's that kind of experience.

But Did I Enjoy It? …Weirdly, Yeah. Kinda.
See, despite all this - I didn’t hate it. Because deep down, it still has that Tatami Galaxy DNA: the manic energy, the artsy visuals, the existential dread sugar-coated in bright pinks and yellows. It’s like watching a mess you somehow find beautiful - not because it’s good, but because it reminds you of something that was.
Would I recommend it? Only if you’re already a fan of the original and have 20 minutes to kill. Otherwise, just rewatch the main series and pretend these never happened.
Rating: 6/10. Weird, chaotic, but weirdly compelling.
Or as my friend put it: “It’s like a TED talk from an anime gremlin with ADHD.”

Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei is one of the best anime series I have ever seen, thanks to its combination of a realistic story (for the most part), its original art and all the ideas it was trying to transmit. However, to my disappointment, the specials included with the DVD version were nothing like the 'main' series.

These 3 shorts episodes follow the main characters from the show telling some weird fantastic stories that feature themselves doing crazy stuff to solve an even crazier problem. It goes without saying that the stories they tell are neither realistic nor have anything to do with the plot of the ... TV series. To make things worse, most of the things in the stories aren't even explained and are resolved in a pretty stupid way wich leaves you with a ''What the hell did I just watch'' impression.

Overall, even if you're a fan of Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei I wouldn't recommend watching this, as these specials don't add anything at all to the series as there's no plot at all, and it won't leave you a good impression at all (something the ending of the TV series most likely did). To be honest, this just felt like a waste of time, but at least the episodes were short.

Scorings:

Story (1/10): the 'mini-stories' told in the episodes are pretty stupid and aren't even explained (if they were, they could had been at least somewhat interesting)

Art (7/10): the art is more or less the same as in the TV series, though there is much less symbolism, there are no 'real images' and it feels a bit duller in general.

Sound (4/10): while the voice acting is what we are used to, the conversations are pretty shallow and uninteresting, the sound effects less common (as in there aren't many), and the background music unimpressive. There are also no OP/ED themes.

Character (4/10): while the characters are the same as in the main series, there's no development and they do silly things just for the hell of it.

Enjoyment (4/10): the only thing that is enjoyable of the specials is that you can get some laughs because of the ridiculous stuff that happens, but other than that, the specials are forgettable.

Overall: 4/10