Les Gouttes de Dieu

Les Gouttes de Dieu
神の雫 (Kami no Shizuku)
Genre	Wine
Manga
Written by	Tadashi Agi
Illustrated by	Shu Okimoto
Published by	Kodansha
English publisher	Vertical Inc
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Weekly Morning
Original run	November 2004 – ongoing
Volumes	28
Anime and Manga Portal

Les Gouttes de Dieu (神の雫, Kami no Shizuku^?, lit. The Drops of God) is a New York Times Best Selling^[1] Japanese manga series about wine. It is created and written by Tadashi Agi, a pseudonym employed by creative team of sister and brother Yuko and Shin Kibayashi,^[2][3] with artwork by Shu Okimoto. All the wines that appear in the comic are authentic.

The series was first published in November 2004 in Weekly Morning magazine in Japan, and still runs to date. It is also published in Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Since April 2008, volumes have also been published in France by Glénat. As of December 2007 the series had registered sales of more than 500,000 copies.^[2] American publisher Vertical Inc will publish the series under the title "The Drops of God", with the first volume scheduled for a September 2011 release.

A live action television adaptation, also titled Kami no Shizuku, was broadcast by Nippon Television in January 2009.

Plot

Kanzaki Shizuku (神咲 雫) is a junior employee in a Japanese beverages company mainly focusing on selling beers. As the story opens, he receives news that his father, from whom he is estranged, has died. His father was the world renowned wine critic Kanzaki Yutaka (神咲 豐多香), who owned a vast and famous wine collection. Summoned to the family home, a splendid European style mansion, to hear the reading of his father's will, Shizuku learns that, in order to take ownership of his legacy, he must correctly identify, and describe in the manner of his late father, thirteen wines, the first twelve known as the "Twelve Apostles" and the thirteenth known as the "Drops of God" ("Kami no Shizuku" in the original Japanese edition and "Les Gouttes de Dieu" in the French translation), that his father has described in his will. He also learns that he has a competitor in this, a renowned young wine critic called Toomine Issei (遠峰 一青), who his father has apparently recently adopted as his other son.

Shizuku has never drunk wine, in part a reaction against the ruling passion of his late father, nor had any previous knowledge about wines. However, with strong senses of taste and smell, and an uncanny ability to describe his experiences from those senses, Shizuku submerges himself in the world of wine and tries to solve the mysteries of the 13 wines and defeat Issei. In this, he is also helped by knowledge gained from his time as a child with his father, and supported by his friends (including trainee sommelier Shinohara Miyabi (紫野原みやび)) and colleagues in the newly formed wine department of his company, which he now joins.

The "Twelve Apostles" and "Les Gouttes de Dieu"

To win each round of the competition to identify the 13 mystery wines, Shizuku and Issei have to present a correct choice of wine and a justification of the choice which most closely matches Yutaka's description of the wine in his will. The judge is Yutaka's old friend Robert Doi (土肥 ロベール). So far, the identities of eight "Apostles" have been disclosed.

	Shizuku's choice	Issei's choice	References
First Apostle	2001 Georges Roumier Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses	1999 Georges Roumier Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses	[4][5]
Second Apostle	2000 Château Palmer	1999 Château Palmer	[6]
Third Apostlea	2000 Santa Duc Gigondas	1981 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape	[7]
Rematchb	2000 Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée da Capo	2000 Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée da Capo	[8]
Fourth Apostle	1992 Château Lafleur	1994 Château Lafleur	[9]
Fifth Apostle	2000 Marc Colin Montrachet	2000 Michel Colin-Deléger Chevalier-Montrachet	[10][11]
Sixth Apostle	2001 Luciano Sandrone Barolo Cannubi Boschis	2001 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falleto	[12][13]
Seventh Apostle	2003 Glaetzer Amon-Ra Shiraz Barossa Valley	2003 Sine Qua Non The Inaugural (Eleven Confessions) Syrah Central Coast AVA	[14][15]
Eighth Apostle	Jacques Selosse Cuvée Exquise NV	2000 Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon Brut Rosé	[16][17]

     Green background means the competitor won the round and picked the correct wine.
^a Both choices were judged to be incorrect, therefore a rematch was held.
^b Although they selected the same wine, as Issei refused to describe his wine, he was judged to have lost this round of the competition.

Impact

The Japanese importer Enoteca has stated that the comic character has begun to influence its stock ordering decisions.^[3] The sale of fine wines in South Korea has increased significantly as a result of the popularity of the comic,^[18] with the sale of wine rising from less than a third of the market to around 70 per cent of alcohol sales.^[19]

After an issue with a mention of lesser known producer Château Mont-Pérat came out, a Taiwanese importer sold 50 cases of Mont-Pérat in two days. Sales of Umberto Cosmo's Colli di Conegliano Rosso also leaped 30% after being mentioned in the Manga series.^[2][20] All Nippon Airways reported it had to recraft the in-flight wine lists to accommodate the increased interest.^[3]

After being featured in the finale of the Japanese television adaptation series of Kami no Shizuku in March 2010, the little known Bordeaux wine 2003 Château le Puy became significantly popular in Japan.^[21] In September 2010, the proprietor of Château le Puy, Jean-Pierre Amoreau, made public his intention to cease international sales of their 2003 vintage in order to deter wealthy speculators and retain a small stock for those buyers he deems to be genuine connoisseurs.^[21]

A 2007 Reuters feature asserted that "wine industry experts believe part of the manga's appeal is that it teaches readers enough about wine to understand the drink and impress their friends, but does so in an entertaining way".^[22] In the July 2009 Decanter publication of "The Power List" ranking of the wine industry's individuals of influence, Shin and Yuko Kibayashi placed at number 50, citing that the work was "arguably the most influential wine publication for the past 20 years".^[23][24]

References

• Les Gouttes de Dieu publications Bedetheque (French)

Footnotes

1. ^ NYTimes.com (November 4, 2011). [1]
2. ^ ^{a b c} Woodard, Richard, Decanter.com (December 12, 2007). "Manga comics ignite interest in wine". http://www.decanter.com/news/168982.html. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} Lewis, Leo, The Times (September 11, 2008). "Cartoon wine critic Shizuku Kanzaki boosts Japanese sales". http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/wine/article4727390.ece. 
4. ^ Agi, Tadashi (April 2006). "50. あまりにも完璧な恋人たち" (in Japanese). Les Gouttes de Dieu. 6. Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-06-372510-0. 
5. ^ Agi, Tadashi (April 2006). "51. 神の造りしもの" (in Japanese). Les Gouttes de Dieu. 6. Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-06-372510-0. 
6. ^ Agi, Tadashi (October 2006). "77. 悔恨と屈辱の乾杯" (in Japanese). Les Gouttes de Dieu. 8. Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-06-372556-8. 
7. ^ Agi, Tadashi (May 2007). "100. 老木の手触りは虚空に消えて" (in Japanese). Les Gouttes de Dieu. 11. Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-06-372599-5. 
8. ^ Agi, Tadashi (May 2007). "107. その誇りに懸けた沈黙" (in Japanese). Les Gouttes de Dieu. 11. Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-06-372599-5. 
9. ^ Agi, Tadashi (February 2008). "140. セレナーデに微笑みを" (in Japanese). Les Gouttes de Dieu. 15. Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-06-372664-0. 
10. ^ Agi, Tadashi (November 2008). "169. 白き優美なる山々は甦り" (in Japanese). Les Gouttes de Dieu. 18. Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-06-372751-7. 
11. ^ Agi, Tadashi (November 2008). "170. 厳しくも優しきその声は" (in Japanese). Les Gouttes de Dieu. 18. Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-06-372751-7. 
12. ^ Agi, Tadashi (March 2009). "195. 虚空に浮かぶ光は、ゆらめく漁火の如く" (in Japanese). Les Gouttes de Dieu. 20. Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-06-372779-1. 
13. ^ Agi, Tadashi (March 2009). "196. 謎めく頬に、その手を差し伸べて" (in Japanese). Les Gouttes de Dieu. 20. Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-06-372779-1. 
14. ^ Agi, Tadashi (January 2010). "225. 奏でられし時の五線譜、ともに歩みゆく者たちよく" (in Japanese). Les Gouttes de Dieu. 23. Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-06-372849-1. 
15. ^ Agi, Tadashi (January 2010). "226. 百年の長き眠りが覚める、聖なる朝に" (in Japanese). Les Gouttes de Dieu. 23. Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-06-372849-1. 
16. ^ Agi, Tadashi (December 2010). "260. 憧れの女に吹く風は、プライドの糸輝くヴェールを揺らして" (in Japanese). Les Gouttes de Dieu. 27. Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-06-372968-9. 
17. ^ Agi, Tadashi (December 2010). "261. 樹は天空に向かい、自由にその葉を伸ばして" (in Japanese). Les Gouttes de Dieu. 27. Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-06-372968-9. 
18. ^ The Korea Times Lifestyles: Wines to Become More Popular
19. ^ Salter, Jessica, The Daily Telegraph (September 11, 2008). "Cartoon character from Kami no Shizuku drives up wine sales in Japan". http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/2796701/Cartoon-character-from-Kami-no-Shizuku-drives-up-wine-sales-in-Japan.html. 
20. ^ Hughes, Felicity, The Japan Times (April 11, 2008). A manga drunk on French wine
21. ^ ^{a b} Davies, Lizzy, The Guardian (September 22, 2010). French winemaker withdraws vintage after manga cartoon craze
22. ^ Hardach, Sophie, Reuters.com (June 4, 2007). Taste of heaven: Manga spreads 'Drops of God' in Asia
23. ^ Decanter (July 2009). "The Power List", p.40
24. ^ Lechmere, Adam, Decanter.com (June 1, 2009). "Power List 2009: Parker Gives Way to Constellation". http://www.decanter.com/news/283609.html. 

External links

• Kami no Shizuku in Morning Weekly magazine official site (Japanese)