Olympia Kyklos

Olympia Kyklos is a manga series authored by Mari Yamazaki, serializing in the weekly magazine Weekly Morning starting in 2018. The work is a satirical comedy that continues Yamazaki's long-standing interest in the intersection of classical Greco-Roman culture and modern Japanese society. The narrative follows Demetrios, a shy painter from ancient Olympia who is transported to the future, specifically to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, serving as a humorous commentary on the cultural evolution of sports and national identity.

The series is noted for its juxtaposition of Yamazaki’s academic knowledge of classical antiquity with surrealist humor. It reflects a design sensibility that highlights the contrast between the idealized, muscular aesthetics of ancient Greek art and the mundanity of contemporary life. Upon its release, the work was well-received for its educational yet irreverent tone, eventually being adapted into a short-form claymation-style anime series that leaned into the eccentricities of the source material.