English Dub Review: The Drops of God “You Remind Me of My First Love”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Shizuku and Tomine search for their first loves to win the next Apostle battle.

Our Take:
The second half of the season immediately commences with the Fourth Apostle, whose clue is based on the poem “First Love” by Tōson Shimazaki.  It’s hard to believe it only took us thirteen episodes to reach Apostle number four of the twelve mentioned.  At this rate, the intended 24 episodes may not be enough to cover all the Apostles Shizuku and Tomine are solving.  That is, unless the anime includes a montage in one of the episodes that speeds through the other Apostle rounds.  Aside from that, this is still a surprisingly interesting competition, mainly because of how it reflects the history and metaphorical meanings behind each wine.
In the case of this episode, the Fourth Apostle is based around “first love”, prompting the two contestants to find their own.  While Shizuku helps his childhood friend Sonata Aki reunite with her fiancé, Tomine goes on a quest to reunite with someone from his past.  Unfortunately for the latter, his search didn’t conclude on a very positive note.  However, it does provide further development for a character who’s seen as the show’s antagonist, which would explain why he’s usually one step ahead of Shizuku.  This moment is no different, with Tomine declared the victor because he understood the clue better.  It also further showcases that Shizuku still needs to up his wine game if he wants to make his father proud.  While Shizuku’s path may not be as effective as Tomine’s narrative-wise, the episode did a suitable job highlighting its theme of “first love” through the power of wine.