"A short three-episode Flash-based adaptation of Yamazaki Mari’s comedic manga, which is about a Roman architect named Lucius who finds himself in 20th century Japan after getting sucked away at a thermae (public bath). It will be airing in the noitaminA time slot for three weeks before Black Rock Shooter takes over." -RandomC
Genre: Comedy, historical, seinen, slice of life
Episodes: 6 (or 3 officially, but the eps seems to be split in two half-lengths in all the fansubs)
Links: AniDB, ANN, Official
Download:
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This is one of the better shows this season in my opinion. It's also clear why the manga won an award. Of course this is a highly unconventional show in many respects: The graphics are quite seinen indeed and the animation is next to nonexistent. The show is more like talking heads than what one would think of when hearing the word anime. In that sense it's perhaps for the best the eps were cut to half the original length. However, the story and dialogue more than make up for it. And who knows, maybe this format actually serves the story the best; it kind of suits the ancient Rome feeling nicely, perhaps better than fluid animation would.
I'll make an exception here and won't study the VA casts. There are no moe girls in this show, nor anything else that would serve anything for fanboys. However, the voice acting seems very good, which is also essential since this is mainly talking head action. The script cuts no corners, which is again essential. How the genuine Roman man calls the Japanese is both funny and very believable in a historical context, however outrageous in modern terms.
RandomC didn't seem thrilled, but I'll keep watching this for sure.
