No, they aren’t plotting the end of Twilight. Though, that would benefit the lot of us in the long term.

If you guessed getting completely wasted at a bar, you were partially correct. To these three individuals, getting drunk to forget about the world was their main goal. Too bad this man had other plans:

Damn you random man nonchalantly wiping cocktail glasses! Once again you have thwarted my plans of getting alcohol poisoning! Curse you!

This man is known as Ryu Sasakura, the current bartender at Bar Lapin. He is also the main character of the Seinen manga Bartender. Written by Araki Joh, illustrated by Kenji Nagatomo, published in Super Jump at sixty-one chapters, Bartender is a slice-of-life drama following the career of the aforementioned bartender. His is a tale of striving to create the “Glass of the Gods” – a drink revealed to him by his father as something that “rescues the souls hurt by solitude, and have nowhere to go.” While he hasn’t gotten to that degree of skill yet, a drink made by him will probably save you a trip to the psychiatrist/counselor. Unless you’re an AA member.

Bartender is similar to my previous article in the sense that we’re dealing with a dry, adult topic. I know that some of our readers have had a couple of drinks, but probably not to the degree seen in this manga. This brings us to Bartender’s main strong point – the detail. Let me first say that the author has made several slight mistakes in his alcoholic information over the course of this series. That being said, Joh’s attention to detail on the histories and stories associated with the different alcohols, cocktails and brands are similar to that of Sonoda of Gunsmith Cats fame. If you are going to read this manga expecting frat party drinking, let me save you the time by telling you to go buy a keg instead. Alcohol is treated as something more than just another beverage – it is an art form, a way of expressing a multitude of emotions and ideas, as if you were contemplating a flower arrangement. Extensive knowledge of drinks will be imparted upon you as you read this manga. As such, the story is text heavy, but each story and history lesson is a standalone tale upon itself.

The amount of information presented has an effect on the characters in Bartender. All the knowledge shown in this series is used to help a particular character with a problem that is affecting them. Bartenders are supposed to be a “sympathetic ear”, the bar being a place where a customer can be themselves away from the world. To console their hearts, to reaffirm their spirits, reinvigorate their drive – all of this is the bartender’s responsibility. This makes the numerous bartenders, and by extension alcoholic connoisseurs in the story, more prevalent than the average person. At the same time, the secondary characters tend to be a bit flat. For example, Sasakura’s partners at the first bar he works at after returning to Japan never seem to display the same level of skill of Sasakura, or any of the bar owners. Furthermore, neither of the two seemed to progress in skill during their time with Sasakura. You would think they would try to use some of that knowledge and skill to improve themselves as bartenders, but they end up seeming to be placeholders.

The artwork in Bartender follows the same vein as its source material – detail. Facial expressions, bar designs, Ginza – all of these settings have high detail. Looking at one of the numerous bottles of alcohol in this series will have you making comparisons with the real thing. I will say this though; I would like to see more variations in facial designs. Maybe it’s due to all the manga I’ve read, but all the characters seemed to share the same cube-like base for their facial design.

Fellow readers, if you care for an experience instead of a drink and some alcoholic trivia, then Bartender is worth a read. Pretty soon you’ll start wishing that you could find your own Bar Lapin – I know I do. Jack and I haven’t been on good terms as of late…

“It’s not you, it’s me Manga Hermit.”

On second thought, let me find that AA counselor…