Reviews

My opinion of this show changed significantly when I gave it a second chance. Initially I dropped it after five episodes, and now having watched the whole series I can see I did so because I hated the main character in episode 5. My other complaint about the series initially was that I found it unconvincing that people's whole attitiude or direction in life could be swayed by being served a particular cocktail, but on a second viewing (and watching the rest of the show), that's rarely the case. More frequently it's the anecdotes and arguments that the bartender builds around the drinks he serves that have an impact on the customers, and that's more effective for the stories it tells. He understands people and how to give them a nudge in the right direction. I must not have been paying attention the first time I watched Bartender.

Watching it as a whole, this really is the show I wanted it to be. It has adult characters facing adult problems, and mostly tackles them in a measured and thoughtful way. It's not perfect, but has a relaxing atmosphere that's enjoyable to settle into.

I'm raising my score from 5 to 7.

Original (now defunct) review below:

I wanted to like Bartender. Anime where all the characters are adults are a rarity, and the concept was interesting, but the result was merely okay. Each episode centres around a drink that is important to the customer in some way. The better episodes are the ones where this idea is smoothly integrated into the story, such as where the bartender helps a woman identify a particular brand of liqueur that was intended as a gift from her late father. Unfortunately, some episodes fall into an odd pattern where a customer is having a major life crisis and the bartender serves them a cocktail that magically changes their outlook on life in an unconvincing way. The show tries to be profound with its nuggets of trivia behind the origin of different drinks, but I'm forced to question how accurate any of them are when a show called Bartender gets the origin of the word 'bartender' wrong in its first episode.

I believe a great show could be made from this concept, but sadly Bartender isn't it.