Bubble Fiction: Boom or Bust (Movie)

How do you make failed economic policy into a funny, futuristic comedy? Bubble Fiction, a new movie by Yasuo Baba, does it with a fake funeral, a time machine, and a cast of silly happy characters. In 1990, the Ministry of Finance announced a new fiscal policy that led to the infamous bubble burst that drove Japan into a long recession. 17 years later, research reveals that things are getting to bad that the country will be driven into the ground within two years. Not good!

Luckily, a woman scientist accidentally modded a yellow Hitachi washer into a time machine—and she's gone back to the days preceding the doomsday announcement to try to prevent it from happening. But when she disappears after a couple of days in the past, her daughter goes back to investigate what happened.

The best thing about this movie is the exaggerated depiction of pre-recession Japan. The girl, who was buried in debt in the 21st century, finds herself hundreds of thousands of yen richer after just one night in the 90s. She ends the evening saying to herself, "I love the bubble!"

Bubble Fiction was fun in that uniquely Japanese way, positive, silly, and amazingly good for an airplane movie.