The Tatami Time Machine Blues

First of all, let me be clear here, this show is not a sequel for The Tatami Galaxy, but I highly recommend you to watch it to get the most out of this show. This review will be written in a way that assumes you have watched The Tatami Galaxy. This show was essentially a side story in the universe of “The Tatami Galaxy”, and for many fans of that show, this would be extremely nostalgic, seeing the likes of Watashi, Akashi, and Ozu back at it with their ridiculous shenanigans. At its core, this show revolves around the same aspects as the Tatami Galaxy did,themes about grasping what’s in front of you, and the fact that time only goes forward, and you can’t change your past mistakes. Though, where The Tatami Galaxy used a more philosophical approach to the whole time travel mechanics, Time Machine Blues uses it in a bit more of a comedic approach. In a nutshell, Watashi’s friend, Ozu, spills liquid onto the air conditioning remote in Watashi’s apartment, causing it to break down, and the characters have to find a way to fix it. Pretty dumb, I know, but for a show set in such a ridiculous universe to begin with, it works. The story is quite a lot to take in, and you have to keep up with the rapid speaking, but overall, it felt slightly slower paced than The Tatami Galaxy. Art-wise, it looks good, though it does lack the eccentricity of Yuasa’s style, but Shingo Natsume also worked under him for a while, so I did see some shades of that uniqueness, but not to Yuasa’s scale. The facial expressions are a joy to watch still. Character-wise, it’s very nostalgic, and everyone is quite eccentric in their own ways. Ozu is still extremely funny to watch at times, and each character has their own nice comedic bits to them. Thematically, it’s a bit all over the place, and it’s nowhere near as thought-provoking as The Tatami Galaxy, and that’s not the show’s goal. It serves a light hearted side story, and it does that well enough. Simply put, if you enjoyed The Tatami Galaxy, you’ll likely enjoy this as well. If you didn’t enjoy the original, then you won’t. This show was just a fun time, and there’s not much to take away from it other than that.

Though TTMB is suggested to be a sequel to the original Tatami series, it appears to be set in an alternate timeline/universe from the rest of the franchise and would probably still be enjoyable without having seen the original, though it's reliant upon the original series to introduce the characters, and it references past scenes regularly, as well as a segment from The Night is Short, Walk on Girl. The novelist behind the Tatami Galaxy series was inspired by Summer Time Machine Blues (I believe he is friends with the creator), and the plot is the same, with the main alteration being Morimi's quirks asa writer and his cast from Tatami Galaxy. It's mildly nonlinear for the first episode but quick and to the point while being well-paced enough to provide familiar characterization for all of the mains—especially Watashi, Ozu, and Akashi. While I personally haven't seen previous Tatami Galaxy installments recently, this new ONA holds up pretty well in terms of writing, direction, and most other technical aspects. Whereas Science Saru has been putting out "weird" or "flawed" series like Heike Monogatari, Yurei Deco (gross!), and a bunch of interesting looking but mostly average series or movies, especially with Masaaki Yuasa stepping down, this is actually reasonably faithful to the old Tatami Galaxy. Perhaps Yuasa's effort was better directed and better stylized, but Shingo Natsume is certainly no slouch and TTMB towers over other seasonal anime in terms of directing, storyboarding, etc. There's also very lively character acting. The series is just as distinct visually, making me think of some kind of (actually good) pop art with somewhat more muted tones and filtered with Japanese aesthetic sensibilities and literary trappings. It should be immediately familiar to fans, as we're thrust into the same stinky bowels of Watashi's apartment complex through POV shots, set to another Asian Kung-Fu Generation song that's just as nostalgic as the last (I wish I could say the same about the ED...). There's the same fast-talking narrator—hampered somewhat by the time travel gimmick—with typical witty dialogue and self-aware monologues, and since this is a time travel story, we get great lines like "I wanted to speak out in fierce opposition, but there's no point arguing with a man from yesterday." This is another one of those "film within a film" kind of series, so it's no surprise that the shot composition is stellar, and there's excellent visual language. I think those who are at all interested in the filmmaking process will find greater appeal in this series, as it briefly touches on the whole process of making a short film from the pre-production phase, to the scripting, directing, and conflict between crew and actors and awful environments and whatever other problems and disagreements that will arise. It's not long until the time travel shenanigans begin, for many seemingly irrelevant details are eventually reincorporated into the plot with significance. This does get a bit convoluted, as there are so many little cues from earlier episodes, whether they be humorous events or imagery, or entire scenes of dialogue or bizarre behavior. Many scenes you thought you understood will take on a new meaning, and we often revisit past scenes from new perspectives. Making it more complex, is that most time travel fiction I've seen focuses more heavily on either the time travelers or the normal characters, but TTMB blurs the lines almost completely. Despite the humor of it there is even a little fear and dread about what could happen. The tension of paradoxes offered by any good time travel story are there, though perhaps it's a little too exaggerated, which adds to the hilarity as they succumb to numerous assumptions and construct complex timelines. There's also a touch of the bittersweet and a similar philosophical perspective as you'd see with past iterations—it's just a little more diluted. Episode 5 offers what appears to be a conclusive ending, and episode 6 comes across almost as a disconnected special at first, providing a nice template for how Tatami Galaxy could regularly be cranked out as short stories, should the author wish to do so. Perhaps the tie-in is a little clumsy, but it's a great episode, and it does clear up a few loose threads, connects the entire plot together well, and reinforces Ozu's role as an instigator and supreme, though strangely lovable, bastard. It's far more solid than I think one could hope for with an unnecessary sequel, using a gimmicky and frequently visited story telling device such as time travel. It wasn't a needed or asked for sequel, but it's always fun to see a cast you've warmed up to get one more chance to flex their muscles with such aplomb.

Honestly, going into the tatami galaxy, I wasn't really interested. But, in a matter of seconds, I regret what I say. The tatami galaxy is awesome. It brings up a unique idea, and instantly gets the person watching in love with the show. The tatami time machine blues is no different. The tatami time machine blues is a much more different change from season one. It introduces a different idea, compared to the first season (if this is a sequel). It's a really simple and fun idea. The writers know what they're doing, because this was incredibly entertaining. The concept, humour, etc. Honestly, I was pretty disappointedthat Madhouse wasn't going to animate this. Science SARU had surprised me though. The visuals were the same, which had got me pleased that there wasn't a new style (or different looking style). Sometimes, the dialogue isn't as fast as the first season's used to be. Sure, this was one of the issues I had. Higuchi's voice is weird. But still, I think it's good enough. The voice actor for the first season had sadly died in 2020, meaning that Higuchi had to be voiced by someone else. Sad, but nothing people can do. Other than that, I really loved how Science SARU sticked to the voice actors from season one. Watashi's voice is still great, even after 12 years. Ozu's voice too. The music? Good. The music was a bit unappealing at first, but I got used to it. The intro bangs. Ed slaps. Definitely a subpar version compared to the first season, but I still liked it. The sound effects are great. No issues at all with it. The sound effects fit well for what the characters are doing. I enjoyed the tatami time machine blues, of course. Great humour, good animation, great concept, etc. basically the things I've mentioned before. I'd highly recommend you this, especially for people who have been waiting 12 years for a sequel to the tatami galaxy. It's a really fun and engaging sequel.

If you liked The Tatami Galaxy, then this will be a nice little romp with the fun group you liked before with a couple alterations (Jogasaki is a little more aggro than usual) and it'll be a great time. If you haven't seen Tatami Galaxy, this is a good shorter step into the themes of the series, and if you enjoy it then I can't recommend the original enough! If you hated it, then I cannot help you at this time. Striking visuals, great humor, interesting and mind-bending plot, fun characters I loved to see again, and all in a concise package of 6 slightlyshorter episodes. Very much stands on its own, but much better with the added context of Tatami Galaxy. I loved it, but it wasn't as groundbreaking as the original so it gets a little less than perfect from me. Glad it exists!