The 2024 anime Bartender: Glass of God stands out to me due to how completely different it’s from the earlier Bartender anime from 2006.
Each collection adapt a manga a few bartender named Sasakura Ryu whose remark expertise and alcohol-mixing experience permit him to assist prospects work by means of no matter issues plague them by offering them simply the correct drink. However the 2006 model got here from director Imagawa Yasuhiro and leaned extra into the director’s roots with Mister Ajikko and its institution of the now frequent trope of “seeing characters make exaggerated reactions to the unbelievable meals and drinks they devour.” It feels extra like a therapeutic anime not removed from the slice-of-life titles that normally populate that style, and Sasakura’s presence is downright therapeutic.
In distinction, Glass of God does present Ryu as a generational expertise in bartending, he’s located in a better world. He could also be superb, and there are characters who need him for his or her lodge bar, however Ryu just isn’t essentially the very best. He’s in the midst of his personal journey that has him sometimes cross paths with those that are even higher at making and serving drinks. Whereas the 2006 collection seems like one the place time stands nonetheless, the 2024 collection gives the look of progress, nonetheless gradual it is perhaps.
Whereas this may sound like a cop-out, I really feel there are advantages to each. Generally, you may want meditative work to restore a bruised soul. Different occasions, you may want one thing that invigorates and motivates as an alternative. Proper now, I believe I want a little bit of each.
