English Dub Review: The Drops of God “The Beginning of All Battles”
Overview (Spoilers Below):
A beer company employee is caught up in a game of wine after his father’s death.
Our Take:
We’ve had plenty of anime involving some of the best-looking food in the world. But no food would be complete without a drink to go along with it. I’m not talking about normal drinks like water or soda. I’m talking about wine. Rather than highlighting another food-related concept, this anime takes a rather different approach to the subgenre by exploring the world of wine. In this case, the anime adaptation of Drops of God features beer salesman Shizuku competing against wine critic Tomine Issei to identify the wines his late father selected. That includes the thirteenth wine, deemed the “Drops of God”. However, Shizuku’s only disadvantage is that he’s more of an expert on beer than on wine, despite having a great sense of smell. I guess the competition is a better time for him to start.
From the first episode, it’s easy to tell that it’s another food competition anime, but with wine instead of the usual cuisines. However, what makes it stand out so far is not just the sibling rivalry between Shizuku and Issei, who’s revealed to be Shizuku’s father’s adopted son. It’s also the education behind the different types of wine. The source material centers on the complexity of wine and how it mirrors a country’s food culture and lifestyle, which explains its global impact on the wine market. I’m not a massive fan of wine, even though I drink it on special occasions, but seeing how accurate certain wine histories it’s represented shows promise of being a solid adaptation of the source material. The most notable case is the bottle of Cros-Parantoux, one of the bottles created by vintner Henri Jayer that Shizuku and Miyabi accidentally broke. Accompanied by a colorful artistry style from studio Satelight, “The Beginning of All Battles” marks a suitable start to the wine competition, which is likely to improve with age, depending on the premise.
