Bartender: Wait…What?!

October 15, 2006 on 3:50 am | In Anime Review, Bartender |
Bartender
Blogging: Er, no.
**Steps away from the anime**
What…what the heck!? o_O Episode 1 was just…full of dialogues, monologues, and a sad, sad story of “Oh, I hate bars! So I can’t open one!” I was fully expecting massive glass-shaking action, complete with Cooking Master Boy light radiating from the finished alcoholic masterpiece, but no, Bartender just presents the viewer with one depressed businessman in an empty bar and an all-too-cheerful bartender. If the bartender guy had lighter-colored hair and the place was decked out with a couple of roses, I would’ve labeled him happily gay. A good chunk of the episode was devoted to the businessman’s problems, which was monochrome and mundane. The lead female character just pops up toward the beginning and the end of the episode. The background music was mostly elevator music, ambivalent and nice for a while but boring after that.

This show redefines the definition of ‘bartender’ in the very first episode. According to the nearly-gay bartender, ‘bar’ = ‘perch/barstool’ and ‘tender’ = ‘tender/kind’…so there’s tenderness at a bar because a bartender exists. This is where I’m gonna say ‘no’ to Bartender and move on with other animes.

At least this show instilled a burning urge to attempt mixing alcoholic drinks in me. It even provides the viewer with a weekly recipe. Drink of the week:
Grass Hopper
Green Peppermint - 20ml
Cacao White - 20ml
Fresh Cream - 20ml

Drink up!

3 Comments »

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  1. wow, you actually bothered to write this up even though u thought it sucked so much…I was wondering what it really is about but if that’s all then I’m not going to try it either

    Comment by Danny — October 15, 2006 #

  2. […] What do I think about Bartender? It will definitely never be a crowd’s favorite series. It will never be a series that will gather a mass of audiences, simply because it is too strange, too unique and have that idyllic feeling that many people cannot understand. It is probably going to be gay for some people, totally bad and some others said that it’s downright bitchy. It in fact does not have a strong pull, because the theme of having bartenders as the focus of an anime is a daring attempt and probably might backfire. I can understand all that. […]

    Pingback by THAT Anime Blog v2.0 » Bartender episode 1 — December 11, 2006 #

  3. Well, I think this anime is very calming and passionate. If you expected action, fun or tense, as I guess you did, this would have been the wrong series to watch. But it’s very suitable to create moments of relaxing, where you can listen to stories which are sometimes sad and always have a deeper meaning… And you learn about all this different kinds of alcoholic drinks as well.
    To me, watching this anime is like diving into a new, mysterious world. I can forget about all the things surrounding me and concentrate on the episodes, which you can also see as little lessons of life. It really is not that bad.

    Comment by Lala — July 29, 2007 #

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