"Summer Time Machine Blues" - Review

A group of friends are part of the "Sci-Fi Club", not because they are fans of science fiction, but because the recreation room has the only working air conditioning unit in the school. After a baseball game, a few strange events occur, culminating in the remote control for the air conditioning unit breaking. Despondent, all seems lost... But when a time machine arrives, accompanied by a strange boy in a bowl haircut, the gang get an idea: they can use this time machine to return to the past, retrieve the remote before it was broken, and resume sitting pretty in an air conditioned room! Unfortunately, time travel has consequences...

It took me way too long to realise that this title was a pun. This movie is delightful. A tight, sharply written adaptation of a stage play, and a sweet ensemble piece about teenagers on a hot day. The time travel is wound like a tight spring, coming to a satisfying ending with a neat bow up on top, and the performances, whilst broad, are good. The always lovely Juri Ueno (from "Swing Girls", side note: please watch "Swing Girls", that's a great movie) is a welcome standout, and lead actor Eita anchors it sweetly. The Professor is a fun character too. It's saturated with the brightness of the sunshine, and simply staged, but its small scale and low stakes plot are endearing. I really rather enjoy this as a light hearted affair, and it's perfectly harmless, witty afternoon viewing.