Drops of God: New World
2 journalers for this copy...
I first heard about this manga from an entry on the "Food Porn" page of TV Tropes {grin}, and had to check it out, and I've enjoyed the first four volumes. The series is about fine wines and those who live to taste - and critique - them, and apparently was a hit in France (where they take wine very seriously) as well as at home.
I got this volume at the New England Mobile Book Fair in Newton Highlands, MA. It's subtitled "New World", and the two main characters, seeking the next "Apostle" designated by their late father, wind up exploring wines far from home - Tomine in Napa Valley, California, and Shizuku in Australia. (This had the nice side effect of introducing a number of wines that I'm more familiar with than the rare European vintages from previous books, such as Beringer.) As usual, the description of the next Apostle is poetic and lyrical - and vague; the concept that anyone could pin down a vintage from imagery like this is a bit unlikely, but it's the premise of the story, so we'll go with it.
Tomine takes a wine-tasting train-tour of Napa (sounds marvelous!) and, later on, finds himself kidnapped at gun-point - not to be robbed or held for ransom, but to pronounce a mediocre wine in an upcoming blind-tasting auction as excellent. This is clearly something that he, with his pride in his palate, would never do - but the criminals have captured his young woman companion as well, and threaten her life. What to do? His reaction is both in character and clever - and he's helped immensely by the young woman's own cleverness and a wee bit of luck.
Meanwhile, Shizuku's in Australia, giving the manga artist the chance to draw some interesting wildlife - and to fit in a Klimt painting as a mood piece. (I think the author does the series because the "wine imagery" panels give immense latitude - any kind of scene or architecture at all!) Shizuku doesn't have to deal with kidnappers, but he does manage to use his refined sense of smell to help track down the source of an arson fire threatening a particular vineyard. [Who knew that wine-tasting could be so dangerous?]
The contest for the 7th Apostle is very close, but there's a clear winner - leaving the loser with some serious thinking to do.
[The series has its own TV Tropes page now. And there's a 2009 live-action TV series based on the manga.]
Other books in the series:
Volume One
Volume Two
Volume Three
Volume Four
I got this volume at the New England Mobile Book Fair in Newton Highlands, MA. It's subtitled "New World", and the two main characters, seeking the next "Apostle" designated by their late father, wind up exploring wines far from home - Tomine in Napa Valley, California, and Shizuku in Australia. (This had the nice side effect of introducing a number of wines that I'm more familiar with than the rare European vintages from previous books, such as Beringer.) As usual, the description of the next Apostle is poetic and lyrical - and vague; the concept that anyone could pin down a vintage from imagery like this is a bit unlikely, but it's the premise of the story, so we'll go with it.
Tomine takes a wine-tasting train-tour of Napa (sounds marvelous!) and, later on, finds himself kidnapped at gun-point - not to be robbed or held for ransom, but to pronounce a mediocre wine in an upcoming blind-tasting auction as excellent. This is clearly something that he, with his pride in his palate, would never do - but the criminals have captured his young woman companion as well, and threaten her life. What to do? His reaction is both in character and clever - and he's helped immensely by the young woman's own cleverness and a wee bit of luck.
Meanwhile, Shizuku's in Australia, giving the manga artist the chance to draw some interesting wildlife - and to fit in a Klimt painting as a mood piece. (I think the author does the series because the "wine imagery" panels give immense latitude - any kind of scene or architecture at all!) Shizuku doesn't have to deal with kidnappers, but he does manage to use his refined sense of smell to help track down the source of an arson fire threatening a particular vineyard. [Who knew that wine-tasting could be so dangerous?]
The contest for the 7th Apostle is very close, but there's a clear winner - leaving the loser with some serious thinking to do.
[The series has its own TV Tropes page now. And there's a 2009 live-action TV series based on the manga.]
Other books in the series:
Volume One
Volume Two
Volume Three
Volume Four
I'm sending this to BCer HI77 in Florida. Enjoy!
*** Released for the 2014 Four Elements challenge, for "world". ***
*** Released for the 2014 Four Elements challenge, for "world". ***
When wine in a glass is god,
the taste is bitter,
the taste is sweet.
the taste is bitter,
the taste is sweet.
