The Drops of God - Vol. 1 - Manga Review

 

 

 

Yunaka Kanzaki, the world renowned wine critic has passed awak. Shinzuku Kanzaki, a salesman at a Beer company learns of this news, and  is Summoned to the family home, a splendid European style mansion, to hear the reading of his father's will. There he learns that, in order to take ownership of his legacy, he must correctly identify, and describe in the manner of his late father, thirteen wines, the first twelve known as the "Twelve Apostles" and the thirteenth known as the "Drops of God", that his father has described in his will. He also learns that he has a competitor in this, a renowned young wine critic called Toomine Issei, who his father has apparently recently adopted as his other son. 

The key to any good story is in knowing how to tell it, acknowledging all of the tropes of said storytelling, which also delving completely into the specificity.

 If you read the first 2 pages above, and see the description of the wine, the procedure of its tasting etc. you realize that Tadashi Agi (pseudonym for brother - sister duo Yuko and Shin Kibayashi) and artist Shu Okimoto, are interested in the trope of the son who is estranged by his father, but somehow is the only one capable enough to understand and finally continue his legacy, because of the teachings of his father he wants to forget.

 

Shizuku is estranged from his wine critic father, but he knows how to decant a wine perfectly, has such a keen sense of smell and taste that he can identify the characteristics of any wine without formal training. And while these storytelling tropes feel like something already seen, and in a way wish fulfillment fantasy for any adult, the true fact is that you haven't seen it in a setting like this, with characters as different like this.

Its easier to root for people or watch other people who are extremely knowledgeable in their field to argue and compete. Part of the reason why it is so enjoyable to watch a show like Star Trek (not the new ones), is that all of the characters are very knowledgable, educated and capable in their fields to solve a problem. Similarly the amount of knowledge about wines from a wine critic like Issei, or our audience surrogate character Shinohara Miyabi, lends a sense of authenticity, which is also helped by the fact that all of the wines described here are actual real wines currently available on the market.

 The best part though, even after all of the praises of the writing, is undoubtedly the art. Shu Okimoto is adept at drawing beautiful faces, with willowy bodies, while also drawing the typical shonen manga expressions for comic purposes. And while those are unavoidable those are quite few and far between. The striking thing about his art is the experimentation he does in making sure the readers identify what Shinzuku feels while drinking a wine.

 

Look at the dark shades, the use of images like a turntable, a concert to make us identify with Shinzuku's auditory recall with sensory perception. It is a fascinating way to make sure the readers of the manga who are only enjoying a visual medium can also be able to connect the dots in the auditory sense.

Could the manga devolve into typical adventure saga, quest per volume storytelling? Absolutely, and it is inevitable in a way. But the setting and the specificity is what makes me curious to read this. For someone very much inundated in western comics, the sheer variety of topics in manga is simply astonishing, and Drops of God is one of those examples of manga which is different enough to warrant your curiosity.

Rating - ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

The Drops of God (all 44 volumes), is currently available to read for free in Kindle Unlimited and Comixology Unlimited.