It's the summer, and a group of sci-fi geeks (who never actually READ sci-fi) still convene in their clubroom even though college classes don't start for another month. One particular day, objects go missing and strange conversations take place. When one of the members named Takuma returns from buying tickets to a B-Movie (hoping a girl from the photography club will come with him), his friends ask him to explain something very confusing, which causes a chain reaction of people falling over and coke getting spilled on their beloved air-conditioner remote. This is very bad, considering it's been very hot out, and will only get hotter.
To make things even weirder, a boy who appears even geekier than the whole group combined (whom the club members later dub "Mushroom") shows up and freaks out after discovering he's in the sci-fi room, leaving a strange looking machine behind. What is it? Why, a time machine! But who made it, and why is it there? Does it actually work, or is it an elaborate joke? After accidentally trying it out and finding it's very much real, the boys learn they can travel up to 99 years forward or backward. With almost limitless possibilties on what could be done with this foreign technology, they practically decide to go to yesterday and steal the air-conditioner remote so it will never be broken in the first place. Simple as pie, right?
You know when a character obsesses over a missing bottle of Vidal Sassoon, and another brings a giant penguin to the clubroom to be a mascot, you're in for quite a ride! The people involved in the story quickly learn that trying to alter even the smallest things about the past (like a remote) will have large consequences. As the chosen travelers try to avoid meeting up with themselves and make things worse, the others befriend the oddly dressed boy from a time yet to come. While the mess they created from this one innocent task can be confusing, it actually comes together quite smartly (and you won't have to try to figure it all out for hours or days afterward, so no worries). There are also shoutouts to other time travel movies such as Back to the Future (pay attention to when Takuma goes to the movie theater). And take heart, Hollywood cliche weary, for though the cast is mostly youthful there aren't any fart jokes or other too-crude humorisms.
I've been wanting to see this since I saw an ad for it at the back of a magazine in 2005 - and now I got my chance! I don't really have any nitpicks with this film, so if you're looking for a really fun, intelligent comedy to cool off with on a hot summer day, check it out. Be sure to keep any liquids out of the room.
Trailer
Buy Movie [has English subtitles!]
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