Mari Yamazaki, creator of the historical time travel hot spring comedy manga Thermae Romae, recently announced her new Thermae Minerva VTuber project, which will be featured on her SeiGradi YouTube channel. Yamazaki herself will be hosting under the persona of the ancient Roman Minerva Cacumen Montis, as she explores a variety of topics, which include ancient Rome, modern Italy, the country’s food culture, and, of course, hot springs.
The first Thermae Minerva video delves into Minerva’s backstory (she used to live in Pompeii between 1160 and 1161 but relocated to Rome after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius), the ancient Roman wax tablet, and the origins of the Thermae Romae manga.
Yamazaki found a love and appreciation for Italy and its culture after living there for many years and studying history and oil painting at the Florence National Academy of Fine Arts. She then returned to Japan to focus on creating manga.
Her hit manga, Thermae Romae, follows an ancient Roman architect named Lucius as he finds himself routinely being transported between his time and modern Japan via hidden tunnels in bathhouses he visits. Inspired by his experiences in the foreign country, Lucius incorporates what he learns into his craft and his own bathhouse, the Roma Thermae.
As she is still new to the whole VTuber thing, Yamazaki says her initial focus will be on uploading videos rather than streaming. She did, however, say that several collaborations with other VTubers, such as hololive’s Raden Juufuutei, are already in the works. For those who were wondering, Minerva’s VTuber design was created by Live2D creator Takeshita Fungi (who handled the designs/rigging for Japanese VTubers like Kamito, VOICE-ORE’s Uto Amatsuka, and Parallel Artist Project’s Shino Yakushino) and 2D illustrator Yoho.
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