One property that delighted a lot of fans over the past decade or so was the Tatami Galaxy anime series. We learned earlier this year that fans are going to be able to get to the source as HarperVia will be publishing the original 2004 novel in the fall of 2022 with plans for the sequel novel in the summer of 2023. That alone was fantastic news.
Then, in August 2020, the Noitamina anime block dropped a promo that revealed that the sequel novel, Tatami Time Machine Blues, is going to get a TV anime adaptation. The project met a planned September 30th, 2022 debut with a scheduled three-week run for the theatrical side.
The compilation film was also being reformatted to a five-episode run on Disney+ Japan on September 14th, 2022 with it being released weekly. It’s also going to have a sixth episode that will stream on the service on October 12th, 2022 that isn’t from the theatrical compilation film.
Now, the series run is being set as a home video release from TOHO. The distributor has set a December 20th, 2023 release for it where the DVD is priced at 8,800 yen and the Blu-ray at 9,800 yen. The releases come with a booklet, promos, commercials, and an audio commentary.
Setsuji Satoh is coming back to play Aijima while Chikara Honda is coming back to play Tamura-kun from the Summer Time Machine Blues stage play and live-action film. We knew previously that main cast will be returning with Shintarō Asanuma as the lead, Maaya Sakamoto as Akashi, Hiroyuki Yoshino as Ozu, Junichi Suwabe as Jōgasaki, and Yuko Kaida as Hanuki. One change was revealed last October that Kazuya Nakai will voice Higuchi as he replaces the late Keiji Fujiwara.
The series is planned to be directed by Shingo Natsume based on the scripts by Makoto Ueda. Yusuke Nakamura is on board for the character designs. Science SARU is set to handle the animation production.
Check out our review of the series and our Ten Years Later retrospective.
While the series saw a home video release in Australia from Siren Visual, Beez Entertainment released it on DVD in the UK previously, and recently a Blu-ray release from Anime Limited, Funimation only ever streamed it in North America. No dub was produced for it either.
Known as Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei in Japan, the show ran in the spring 2010 season for 11 episodes as produced by Madhouse. The series was directed by Masaaki Yuasa, who also did script with Makoto Ueda and storyboard work, while Nobutake Itou served as the character designer and chief animation director working from Yūsuke Nakamura’s original designs. It was an original work created by Tomihiko Morimi.
Plot Concept: When a college dropout stops for a late night bite at a mysterious ramen stand, he crosses paths with a self-proclaimed deity of matrimony. This bizarre meeting sends the young man hurtling through a horrifying flashback to his not-so-glorious college days when the influence of a cruel new friend turned him from a hopeless romantic into a mischievous “black cupid.”
[Source: Tatami Time Machine Blues]
