Tatami Time Machine Blues

Maybe it's because I've been seeking a respite from today's awful war, political, and legal news, but TATAMI TIME MACHINE BLUES is a breath of fresh sci-fi/comedy air.

We follow a young college student living in a delipidated apartment building as he and a band of fellow students eke out an existence in the sweltering heat of a Japanese summer. His trials and tribulations, despite their seemingly outlandish nature-for example, a time machine plays a pivotal plot role-seem remarkably familiar due to the exceedingly clever and realistic nature of how different personalities and their foibles are portrayed.

Augmenting this is a fresh and vibrant animation style that combines color, movement, and abstract representations of the real world in refreshing and inventive ways. As an added attraction, the closing song is fresh, bubbly, and sweet (I've added it to my "jaunty" Apple Music playlist).