The historical comedy Thermae Romae series by Mari Yamazaki has officially announced a sequel manga titled Zoku Thermae Romae. It is set to begin serialization on Shueisha’s Shonen Jump+ website and app on February 6, 2024. The front page for new series’ first chapter has been released as well.
The sequel will follow the story of the main character, Roman architect Lucius, 20 years after the conclusion of the first series. Moreover, it will also bring light about the fate of his Japanese wife Satsuki, as well as his work under the reign of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius.
Thermae Romae‘s original manga was published on Enterbrain and ran from 2008 to 2013 in Comic Bean magazine. An English release for the manga was licensed by Yen Press for North America distribution, describing the plot as:
When Roman architect Lucius is criticized for his “outdated” thermae designs, he retreats to the local bath to collect his thoughts.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 to 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!
A flash anime adaptation of the title aired from January 12-January 26, 2012. Said adaptation was animated by DLE and aired on Fuji TV. It was followed by a film adaptation of the title, released in Japan on April 28, 2012. It was directed by Hideki Takeuchi. A new anime adaptation titled Thermae Romae Novae was animated by NAZ and directed by Tetsuya Tatamitani, with Yuichiro Momose serving as the series’ scriptwriter. It was released globally by Netflix on March 28, 2022 and was composed of 11 episodes.
Source: Shonen Jump+ Website
©Mari Yamazaki/Shueisha