Thermae Romae

In ancient Rome, renowned architect Lucius is down on his luck. He has been fired because his style of buildings is unfashionable, and all the bathhouses in the city are noisy, boisterous places that no longer prioritize relaxation. To get some peace and quiet, he sinks below the surface of the water, the only place where his fellow bathers' chatter can't reach him, but a powerful drain pulls him into the depths! Upon emerging, he finds himself in a vastly different bathhouse, and though the architect believes it's just the slaves' quarter, he's actually been pulled through time to modern-day Japan! Now, armed with knowledge of these strange new baths, Lucius is determined to restore his reputation and revolutionize the Roman bathing culture!

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Reviews

Ancient Roman architect Lucius Modestus accidentally (and repeatedly) time travels to modern day Japan, where he tries to copy Japanese inventions/bathing culture in order to impress the ancient Romans once he returns home. It's a pretty weird concept, which starts out fantastically but gradually gets less interesting as the novelty factor wears off. It kind of feels like Yamazaki ran out of ideas, since some of the later scenarios barely have anything to do with bathing (namely, the chapter with the lady gyrating on a giant dick statue. Ok then)- kind of surprising that this has reached 5 volumes in Japan.It's basically just a gag manga, though- character growth is non-existent and there's just the bare minimum of plot continuity to make this a cohesive story. Considering this, the fancy treatment it's getting from Yen Press (oversized hardcover, complete with color pages, glossy paper, and a spiffy mostly-translucent slipcover) is pretty weird, but appreciated- it looks amazing.

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