And funnily enough, the movie isn't really about time travel.
It's a bad sign when all of the "original" films in hollywood are just mediocre remakes of other sci-fi and anime. Same goes for Inception.
There are only seven stories, and the ancient Greeks already told them. Everything else is just a remake of something several thousand years old.
I don't think I recall it from earlier things, and I'd be happy to know about them.
Unless your meant "mise en abyme is a trope", which, well of course it is.
As far as I remember paprika only just deal with the entering someone's dreams, which is a way more broad, and thus common, topic.
But I have only seen the animation, maybe it was in the book, or I remember incorrectly?
It's the same difference as having a virus that changes behaviour (e.g. switch which hand people use best) and the black plague: while technically they may be the same thing I wouldn't equate them.
I guess this highlights how things are susceptible to interpretation, thanks for taking time to answer.