#2006 fall

Bartender

バーテンダー

(Anime)

Iyashikei by Araki Joh

Era: 2000s

Rating: A

Plot: In a sidestreet corner in Ginza, Ryu Sasakura runs the small Eden Hall bar, where he gained a spotless reputation as the "Glass of God".

Length: 11 episodes

Thoughts: Much is said about "needing more anime featuring adults", as the average viewer age seems to get older and older on each new survey, in one hand because like videogames, it stopped being that thing you were supposed to let go when you turned 18 and a larger selection of genres to pick from became available rather than just was doing numbers in the teenager demographic, on the other how the whole demographic pyramid in many countries is starting to look less Egypt and more Tokyo Big Sight, but as you get older the whole "go in an adventure with your friends and kick the shit out of everyone in your way" might start to feel less attractive, and while some genres like historical dramas don't have that problem of including older characters with different, more complex motivations than a schoolkid, others like iyashikei usually focus more on school or college age kids. Since one of the immutable aspects of life is that hey, it's 7pm somewhere someone could have a socially acceptable drink (even if it's on a boat in the middle of the Pacific), a bar does seem the perfect place to do a story about people thinking about their lives and watching a night go by. Looking at the work of author Araki Joh, you can see a pattern, himself a older man, four years older than someone like Rumiko Takahashi but who only saw his first published work already in his early 40s. I don't think you can write something like this when you are fresh out of college, at best you might do one of my favourite type of characters, the drunk gremlin (see: Akemi from Maison Ikkoku), and trying to confirm more things about him I found this interview, a very interesting read.

Now, what can a guy who doesn't drink say about a show about a young talented bartender and his regular barflies and the occasional patron just wanting to kill time? One of my rules that applies to hobby anime, a genre that also applies here, is "you can make anything interesting if the writing is good and engaging", and this is no different, and hey, it made an engaging episode thematically centred in The Old Man and the Sea, a book I *loathe* with every fibre of my being. Rather than making it about drinking per se, the show is mostly about the story and symbolism behind a drink or cocktail and how they connect to what led the patrons to Eden Hall at that moment in time: a professional struggling with a current project, a woman trying to identify a bottle she broke as a child, a CEO on his last night before retirement reflecting on his past regrets, first (and last) dates, a man being transferred to a smaller department and feeling like a failure, a screenwriter with writer's block who plays a game with local bartenders and finds a parallel between his career and single malt and blended whiskeys, a politician about to fall in disgrace, a conman who Sasakura would much rather he would not go through with with his latest mark, a man to whom he served his only wrong cocktail and an academic who devoted his life to fluid research but realised he's missing much in his life, these are the people you probably would expect to see in a somewhat obscure small bar in Ginza, one of the most upscale areas of Tokyo.

With a large knowledge of spirits and cocktails (technical and historical), as well as a sharp memory who remembers his patrons' favourite orders even if they just met once before and a talent to read them and knowing what they would want before than they would, Sasakura is the ideal bartender any bar hopper hopes to find someday, and as you'd expect from a bartender, he's a good listener to the point it's one of those shows the main character isn't the one with more lines, Daichuu Mizushima's calm and soothing voice only appearing in spaces in most episodes, as the stars are each of the episode's patrons, as well as their choice of poison, Sasakura is just acting as the host as they tell their story. It is a very idealised show (to the point if might feel a bit corny at times) with a very relaxed and laid back mood, and around midway you start feeling like the guy who's always in the corner not bothering anyone and only talking to the bartender when nobody else is around ("behind the scenes", if you're Hanako from Asobi Asobase).

Visually, you could almost adapt the first episode as a play, even wonder if that was the feeling they were going for, as while they reminisce, characters get a spotlight on and address directly the audience like a monologue. Kinda wish they kept using that device a bit more often, gives that episode a really unique feel and compensates how it may look a bit rough on modern eyes: using what look CG bottles in the bottleground feels like a practical concession to have dozens of bottles in the background in perfectly recognizable detail without forcing an artist to refer to what would have to be a very complex continuity sheet if the director thinks a scene needs a different angle. But back on the unique angle, when the end credits roll you get to see footage of a bartender on a small bar not unlike Eden Hall preparing a cocktail, often the one seen in the episode. The music compliments the mood of the show perfectly, as you would expect a mix of slow piano and strings you'd see in the sort of place people want to have a conversation in but still need some ambient live music for those who are alone. There are shows with great vibes, and here? They are Immaculate.

I didn't read the full 21 volumes the Bartender manga ended with, although I've looked at the first couple of them to get a feel of it, and this really feels like a true adaptation, where parts are taken out and reassembled. For instance, Eden Hall is yet to appear, the ice sculpture Sasakura destroys for harder ice is from the hotel as he takes part in the test we see very early on, the college student with a hole on his pocket isn't a flashback but an actual patron saying goodbye to his current life, the divorce story takes place in the couple's home where Miwa takes Sasakura to prepare drinks as a gift and after hearing he can choose one of their very rate and expensive bottles, he tries to abscond with three of them and yes, the adaptation got the Oshii treatment, it is a NO FUN ZONE, except the Christmas Miracle episode that is pretty much straight from the manga and why it feels a bit different in tone from epsiodes. A few other stories also make it mostly intact, like the escaping politician chapter, although in the manga we also learn Sasakura's father is an old rival of his and even compiled a file on him, how he refused entry to a prestigious university to move to Paris and worked in kitchens to become a bartender. If you think about it, it's very appropriate how something that makes the point alcohol can be either medicine or poison, and focus on how the job of a bartender isn't to send you home drunk, but to heal you and see you leave feeling better than when you walked in, has been adapted to fit into complete iyashikei vibes. Still, doing my diligence in checking some of the source material was worth it, and should I ever start covering manga a bit more consistently, this is one I'll surely get back to.

While my cutoff between "modern" and "retro" was set semi arbitrarily in 2005, making it very awkward for edge cases, decided it was close enough to bend the rules a bit to do Bartender as a "retro" show because strangely enough, the manga had a second adaptation almost 20 years later with Bartender: Glass of God, which which will be the next show covered here. While this original adaptation looks more at the stories from an episodic perspective of the bartender and his patrons, the more recent one has some plot about Ryu's personal life and being personally head-hunted to tend the upscale bar (not end the Barts) at a luxury hotel, even if involves most of the same cast, but we'll get there very shortly. As for this version: should anyone over 30 who is sceptical of anime ask you one to watch, ask if they're interested in cocktails and drinks, and show them Bartender.

Plus:

Direction, writing, music, this is laid back vibes perfection.

Minus:

Lacks a bit of structure