Bartender User Reviews

Not too often I see an anime of an acquired taste on caliber with the likes of Bartender. While I'm normally not into drinking alcohol, Bartender's large focus on the drink and its influence on the customers that visit Ryu's tavern made me somewhat tempted at points to consider the idea. Much like similar titles such as Mushishi and Kino's Journey, Bartender offers up episodic stories of Ryu conversing with and tending to the woes of his customers with a drink that compliments and relieves them of their conflicting situation. The situations with each character Ryu meets throughout Bartender are fleshed out enough where you get a sense of what inner conflicts they face and what led to their present situation. Main character Ryu comes across as a likeable one as his formal attire and etiquette with serving his customers and handling alcohol adds to the mellow and classy mood that Bartender consistently gives off throughout each of its episodes.

The narrative style of Bartender is also worth mention. Regular customers of Ryu serve to provide frequent narration in covering the dilemmas faced by his customers as the series tends to transition between present and past time frames. Also with the plot centered around alcohol, the series also goes into moments to cover information on the various histories and details surrounding the alcohol and cocktails that Ryu serves and makes to his customers. The series even shows off a "featured" cocktail at the end of each episode featuring the ingredients and measurements of how to put together said cocktail. Whoever made the original story of Bartender did their research on different types of alcohol and cocktails quite meticulously, adding to this show's unique feel.

The visual and aural presentation to Bartender do well at matching the quality of the storytelling that the series conveys. On the visual end, Bartender has plenty of detail in presenting its settings and character designs. This is especially apparent in the designs of the various glasses, wine bottles and cocktails that are within Ryu's tavern, right down to the label itself. While not as strongly shown, animation has its moments to show its stuff when Ryu and other bartenders are preparing drinks. The music features mostly mellow and upbeat tracks that do well to complement the classy mood given off through the show's storylines.

While I personally did find this series enjoyable, bare in mind that Bartender is an acquired taste thanks to its niche topic and episodic storytelling thus not everyone will get enjoyment out of it. But if you are looking for something different to look into, Bartender has enough of an original premise that could grab your interest, especially if you have a craving for the more classy side of sampling alcohol.