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The Drops of God #4
The Drops of God, Vol. 4
The Second Apostle
Much-anticipated and now much-lauded stateside, the international bestseller continues as wine novice Shizuku takes on in turn the scion of a retail chain, a mystery writer at odds with her difficult past, and last but not least his archrival, genius taster Issei Tomine.
Much-anticipated and now much-lauded stateside, the international bestseller continues as wine novice Shizuku takes on in turn the scion of a retail chain, a mystery writer at odds with her difficult past, and last but not least his archrival, genius taster Issei Tomine.
392 pages, Paperback
First published November 22, 2005
About the author
Tadashi Agi
161 books42 followersTadashi Agi, 亜樹直, is the penname of Yuko and Shin Kibayashi, a sister and brother team of Japanese manga storywriters. Shin Kibayashi also uses the pseudonyms Seimaru Amagi and Yuya Aoki.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
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October 23, 2019I've been looking up the bottles of wine included in this book and I find it very funny that most of them are only located in Japan at the moment, even though they're all imported from Italy and France. I wonder how much the popularity of this manga affected sales of those wines in Japan? In any case, the Saint-Cosme Côte du Rhône mentioned at one point is pretty widely available (and less than $20!), so I'm looking forward to checking it out and trying to find one of this story's hilariously florid descriptions in its flavor.
April 13, 2025
The main plot feels like it's moving at a glacial pace and I didn't like the side quests very much in this volume.
November 17, 2016
3.5 stars... This volume moved a little slower than the first 3, and thus I didn't like it quite as much. I do really love learning about wine in this ultra unique manga! on to the New World!
April 25, 2019
I like it a lot. Too bad the story skips here.
May 7, 2023
Wine manga, now a series on Apple+
June 4, 2012
The Drops of God Volume 4 continues directly from Volume 3. The plot and knowledge of wine on which it is based builds carefully and the series really should be read in order from the beginning, but there are somewhat self contained stories in this volume and it probably could be read on it's own.
**Note: This review contains no spoilers for Volume 4 but will have somewhat major spoilers for earlier volumes. **
Shizuku Kanzaki has done well in his first test as a student of wine and emerged victorious in the battle with Issei Tomine to identify the First Apostle. But there are twelve wines left to puzzle out and Tomine enters this volume sure that a chance conversation with Kanzaki has shown him the key to victory. As they both prepare for the tasting of the Second Apostle in very different ways Kanzaki will also attempt to protect a famous mystery writer who's receive an unusual death threat - an unlabeled bottle of wine.
This volume is more uneven than the first three, but the high points are well timed and very well done, making this another worthy chapter in Kanzaki's journey. The wine information here has more of a laser focus than earlier volumes and I found it a bit less interesting. People more fascinated by the intricacies Bordeaux and Burgundy wines will likely get more out of it. The art continues to be a impress and adds a lot of layers and texture to the story and wine descriptions.
Drops of God is clearly being paced with the long haul in mind but never feels too slow nor padded. This manga is what it is - a love letter to all aspects of wine with side stories that are largely romance based. For readers interested in that description it is an excellent adventure and Volume 4 continues to build well on the potential shown thus far.
**Note: This review contains no spoilers for Volume 4 but will have somewhat major spoilers for earlier volumes. **
Shizuku Kanzaki has done well in his first test as a student of wine and emerged victorious in the battle with Issei Tomine to identify the First Apostle. But there are twelve wines left to puzzle out and Tomine enters this volume sure that a chance conversation with Kanzaki has shown him the key to victory. As they both prepare for the tasting of the Second Apostle in very different ways Kanzaki will also attempt to protect a famous mystery writer who's receive an unusual death threat - an unlabeled bottle of wine.
This volume is more uneven than the first three, but the high points are well timed and very well done, making this another worthy chapter in Kanzaki's journey. The wine information here has more of a laser focus than earlier volumes and I found it a bit less interesting. People more fascinated by the intricacies Bordeaux and Burgundy wines will likely get more out of it. The art continues to be a impress and adds a lot of layers and texture to the story and wine descriptions.
Drops of God is clearly being paced with the long haul in mind but never feels too slow nor padded. This manga is what it is - a love letter to all aspects of wine with side stories that are largely romance based. For readers interested in that description it is an excellent adventure and Volume 4 continues to build well on the potential shown thus far.
January 30, 2014
And the second apostle is found. Things are moving along at a nice pace. Side stories are popping up at every turn, but it never feels padded. In most hands, the wine-centric nature of all the stories would become tiresome rather quickly, but Agi and Okimoto do a tremendous job of keeping things fresh and interesting. Not thrilled to see that the English translation of the story is going to appear out of sequence, but since it's at the author's request, I'll just have to grin and bear it.
February 7, 2014
Wow, I really disliked this edition of The Drops of God. Whereas the drama of the first issues truly centered on wine, this volume suddenly threw in great amounts of manga angst -- death threats, unwanted pregnancies, sex in the desert, junior high bullying. Ouf! While there was still a slight emphasis on finding reasonably priced wines that mirror or rival Grand Cru wines, the overall storyline was scattered and drama ridden.
August 8, 2012
I really loved books 1, 2 and 3. Book 4 reminded me that this is really a soap opera created by people who love wines from France, primarily Bordeaux and Burgundy. The world of wine is huge - more wines please.
August 18, 2014
The wine hijinks continue. Tomine gets it in his head that the way to find the Second Apostle is to . The melodrama in this series is hilariously awesome.
August 21, 2015
I really wish there would have been more time spent on hunting for the wine. I thought that the possible wines kind of landed in our main character's lap. Hopefully things will be less predictable with the next volume.
April 27, 2012
The story seemed to slow down a bit in this one. Maybe it's just because I took so long to read it... Or maybe I took so long to read it because the story was slow?
July 10, 2012
Great series, they are skipping to a later story arc from the english release later this year though :(
August 22, 2012
Fun fun fun. Why can't I get these in japanese? I'd rather struggle though the translation than wait for the English publications.
September 30, 2012
I enjoyed this one the best of all so far. Extremely disappointed they are jumping ahead in the series.
October 1, 2012
The quest for finding the next apostle continues, along with some interesting side stories. If you love wine or learning about wine this is the manga for you.
November 2, 2012
I want some of this wine!
February 11, 2015
The pace was slower in this volume, but the search was still absorbing!
September 11, 2015
Still loving the story, but am worried there is not another!
July 14, 2016
The Apostle riddle was cool, but this volume relied on a few too many all-too-convenient coincidences for me.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews