Anonymous commented in my review of the first two episodes of Toki wo Kakeruna, Koibitotachi that the director also did Summer Time Machine Blues. I was very sure I had seen it but I have not reviewed it so it was an opportunity to watch it again. Another time travel jmovie I remember is Bubble Fiction with Hirosue Ryoko and Abe Hiroshi. One day I will rewatch it.
Summer Time Machine Blues is set during a hot summer where members of a high school sci-fi club who share a club house with the photography club and unfortunately someone broke the remote control by spilling coke all over it and the students are unable to turn the air con on manually. Somehow the sci-fi club members find a time machine in the middle of their clubhouse and the movie is about their hijinks as they try to rewrite the past and save the air con remote.
Summer Time Machine Blues is very similar to Toki wo Kekuruna. Its got a low budget retro look, the humour is understated and I would say its a sci-fi comedy with a nostalgic filter. Kudos to the writer for making a movie mostly set in a school. However I did find the pacing a bit slow and it took a while before it got to the fun comedy bits of going to the past and trying to avoid your past selves. Of course you have your time travel paradoxes with the members finding out that they themselves were the originators of certain problems because of time travel.
I had to watch the movie in two parts and I much prefer the fast pace of Toki wo Kakeruna. It is funny watching young Eita, Maki Yoko and Ueno Juri in this 2005 jmovie. They look so freaking young. There is a strong teenage exuberance and innocence to this story but I did not find it fun and the pacing felt slow.
Ultimately I did not find Summer Time Machine Blues that fun. I don't dislike it but I much prefer Toki wo Kakeruna and I think the director's style suits 25 minute doramas rather than movies. Only watch if you want to see the above mentioned actors before they hit the big time. I think it is a cult classic bit the movie only gets a meh from me.
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