In the boiling heat of summer, a broken remote control for an air conditioner threatens life as we know it in this reality-bending, time-slipping sequel to The Tatami Galaxy. During a scorching August in Kyoto, our protagonist and his worst friend, Ozu, are locked in a glaring contest in a four-and-a-half-tatami-mat room. Ozu has spilled Coke on the air conditioner’s remote control—the only AC in Shimogamo Yusuisuiso, their famously shabby sweatbox of an apartment building. Vengeful and despairing, our protagonist discusses countermeasures with his secret crush, the reliably blunt Akashi, when Tamura, a strange young man with a bad haircut, appears. Tamura claims to be a time traveler from 25 years in the future, and shows off the time machine he uses to travel. Our protagonist has a brilliant the sweetest revenge would be to go back one day in time and retrieve the functioning remote control. His simple fix is complicated by Ozu and several others who are also eager to take a ride back in time. But in attempting to alter the past, our protagonist foresees the world's extinction. Even more troublingly, Akashi mentions she’s bringing someone to the upcoming bonfire . . . and it's not him. Only one thing remains it's going to be a very long month. Obliteration? Salvation? Coca-Cola? Castella cake? What does the time machine hold for our (not quite) heroes? It all depends on which one gets there first. Translated from the Japanese by Emily Balistrieri
When I first listened to The Tatami Galaxy, I wasn’t a particularly a fan or a hater. It was truly one of the more bizarre experiences I’ve ever had with a book. On one hand, the plot and characters were pretty repetitive and didn’t grab me. On the other, the characters are incredibly distinct and realized, and the plot’s complexities masked in repetition become more and more unspooled and clear the more you dive in. As time has gone on, I’ve found my other hand to be the one holding the correct answers, so much so that I have considered going back and bumping the book up a star and maybe even re-reading the book.
This book, The Tatami Time Machine Blues, has solidified all of those decisions. The story unfolds with a much easier plot device to begin with, but it functions like a door to a maze. Once you’re in the thick of this book, it starts to go crazy in the best way. Through all of this insanity is the same crew of characters from the previous book, and once again, they are distinct in all their troubled, jaded, stupid, wicked, over-thinking ways. If you put them in any scenario, I could probably tell you exactly how they’d react, so to put them in THIS plot? It makes platinum out of gold.
I’ll be back for this one again. There’s not any book I’ve read quite like it except the first one. It’s an awesome little book.
In the realm of science fiction time travel stories that we are familiar with, The Tatami Time Machine Blues was a rompy read. Quirky, fun, colourful yet simple, the time travel aspects in here was actually letting you appreciate the whole youthfullness and chances to be taken to enjoy the life as it is.
Following our unnamed narrator as he reiterates the day of from the broken aircond remote led to them stuck broiling in the sweltering hot four mat tatami room, the bickering between friends as ideas thrown out of a man time travelled back to the period era spawned a trashy make film by his crush, Akashi thus bringing more of the colleagues to come and act the scenes to them discovering a time travel machine tatami board in his room. Its one hell of a bumpy ride of these college students travelling back to time - yesterday to be specific to ensure the remote doesnt get broken
Its funny how one act could lead to the changes on many others - a butterfly effect. Truly enjoyed how hilarious and funny this was because some of the characters are kind of dumbs in the theatrical sense yet the boarding house they lived must be a riot place to be in. The story is seamless in transition and how each scenes that played out once they time travel finally makes sense is what so satisfying to me.
Thank you to Times Reads for the review copy in exchange for an honest review
I was a teenager when I first watched "The Tatami Galaxy", and it proved to be a somewhat psychedelic experience in terms of its visual and endless stream of narration. It was also a preliminary introduction to the existentialist school of thought to my young teenage self.
Some of the themes brought up in that excellent show (recommended if you like deadpan humor and existentialism narratives) may have flown over my head when I was younger, so I was only too happy to learn that the translation of the novel the show had been based on was going to be released. Having read both "The Tatami Galaxy" & "The Tatami Time Machine Blues" when I'm in a more mature phase of my life, I can appreciate the dry and witty narrative all the more. The narrator is an acerbic pessimistic college student who's convinced that life would have been better if he had not done [action X] and had chosen [action Y] instead. In true Groundhog Day fashion, the narrator finds himself reliving an entire semester in alternate universes where he picks different choices in the belief that things will work out differently somehow.
The two books work as a standalone, but you'll gain more understanding of the second book if you read the first book beforehand. They act as a great balm for those who are nostalgic over their college/university days, where most of us were just learning the ways of the world and trying to make sense of it through our lens and things were simpler before we discovered otherwise. Whatever your takeaways are from the books, they do pose a great question of our belief in choices and whether they truly are choices or are they merely a product of an environment that has been engineered for us by a system that does its best to stay invisible.
I received a review copy courtesy of Times Reads & the publisher. All opinions are my own.
The Tatami Time Machine Blues by Tomihiko Morimi is a fun and unserious book about time travel. This book takes place in just two days and even then there's a lot of things going on—making sure that nothing gets out of place that will occur imbalances to the timeline.
Maybe I really should have read the first book first then perhaps, certain things might make sense. But even then, I was able to follow the story as it didn't seem to be continued from the first book. But seeing how fun this book ended up being, I really might consider picking it up.
You honestly really have to concentrate on every single thing. If not, it's really easy to get lost. For such a thin book, it's packed in a lot of punch.
All in all, this is such a wonderful read and it's a really simple plot about time travelling but the story is so unique. So, I recommend you to pick up this book.
At first, I thought the writing was awkward: it reminded me of a grade school writer (we all did this when we were young) discovering and overusing / misusing colorful adjectives to describe situations. But then three things happened as I was reading it. First, I realized that the awkwardness might be a side effect of the translation to English. Second, I started to get into it! Third, the plot started to get so wonderfully convoluted (it has a time travel plot), that it was fun to try to follow the logic of the events, which I couldn't by the end. But there were laugh-out-load moments and the book was short enough that it was pretty enjoyable. Someone should count how many times the phrase "four-and-a-half-mat tatami room" appears in the book! :-)
Read this in one sitting! Quirky and fun sci-fi book and such a quick and easy read! :) The imagery made it easy to imagine the characters going through their time-traveling journey! Really had a good time reading it.
Major thanks to NetGalley and HarperVia for an ARC of the book in exchange for my honest thoughts:
Watched 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘹𝘺 anime over summer to prepare for this and this was so much fun!
For fans of the story, I highly recommend this as a wonderful addition to the world-building involved, as we learn about where the time machine comes from and how it is made, how everyone feels about time and how they move through it together.
Though I don't think the translation is ultimately strong, it's a fun world to be in with the usual antics they fall into (thanks Ozu!).
First I want to preface that I still haven't watched the anime series, so I read this as a bit of an outsider. I did read the first book in the series and love the tidbits that get brought up from that book in this one, although this also feels as if it could be read as a standalone story. This has one of my least favorite time travel theories, the butterfly effect. In this case, that even stopping an air conditioner remote from being broken can have life altering impacts on the future. This is a lighthearted time travel story, and despite not loving the actual time travel aspect of the story, and overall I would still recommend picking this book up (especially if you've read the other one in the series).
Thanks to NetGalley and HarperVia for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.
It all starts with an Air Conditioner remote control. Ozu, the evil demon-looking youngster (and the protagonist's worst friend), has ruined the remote, an accident Ozu is unwilling to take the blame for, even though he's entirely at fault. The buttonless A/C is rendered useless.
The protagonist's four-and-a-half Tatami mat room is now as hot as the Taklamakan Desert!
The group of friends (purely by accident, mind you) encounters a Tatami Time Machine. It looks like an ordinary tatami mat, but the dials, buttons, and levers hint at something more fantastic.
A Plan forms in the protagonist's mind: return to yesterday and bring back the working remote! All friends agree, putting the plan in motion, that is, until they realize that changing something might rupture the time continuum, destroying the universe as they know it!
Going into the story, I had yet to learn what to expect. I love Japanese fiction/fantasy. So I dismissed the blurb, downloaded a copy of the novel, and dove right into it.
You usually follow one or two characters when watching or reading time-traveling fiction. Morimi takes this a few steps further: what would happen if a group of friends went back in time? Worst even: they have a mission but readily ignore it, and hijinks ensue.
This is a fun, uncomplicated novel with a splash of romance and sci-fi...but mostly a lot of soul.
If you're looking for a fast-paced, fun read, look no further: The Tatami Time Machine Blues is the one you should pick.
This book was so delightful! Apparently it is based on a play and is also an anime. I really like Japanese fiction because it has the tendency to go very surreal and poetic.
In the story, college students find a time machine, go back in time a day, and then spend the rest of the story making sure what should have happened, did happen.
I am knocking down one star however because the story started off a little slow, and the author drove me crazy with how many times he repeated the phrase , '4 1/2 mat tatami room'. There should be a limit on how many times you reference the same thing in my opinion. Overall a good read, and I'd recommend others to check it out.
A delightful (and tighter) jump from alternate realities to time travel.
+
“-Why am I with these people?- I wondered. Yet the whole scene was strangely nostalgic. I couldn't help but feel that I'd been present for a similar moment in the past. It was this intense feeling that everything was repeating itself-genuine déjà vu this time, I suppose.”
It’s really my fault. I really didn’t like the repetitive, overly goofy and flippantly pointless first book in the series. But, hey, this one is shorter, and surely there can be growth? Maybe a tighter scope can help? Not here. More annoying characters, cloying dialogue and looping plot points. One and a half stars, really.
oh my god??? was this...even better than the tatami galaxy?????? the characters feel more pinned down and likable, the references to the first book are so perfectly executed.. maybe it's partially that im so immersed, reading in my remote-air conditioned apartment in mid summer, but i enjoyed this immensely!
25% completed and I just didn't care about any of it. Maybe it was the audiobook format that wasn't working for me? The narrator voiced characters in an overdone way I've seen in anime. I think I probably just didn't have the right expectations. But also, nothing had happened in the first quarter of the story.
I really enjoyed the language in this book. It was witty and relatable and often made me laugh. I read it during the Australian summer in a house where not all the rooms have air conditioning, so it was easy to sympathise and relate to that particular theme.
What a great read for a day of being stuck inside, avoiding the cold. The cast shines greatly in each of their own unique ways, creating a fun romp of time traveling.
A fun, quick read! I enjoyed the funny, unserious take on time travel and keeping the timeline correct.
(I just realized submitting my review that this is a sequel book, so I'll have to grab book 1! Based upon the summary of book 1, I think book 2 gave a vague enough summary of the events that the characters met through that you don't need to read book 1?)
Quirky. Funny. Impossible to put down. The perfect mix of slice of life, philosophy, and sci-fi. I can’t wait to dig my teeth into more of Tomihiko Morimi’s books!