Review by smoothrunner

Cute and original (peculiar drawing style and presentation) anime with good SF roots. Despite the comedy and surrealism of the narrative, "Tatami Time Machine Blues" clearly shows the optimism of classic 1950s science fiction. It is seems to be by influenced by both Young's "The Dandelion Girl" and Heinlein's "The Door into Summer" which are some of the most popular SF stories in Japan. Tomihiko Morimi's attitude to the "paradox of time" is the same as that of Young and Heinlein. Or, if you like, the same as that of Boethius. However, the tone differs both from the lyrical "The Dandelion Girl" and from the melodramatic adventure "The Door Into Summer". The slightly absurd "Blues" is not as serious, but much more cheerful and "light" than its literary inspirations. Immersing the protagonist (and a viewer) into an openly meaningless, comically absurd world, the author carefully leads him past the ridiculous monsters inhabiting chaos, gradually streamlining the surrounding reality and leading to a romantic and optimistic ending that triumphs over chaos and absurdity. The seemingly disparate cacophony of sounds is woven into a blues improvisation. A wonderful work that clearly stands out from the gray background of the rest of the anime.