Reviews

One of the biggest draws of this anime for me was that is was adults, in an adult world, not dealing with any supernatural stuff. It's a change of pace from so much of the rest of anime out there. They deal with real-life adult issues. And this anime delivered that. And as a gigantic departure from so many other anime (and media in general) they don't shy away from using actual brand names. When alcohol is shown, they use real brand names. Denny's isn't "Danny's" here, Smirnoff is Smirnoff. I really appreciate that fact. It keeps the immersion.

The animation itself is very solid. The voice acting is very good. Almost all of it is understated, which goes with the vibe of the show. The music, when you notice it, works. I generally like a lot of the characters. I'd love to be able to rate this show higher. This is the kind of show I want to rate a 9 or 10. Two things.

1) I said I generally like a lot of the characters. But, I like them at arm's length. Over 12 episodes (which with this show, each episode feels long) I couldn't feel any connection with any of them. It's like every character was kept at arm's length. I don't think that's what they were going for. Some were supposed to engender some level of empathy or connectedness, but for me none of them clicked. I know sometimes that's a goal for one or more characters but I don't think that's what they were going for here. Everyone just seemed so muted and detached. I don't know if it's because anime characters in general are over-the-top that everyone here was "normal" so they came off flat, or this was their idea of "sophisticated" or something, but I had a hard time cheering that hard for anyone, save a couple of the side character bartenders. The main character actually started to get on my nerves towards the end, and I really don't think that was the goal of the writers (and not the fault of the voice actor).

2) The show became unintentional comedy at certain points with how up its own ass it is about how amazing bartenders are. Look, this is no slight against bartenders at all, but even in a show called Bartender: Glass of God it was too much. If they have a season 2, I wouldn't be shocked if there's a line where they say, "Jesus Christ may have been a carpenter, but when he turned water into wine, that also made him a bartender." And play it totally serious.

Will I watch a Season 2? Probably. Mainly because there's such a lack of anime about adults in a realistic world, and I need a break from all the isekai, yokai, kaiju, demon lords, talking vending machines, and people with psychic abilities that make up the rest of my Crunchyroll watchlist. But damn, I wish these characters were a bit more engaging.