The Drops of God (神の雫)

To you who will one day

claim all the worth in my keeping...

I enclose the following words...

What is the true essence of wine?

The answer is simple.

I'm being transferred?

Yes. To our new wine division.

Seriously?

Did my dad put you up to this?

Don't be ridiculous.

This one comes down from the top.

The bosses seem to think

you could be harboring some hidden flair,

despite your claims to the contrary.

They know who your father is, after all.

I'm not him. I've chosen my own path in life.

Well, too bad.

Chosen path or not, sales just isn't for you.

Condolences, kid.

If you have another placement request,

-then submit it in writing. - Come on!

You're kicking me out of sales just like that? Really?

Just what kind of restaurant are you running here?

I'm very sorry, sir!

But your wine...

It isn't bouchonné, I swear.

The bottle you were served hasn't spoiled.

Richebourg, huh?

Well, if it's not corked, then why is it so horribly sour?

Sour? Pardon me.

What? Is this...

- Sommelier. - Huh?

Decanter.

Uh, okay.

Mmm?

Here you are, sir!

What?

Huh?

Hmm. Uh...

Did you add something?

Nah, nothing like that! I just heard that

transferring it between containers lets it mix with air.

Apparently, that can affect the taste of the wine.

- Wait! Hold on! - Hm?

I just wanted to thank you.

That was a stunning display.

You give me too much credit.

Uh, here, sir.

From the gentleman you helped back there, with regards.

Oh, why don't you take it instead?

I'm not really much of a wine drinker.

You're not?

But the way you decanted it, that was flawless.

There's no way someone who doesn't drink wine

could possibly...

Oh...

Hey, instead of wine, how 'bout a date?

- Uh? -Here.

TAIYO BEER, LTD. SALES DEPARTMENT

Hey, Kanzaki, quit hittin' on the server!

Oh, crap! Gotta go!

Uh?

I thought you'd already taken off, Hama!

-Sorry 'bout that. - Uh...

Wait, Kanzaki, he said?

Like, the Kanzaki?

And now, our top story.

At around 3 o'clock today,

world-famous wine critic Yutaka Kanzaki

passed at his home here in Tokyo from pancreatic cancer.

He was 67.

KANZAKI YUTAKA (67)

Yutaka Kanzaki?

Really? The wine guy?

Yoshida!

Young Master Shizuku, welcome home, sir.

Thanks. I heard the news.

My dad...

He never said he was sick.

Mr. Kanzaki didn't want you to know.

Hm?

His instructions were clear on the matter.

Under no circumstance were you to be informed

of his ailment.

I'm Kiryu, your father's attorney.

I spoke to you on the phone.

Dad...

Uh?

You were still drinking wine?

Even on your death bed?

You had this by your side,

when you could have had your son.

THE DROPS OF GOD

A whole life whittled down

to a piece of paper.

Ah, man...

Hm?

What is this? Mail?

His last will and testament.

The what? "Drops of God"?

As his only living relative, I can guess what this says.

The rest? Bullshit about wine.

Bullshit, you say?

Huh?

Who're you?

The name's Issei Tomine.

So, you're a wine critic, are you?

Well, you can mourn him at the service.

No. It's prudent that I stay.

I am, after all, his legal son, too.

I was adopted, you see.

THE DROPS OF GOD

One week before the master's passing.

Hm?

That was delicious.

We'll be back!

We appreciate your patronage.

Huh?

Sorry to trouble you. Really, I am.

But you're the only person I can think of who knows wine.

Don't be silly.

Whatever I can do as an apprentice sommelier,

I'd be happy to.

But your father's will...

"The Drops of God" you spoke of...

It all sounds so outlandish.

Hm.

Master Kanzaki's wine collection is peerless in scope,

with a combined market value of approximately 12 billion yen.

Many of the bottles in his private keeping

are one-of-a-kind.

A trove subject to the lust of every collector

and connoisseur the world over.

That's why you're here?

To stake your claim on his wealth?

Don't take me for some two-faced opportunist.

I never obfuscated my ambitions.

And my adoption was your father's idea entirely.

The will is written in Mr. Kanzaki's own words.

It details 12 great wines

he considered the finest in creation.

As well as one that stands unequalled above them all...

The famed vintage he so names "The Drops of God."

The task the late master set for you

is to identify the makers of these wines,

alongside their precise names and exact years.

Whosoever can accomplish this before the time limit lapses

will be named the sole beneficiary

of his fortune.

What? Why would he wager all his wealth

on some ridiculous scavenger hunt?

I can think of a reason or two.

Like prohibiting a prodigal son from squandering a legacy

he's completely ignorant of.

Yeah? So what? If he cared that much,

then maybe he should have tried to teach me.

You think the only way to gain knowledge

is to be spoon-fed it?

Your father accomplished a great many things in his life.

But it seems educating his son wasn't one of them.

Uh?

-Do come in. -

I've brought the bottle he requested.

The master willed that when the two of you

were convened here together,

you would bid him farewell with one final glass of wine.

Oh? So, it's to be a blind tasting, is it?

Yes, though not just.

For in accordance with the master's expressed wishes,

whichever of you can better describe

the nature of the wine he selected,

will be the one permitted to reside here at the estate,

until the matter of the inheritance

-can be resolved. -

Old man, you never could let it go, could you?

The fact that I turned my back on wine.

- You think? - Huh?

I do.

I haven't drank so much as a glass of wine

in my whole life.

I'm just a salesman.

What? Really?

Kilimanjaro, huh?

With a slight hint of Colombian mixed in.

Hang on. You can tell that?