Manga Village

When Roman architect Lucius is criticized for his “outdated” thermae designs, he retreats to the local bath to collect his thoughts. All Lucius wants is to recapture the Rome of earlier days, when one could enjoy a relaxing bath without the pressure of merchants and roughhousing patrons. Slipping deeper into the warm water, Lucius is suddenly caught in the suction and dragged through the drainage at the bottom of the bath! He emerges coughing and sputtering amid a group of strange-looking foreigners with the most peculiar bathhouse customs…over 1,500 years in the future in modern-day Japan! his contemporaries wanted him t modernize, and so, borrowing the customs of these mysterious bath-loving people, Lucius opens what quickly becomes the most popular new bathhouse in Rome — THERMAE ROMAE By Mari Yamazaki Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Historical/Comedy Price: $34.99 When I first heard about Thermae Romae, I thought the premise was ridiculous, and couldn’t sustain itself for more than a few chapters. I have never been more wrong about a title in my life. It turned out to be a funny story with fascinating cultural elements. Thermae Romae is the story of Lucius Modestus, a bathhouse engineer who…

When their high school’s pop-music club is about to be disbanded due to lack of interest, four girls step up to fill the membership quota. Unfortunately, lead guitarist Yui Hirasawa has never played an instrument in her life. Ever. And although she likes the idea of being in a band, standing in front of the mirror posing with her guitar is a lot easier than actually playing it. It’s gonna be a while before this motley crew is rocking out, but with their spunk and determination cranked to 11, anything is possible! By: Kakifly Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Young Adult Genre: Comedy Price: $11.99 Enjoying tea, friendship, cake, and sometimes picking up their instruments to play Kakifly’s K-on! is a 4 panel manga about four girls coming together to create a pop-music club. This slice of life series shows the struggles the girls face with both creating the pop-music club and maintaining it’s existence; through recruiting new members and showing their worth to the school through putting on a show. The color pages throughout the volume are a lovely addition to the volume. Though the girls didn’t play their instruments that much throughout the first volume, enjoyable nonetheless, the…