"Thermae" - a public bathing establishment of the ancient Greeks or Romans.
This series is about that.
This show was really big on the cultural appreciation of Japanese bath culture. You get to explore how sophisticated and wonderful culture. Lucius, our MC, sure did have a great time appreciating every bit.
Every episode, you get to learn some rules and quirks about Public Bathing (like drinking Fruit Milk after a bath as an unspoken rule and maintaining etiquette inside the bath). You get to see Lucius explore and get inspiration from these modern-day inventions to bring to his fellow Romans. It's beautiful.
There are no "hateable" characters here. There was no actual "villain" in this series. If anything, Lucius' enemy was "art block." So don't expect some action scenes here. Just smile and laugh at Lucius' fascination and wondrous appreciation as he brings this to his people.
The music is great. The suspense, thrill, excitement, and other feelings were conveyed perfectly with the help of music. The art is.. well ok? I mean, there are shots/scenes that are beautiful. But some scenes are mixed with a bit of CGI. The background characters would move so fluidly while the characters in the foreground would move with certain frames per second. You can tell easily which one is CGI and which is not. I am not really against the use of CGI in anime. It's just that it's very obvious to not point out. But that did not hinder me from enjoying the show.
Towards the end of every episode, we get to hang out with the author of Thermae Romae, Mari Yamazaki. Yamazaki-sensei to experience the wonders of Public bathing. Explore the history of the bathhouses in Japan while experiencing second-hand relaxation. It's basically Yamazaki-sensei geeking out with public baths and their historical value and stuff and an awesome sketch every end of the episode made by yours truly! (also Tsuda Kenjiro is also narrating it, and that's a huge plus)
I am a sucker when it comes to Cultural Appreciation - kind of media. I'm also a sucker for Tsuda Kenjiro. Plus, I've been studying Greco-Roman history for school, and seeing some references to Roman Gods and the founders of Rome in it made me chuckle. This show tugged my heart. I even did a standing ovation at every end of the episodes lololol.
I don't have a bathtub in our home. We don't have a local bathhouse too. This show made me more eager to go to Japan to try their bathhouses. Or any bathhouse in the world. I would be ecstatic to try an actual Thermae.
Hey Lucius? Yes please build me one. Thank you
