Mondays: See You 'This' Week! is a 2022 Japanese comedy directed by Ryō Takebayashi and written by Saeri Natsuo and Ryō Takebayashi.
Akemi Yoshikawa wakes up on her office chair. Several coworkers of hers wake up as well. They slept in the office, even though it's a Monday: the 25th of Octobernote . She works in an advertising company, and has a deadline for this morning.
Two coworkers of hers try to tell her something: they think they are all trapped in a time loop, and that the week keeps repeating itself. They think this is related to the boss, who is afraid of ageing. Now everyone in the company must realize that they are stuck in a time loop, and work together to solve the curse. Making the boss understand the situation will be one of the hardest tasks, because he didn't wake up in the office on Monday.
Mondays: See You 'This' Week! provides examples of the following tropes:
- Benevolent Boss: While the film shows that his employees have to work super hard (to the point that they sleep in their office and don't leave on weekends), it doesn't seem to be the boss' fault. He is generally friendly and acts bravely when things go dramatic.
- Building of Adventure: Almost all of the film is set in the same office, made of a main room and a meeting room. However a few scenes do happen outside, as the protagonist has a short interview in a different company.
- Genre Savvy: Takuto Endо̄ and Ken Murata (the two coworkers of Akemi Yoshikawa who were aware of the time loop before her) have studied time loops (they even drop titles like Groundhog Day and All You Need Is Kill). They think the time loop is caused by a curse, and make some guesses about the cause of the curse.
- "Groundhog Day" Loop: The week of Monday, the 25th of October keeps repeating itself. At some point on Sunday afternoon the characters fall asleep or something, then wake up and its Monday again. Those who are aware of the time loop seem to remember many things, while those who are unaware don't remember anything. If asked whether they feel like the week keeps repeating itself, they will take it as a joke about their work being repetitive.
- Pulled from Your Day Off: Most characters won't leave for the weekend. They have a deadline for Monday.
- Red Herring: Takuto Endо̄ and Ken Murata are a bit Genre Savvy. They think the boss is the protagonist of the story, and that the cause of the curse is a bracelet he wears. They think the curse will stop if he destroys his own bracelet. They are wrong.
- Running Gag: People keep asking things like "Have you noticed this week feels like it's repeating?". People who are not aware of the time loop treat this as small talk.
- Time Loop Fatigue: Everyone who is aware of the time loop wants it to stop. They are working super hard, and have to do everything again. They are also worried that if they manage to get out of the loop, they may get into trouble if they have spent the whole week trying to solve the curse instead of doing their work.
- White Collar Worker: Everyone in this film works in that advertising company.
