Forum - View topicREVIEW: Thermae Romae GN 1
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Setsura1
Posts: 261 |
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Very Interesting series! Wanted to read more but couldn't find more than 3 chapters on the net. Will have to pick up the book at some point.
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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At six half-episodes the Thermae Romae Anime was highly enjoyable, even with its budget animation and repetitive formula. I'm not sure how long the story could be stretched out and still kept interesting, though it sounds like the Manga manages to do so without too much difficulty.
And US$35 for a single volume of Manga? Man that's expensive, even if it is a hardcover with glossy pages. |
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SuperSaiyen312
Posts: 27 |
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Indeed, it was actually a good anime. |
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Keichitsu0305
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Speaking of which, here's the cover of Vol. 1 in Japan. Cen Personally, I didn't like the anime because of the poor, listless Flash animation and the inclusion of Anachronism jokes (why was there a guy wearing an Ultraman mask in the 120s C.E?) The manga, while repetitive with the whole "go to Japan, take neat idea, and bring it back to Rome" plot, has great premise. A man who comes from a "superior race" steals the ideas of the "lesser class" and uses it to become incredibly wealthy. You can plug that idea in any time period where a very common practice among one group of people is exploited and marketed by another. The art is also worth the high price. The architecture, interior spaces, varied age and body types, and even facial expressions are distinctive from each other without having characters look like a carbon copy of each other. I'm also glad they included notes about certain bathing performance of the Ancient Romans and how that parallels with Japanese bathing. Glad I bought it (and yeah, I might let my Dad borrow it). |
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SuperSaiyen312
Posts: 27 |
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I think you're the only one that feels this way. lol Edit: Wait, what Utraman mask? |
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here-and-faraway
Posts: 1529 Location: Sunny California |
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This title has been on my amazon wishlist forever and the review has pushed me further to get it... It's half off right now ($17.49) on amazon. Very tempting...
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skafreak51
Posts: 212 |
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Technically, it's the first two volumes of the series in one book. Yeah, it's a bit expensive- I had mine preordered for a while on amazon, so I wound up getting it for I think around $18 once it finally shipped =X |
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Keichitsu0305
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This guy from Episode 1. |
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marie-antoinette
Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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I definitely want to pick this one up but I'll admit, the price has scared me off a few times. I'll definitely get around to it but it needs to be a more purposeful buy than most I make, if that makes sense.
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Snomaster1
Subscriber
Posts: 2918 |
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I read the review of "Thermae Romae" and the reviewer had said that the manga's creator didn't do American bathing habits. I'm not terribly surprised by this. There isn't a lot of public bathing in America. There used to be some Turkish baths here but they were closed down a long time ago when AIDS became a public health problem.
We tend to bathe in private here. And no,I didn't forget that this is a Japanese manga and that this is completely a Japanese affair. I just thought I'd throw in my own two cents into the discussion. Last edited by Snomaster1 on Thu Dec 14, 2017 12:33 am; edited 1 time in total |
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lys
Encyclopedia Editor
Posts: 1017 Location: mitten-state |
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Mari Yamazaki did move to Chicago after starting the series, so it is possible she might share some thoughts on US bathing practices in the future (it'd be out of place in the main series, but maybe in one of her essays)...
I didn't have much interest in this series, until I read it. Then I decided it was awesome :) And then I went to Japan and experienced the baths for myself (even home baths were really nice, compared to what I'm used to!), and I was quickly won over to the "Yay Japan!"-ness of the series. Baths are great :D |
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here-and-faraway
Posts: 1529 Location: Sunny California |
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What did you like about it? I'm really on the fence about whether or not to purchase it. Thanks! |
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EireformContinent
Posts: 977 Location: Łódź/Poland (The Promised Land) |
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Sorry for off-topic, but how are they related? And real Turkish baths have very little in common with sitting in the water, since Muslim culture highly value running water. I'd rather compare hammams I've been to to long sections of saunas. Who haven't been in public bath doesn't know what life is. I wonder what characters of the manga would say about sulphur heaven of baths in Tibilisi or old class of Gellert baths. |
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RestLessone
Posts: 1426 Location: New York |
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I don't know too much about public baths, but remember some tidbits from history class. One must remember that, at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, people were unsure of how it was transmitted. There was a huge scare. Furthermore, gays were being scapegoated as purveyors of AIDS and gay bathhouses were blamed for the spread. It should be noted, of course, that the goal of a gay bathhouse is to provide a venue for sex, so it's not the same as the average public bath. In any case, they suffered. The public didn't like them, and I imagine they lost business as people became wary of contracting the virus. Until then, the common STDs weren't permanent; they were something that could be fixed with medication. Honestly, I have only really heard of gay bathhouses in the US. Even back then, I don't think public bathing was big. If any exist, they'd probably be of the Turkish/running water variety. |
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enurtsol
Posts: 14889 |
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"Don’t Forget Your ‘Wrap Towel’! Our Female Reporter Experiences Japanese Mixed Public Bathing for the First Time" (Note: for some reason, ANN's phpBB keeps re-correcting d-o-n-t in the URL to d-o-n-'-t and that messes up the URL link.)
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