Geek of Oz

Thermae Romae is an ambitious film which has one of the most peculiar premises I have seen in a long time. Set in Ancient Rome (128 AD), we meet Lucius (Hiroshi Abe), a frustrated architect who wants to return Rome’s bathhouses to their former glory. Whilst taking a bath, Lucius is sucked through a small hole which transports him to a modern-day bath house in Japan. Amazed by the inventive aspects of Japan’s bathing culture, Lucius returns to Ancient Rome and becomes somewhat of a celebrity as he implements the modern day ideas in Rome. Whilst travelling back and forth, Lucius is assisted by an aspiring artist Mami (Aya Ueto) which results in a very funny and thoroughly entertaining film. I was immediately impressed by the production design of this film, directed by Hideki Takeuchi. The opening sequence shows Lucius and a friend making their way through crowded market places and intricate alleyways all of which invest in hundreds of extras on screen at any time. This gives the fil...

The anime industry has a tendency to take itself far too seriously, especially considering that at the end of the day, we're talking about cartoons. Thankfully, every now and then a series like Thermae Romae comes along and exerts humility through overt silliness and proves what should be blindingly obvious, anime should be fun. In Rome in the year 128 AD, a Roman named Lucius Modestus is having trouble coming up with ideas for architecture. While contemplating in a bathhouse, he discovers a strange drain than sends him to a bathhouse in Modern Japan. While confused by his surroundings, he becomes amazed by some of their innovations, such as fruit flavored milk. Taking these ideas back to Rome, he incorporates these ideas into a new bathhouse to great success. A year later, Lucius is commissioned by a sickly man to build an outdoor bath near Vesuvius. While inspecting a heated well, Lucius is once again sent to modern Japan, this time winding up in a hot spring, wher...