Continuing our look at The Drops of God, Volume 4 by Tadashi Agi and Shu Okimoto…
(See The Drops of God, Volume 1 Volume 2 and Volume 3 before continuing)
Synopsis: So, obviously, this is the continuation of the mysterious search for the Drops of God. In this exciting episode we get our next clue for the Second Apostle.
And how our hero, Shizuku, and his rival, Issei, go about figuring out which wine is The Mona Lisa, are completely different. Issei goes on a wine fast (detox?), clearing his mind of all wines until he finds the answer.
Shizuku, on the other hand, continues to grow in his love of wine (and drinking it) and takes the opposite approach — taste as much as he can until he narrows down varietal, vintage, and vintner.
Why I Like It: Actually, this is where the series starts to lose me. It’s not that it’s not enjoyable. It is. But it takes so many different tangents — love triangles, long-lost lovers, other wine competitions, that the main thread of the story is quite thin. I think this is most frustrating because I know this is the last in the sequential story line. The next available English book jumps forward in the storyline significantly.
Of course for me, the redeeming quality is what I can learn about wine.
What We Learn: One of the side stories, a continuation from the previous book, is that Shizuku and Shinohara must find less expensive wines that can battle those from the Premier Crus in quality and taste. It’s here that we get to learn about the French regions, classifications, and a few pointers on how to find affordable French wines that don’t taste cheap (like this awesome find).
Read It: As always, check your local comic shop first and then, if they don’t have it: amazon.
