English Dub Review: Bartender – Glass of God “A Challenge”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Ryu observes this year’s Japan Cocktail Award finals, where his friends are contestants and give it their all.

OUR TAKE

Well, you know how annoyed I got with all the focus on Kelvin Chen last episode, but to my utter shock and amazement, this week only has MINIMAL focus on him AT BEST. If anything, this episode is more a chance for him and other characters, specifically Kyouko and Yuri AND KELVIN, getting a chance to put their skills to the test in a proper competition. Ryu doesn’t get to compete, despite being the ostensible main character, though I assume that’s because he would utterly destroy everyone else and make them want to drink, but like…in an addictive alcoholic way. Because they were so depressed about losing to him. Right? I think that makes sense. Anyway, we get a little bit more development for each character involved. We get to know more about Yuri’s childhood in Okinawa, while Kyouko gets into what inspired her to become a bartender, with similar motives as Ryu in wanting to provide hospitality to customers like she was given long ago. But the most significant is, yes, Kelvin finally having resolution to his own arc and tension with his father. His torn allegiance between his dad and his passion are exemplified through his own custom drink of choice, which symbolizes his ties between both Japan and Singapore in both color and ingredients.

However, his hesitation leads to a slip up in concocting the five drinks needed for judging, which he decides to lean into by only making one. What this makes clear is that he still has a lot to learn about bartending, even if he is still full steam ahead about becoming a bartender. It seems what he needs to truly resolve is two parts of himself that are at war, and his decision to return to Singapore to his father after the competition shows that he is ready to put matters to rest before he pursues his passion. See, I COULD find something to enjoy in Kelvin’s character arc, I just need to pair it with other story and character stuff to fully bring out the flavor! It’s like a metaphor for food or drink or something! So yeah, that’s two thirds of the show down, and even if the pacing is slow and weird, there’s at least SOMETHING good we can get out of things every now and then. We move onto the final third next week, and maybe we’ll see some more focus on Ryu for a change. I mean his face is on the poster and book covers so I have to assume he’s important SOMEhow, right?