Ranked #625

Bartender

“In happy times, one cocktail is enough, because anything you drink will taste good. But if there are a hundred shapes of unhappiness, I want to be a bartender who will make a hundred cocktails to soothe unhappiness.”

An anime series about a bartender at work might not sound like anything worth paying attention to, but Bartender is a calm, gentle series that might be just what you need. Each episode covers the stories of customers that go into a bar to soothe their souls. Bartender Ryu Sasakura assists them with their problems by making them a cocktail with a history or taste that relates to the customer’s situation. By coming to terms with themselves through their drink, each customer can leave the bar satisfied. Each story is expanded upon not only by what the customer reveals but by narration, often by others that have also been healed by the bar. Each individual story is well-developed, detailed, and brought to a satisfying end. However, there is no plot carried across the full show.

Much of the animation style is abstract, using many unrealistic background effects, quite a few of which are theatrical. For example, a character may be having a conversation at the bar counter, then the scene will cut to a narrator elaborating on what is happening, perhaps in a spotlight or even simply living their own lives. It may not seem realistic, but it’s pulled off quite well. While it may seem that it would be difficult or boring to follow a show narrated like this, it never is thanks to the animation that makes it clear what is happening in reality and what is abstract.

While the background music doesn’t stand out in any particular situation, it also helps to create the atmosphere. The opening song provides a good introduction, and the ending is slow and simple, yet effective.

The characters in each story are very believable. Instead of crazy characters made for the viewer’s excitement, they are developed to be believable people. In addition to each episodic character, the bartender himself is presented very well. Although at first he is the idealized “Glass of the Gods,” the man who can always make the perfect cocktail for a customer, his past is also addressed. By the end of the series, he has become a three-dimensional character with his own history and shortcomings.

Bartender’s true strengths lie not in the technical aspects, but the atmosphere. It’s an incredibly relaxing show and does a great job doing exactly what the creators felt a bar should do: soothe the customers. Watching an episode is a great way to calm down after a bad day; you can sit back and enjoy without shutting down your brain. A word of warning, it’s not as enjoyable in large quantities, save it for when you need it.

Bartender doesn’t try to be big or exciting, but instead appeals to people who want to relax while learning a little bit about alcohol and life. It’s a lovely little series that brings emotion and realism in a way that other, flashier shows can’t achieve. read more

Two words: unique experience!

Upon first approaching this anime I was expecting this series’s "Bartender" theme to simply be a gimmick, but no it is actual everything you would expect from an anime that deals heavily with life in a bar. (minus the fist fights of course, since this is a small classy bar)

Story: 7/10
Bartender revolves around a young man named "Ryu Sasakura" and his many experiences working in a small town bar of his. The main chunk of the story will deal with one of two things the whole way through: Ryu listening to his customer’s problems, and giving a pretty in depth history on many drinks. So with that in mind I feel that I should warn you now--to be expecting lots and LOTS of dialog in this series. The story itself is quite interesting, as you get a good variety of situations from the customer’s circumstances--from love, misunderstandings, work related problems and so on. It’s remains quite realistic with all of it’s content in the plots. My biggest complaint with it, is that it remains a bit too strait forward with the story, and perhaps sticks a bit too much to its "Bartender" theme. Rarely will you ever see Ryu out of his bar, plus we never get any real development from the story either--just one customer’s problems after another. However it does do some things to help keep the plot from getting tedious, and that is with the drinks themselves. Ryu never simply just serves the drinks to his customers, but also enlightens them on how to make it, and how said drink will help in their problems. This helps tremendously in keeping the theme from becoming a gimmick, and you can really tell that the writers looked into the history and style to each drink the anime talks about. It is also interesting to note that you get some nifty recipes to the main beverage of the episode upon its conclusion. (since each skit highlights a particular drink or two) The atmosphere from the story is fantastic, and makes you want to cozy yourself up in a nice warm blanket on a cold day when watching it. Overall it accomplishes what it sets out to do--it's a "slice of life" anime about a Bartender at work!

Bartender doesn’t really contain anything offensive other than the obvious--alcohol! However it doesn’t do it in a harmful or bad way, but more in an educational approach. In fact out of all 11 episodes only once do I recall a costumer ever coming off as even "tipsy." There is some brief language ever now and then, but pretty sparse over all.

Art: 8/10
The art style contains mostly dark style backgrounds and nicely detailed characters and environments. What caught my attention most with the art was the bottles in the background behind Ryu. They have been pain-painstakingly detailed to each beverage (different shapes and designs from each bottle). There isn’t a lot of fluidity in the series because there is very little action to speak of, and will only catch your attention with the drinks being poured into the glasses. Since this anime only takes place at night as a whole, get use to seeing the color black a lot. But each character was animated nicely, and they looked like their respected ages. The animation may not be anything really spectacular, but it does fit the anime very well.

Soundtrack: 9/10
The sound is the strongest point of the anime, to sum it all up: very relaxing! A lot of jazz style piano tracks surround the background. Even the voice cast they got for all of the characters were very soothing to listen to. (this is especially true with the narrator that begins each episode.) It was intentionally made this way to fit the layed back bar theme, and I feel they pulled it off quite nicely! It will most likely get mixed results with the viewers, because when it comes right down to it--it is jazz music after all, and it is pretty standard for it’s genera too. So if you aren’t a fan of it to begin with then this title certainly wont make you change your mind. But if you can appreciate it’s music content, you will simply love it!

Characters: 8/10
All the staple characters to the series are pretty small in numbers. You only really get about three--the Bartender, the Narrator and this young women named Miwa (who pops in during many episodes as either a costumer, or does some narrating of her own) Their not particularly deep characters, and despite the fact that Ryu is indeed the main lead of the show, he is over shadowed by the customers who get way more screen time than him. I also don’t feel that he was used the best either, as he never really showed off much of a personality when compared to the customers, and only seemed to be there to give advice. (almost like he was only part of the scenery at times) But despite that fact the cast is indeed likable, and all act the way most adults would. Nobody ever comes off as exaggerated, and is very down to earth in their personalities. I liked all of the characters as a whole, and really cared for them to get a fix for their problems in the end.

Overall: 8/10
Bartender can be considered the "Opera" of the anime world. To some it may be as entertaining as watching the grass grow, yet to others a truly unique experience that is a nice breath of fresh air with it’s content. And hey, you can actually learn some history from it too! Bartender is neither deep nor complex, its strongest asset is the relaxing atmosphere it surrounds you in, it’s a great title to watch when you need to unwind after a hard day at work. The best way I think you can enjoy this anime? Wait for night fall, kick off your shoes, sit back and...relax... read more