Tag Archives: mari yamazaki

Thermae Romae

Posted on by

Thermae Romae

A manga about an ancient Roman bathhouse architect Lucius, who time travels to modern Japan and gets inspired by their bathing customs and advancements.

We’ve discussed this on an old episode.

Here it is! Mari Yamazaki‘s hit comedy that led her to do other historical Roman and Greek manga like PLINIVS and Olympia Kyklos. The premise is so zany but fun, it’s an intersection between historical edutainment and a reverse isekai. I revisited this after Yamazaki teased Lucius’ return in Olympia Kyklos and it’s still as hilarious as ever.

You can buy digital English language omnibuses from Yen Press.

~dakazu

318 – One Shot 31 – Venus in the Blind Spot

Posted on by

318 – One Shot 31 – Venus in the Blind Spot

We’re wrapping up October Extravaganza with the master of manga horror himself, Junji Ito! We’re reviewing his latest collection of spooky stories in Venus in the Blind Spot! Join us as we discuss our favorite stories from the book and share our admiration for Ito himself!!!

Continue reading →

Olympia Kyklos

Posted on by

Olympia Kyklos

A manga about an athletic ancient Greek vase artist, Demetrios, who time warps to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and becomes inspired from learning about field days, Olympic marathons, manga, and professional wrestling.

We’ve discussed this manga on a recent episode.

I think this manga is great but considering I’m a big fan of Mari Yamazaki it’s not surprising. This series is more lighthearted and comedy oriented so it’s closer to Thermae Romae than PLINIVS. I said it on the podcast as well but considering this manga covers Osamu Tezuka‘s Phoenix and professional wrestling, Olympia Kykylos might as well be the official representative of Manga Machinations.

~dakazu

294 – Manga in Motion 43 – Paranoia Agent

Posted on by

294 – Manga in Motion 43 – Paranoia Agent

On this episode dakazu finds the perfect manga for Manga Machinations with Olympia Kyklos and learns that Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 isn’t completely terrible. Then we cancel Carl Jung and the collective unconsciousness as we breakdown Satoshi Kon’s Paranoia Agent!!!

Continue reading →

PLINIVS

Posted on by

PLINIVS

A manga about the life of Gaius Plinius Secundus or Pliny the Elder. He was a Roman philosopher and the father of the Encyclopedia.

Mari Yamazaki has experience with Roman characters in her comedy Thermae Romae and with biographies in her adaptation of Steve Jobs. Apparently she really wanted to draw a serious story about Roman times and thought Pliny was a perfect subject. It’s co-created with Miki Tori. 

I really liked this book but it was a little difficult to follow all the characters and politics happening. The plot follows both Plinius and the Roman Emperor of the time Nero so there’s a lot of backstabbing and scheming drama. I will say Yamazaki has a unique skill in making real life people like Nero or Steve Wozniak very cute.

I plan on reading more!

~dakazu

204 – One Shot 15 – Nijigahara Holograph

Posted on by

204 – One Shot 15 – Nijigahara Holograph

On this episode we review Inio Asano’s Nijigahara Holograph! Will dakazu, Darfox, and Seamus be able to decipher this strange story?

Continue reading →