Drops of God

Plot

Shizuku Kanzaki is a junior employee in a Japanese beverages company, Taiyo ("Sun" in Japanese) Beer 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 Yutaka Kanzaki, 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 Issei Tomine, 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 Miyabi Shinohara and colleagues in the newly formed wine department of his company, which he now joins.

Following a draw on the "Apostles" wines, Shizuku and Issei received a near year-long grace period before the search for the "Drops of God" resumed. They are tasked by The Order of the Drops of God, a social club created by Yutaka and seven of his closest friends and fellow wine experts, to overcome each of their respective challenges to gain the seven pages of describing the "Drops of God" in Yukata's will. Aiding Shizuku in his competition are the family that operates the Western-style Izakaya Mama-Miya and other chefs, where Shizuku find temporary employment to study wine and food pairing.

Production

Development

All the wines that appear in the comic are authentic, with Yuko and Shin Kibayashi being passionate wine lovers and even owned a 3,000-bottle collection. Neither of the authors have professional wine qualifications, but they grew up learning about French food and wine from their grandfather and drank wine every day as a hobby. One day, the siblings tried a 1985 DRC Échezeaux and become more entranced in the deeper aspects of the wine world, stating "when [they] had it, it made us think about the culture, the people, and we started to see these complex pictures and patterns like a rug. It made us see these illusions."

Whenever the siblings drank wine, they played a game of describing the "image" of wine, much like how characters in manga tend to do, and realized they shared "similar imagery without much diversion of vision from each other". Wanting to share their visions with other people, Shin suggested creating a manga centered around wine. When deciding which wine to feature in the manga, they researched and consulted with wine experts, and every wine that appeared in manga the siblings tasted. Based on a certain standard, they tasted various kinds of wine at all price ranges and from different parts of the world, even ones that don't appear in the manga. They excluded wines they thought readers would be disappointed in, regardless of price, or wines they personally found "unattractive", though they made sure no negative thoughts about wines were shown in the manga.

For the sequel series, the siblings became more interested in food pairing after introduced the pairing of oysters and Chablis wine in The Drops of God. In the depiction of Drops of God: Mariage, they wanted to emphasize how food and wine were intrinsic with each other, as there "are combinations that complement each other and that work against each other". To find an exquisite food pairing, they choose to spend time in their kitchen and at restaurants trying out different ingredients from Japanese, Chinese, and Western cuisines in order to find out what pairs best with wine.

Theme

As frequently shown in the manga, the theme of the manga centered around the deep complexity of wine and the "story" behind it, and how wine "mirrors a country's food culture and lifestyle." According to the Kibayashis, they stated that wine is the "main character" of the story, instead of the protagonists Shizuku and Issei.

In series, the word "tenchijin" is used, which refers to the "elements that create wine: heaven/vintage, earth/terroir and man." A Japanese winemaker, Koji Nakata, used this on his wine label and was one of the inspirations for the sibling writers as they realized that "every amazing wine has these essences. It needs good terroir, vintage, and more than anything, a good winemaker... None of these essences can be absent to create a good wine. Even if one of them overpowers the other, it'll offset the balance. It's not simply an industrial product. When a person receives the gift from heaven and the earth, he can create wine. In the back of our mind, we always wanted to convey how amazing that is."

Characters

Shizuku Kanzaki (神咲雫, Kanzaki Shizuku)

Voiced by: Kazuya Kamenashi (Japanese); Christopher Guerrero (English)

A young employee in Taiyo Beer beverages company, and the legitimate son of Yutaka Kanzaki and his late wife (who died when Shizuku was six). His father gave him an elite education about wine when he was still a child, though he didn't realize it until reaching adulthood. However, he started rebelling against his father in his teens, resenting his father's obsession over it, and finally drove him to join a beer company. Incidentally, he was transferred to the wine department in the company and started to undertake the task of finding the "Drops of God". His sense of taste and smell is extremely sensitive, so much so that he could discern the components of an unopened bottle of wine. He also inherited the superb intuition and verbal expressiveness about wine from his father. On the other hand, his knowledge about wine is amateur-level, but has been growing since he started working in the wine department and meeting various wine experts and lovers throughout his journey. He also travelled around the world with his father during childhood, giving gave a him broad experiences, being well-immersed in arts and culture of the world. The first wine he had ever tasted was Château Mont-Pérat.

Shizuku believes drinking is an essential part in understanding a wine, and comes to see wine drinking as a fun experience under any circumstance. He is simple-minded and optimistic, radiating a charming and warm personality that allows him to easily befriend anyone he meets and is helpful towards those in need. His concentration when pursuing goals and handsome appearance have attracted many women, but his insensitivity to romantic cues meant such feelings are normally unnoticed and unreciprocated.

Miyabi Shinohara (紫野原雅, Shinohara Miyabi)

Voiced by: Maaya Uchida (Japanese); Taylor Shaye (English)

A sommelier apprentice working in a French restaurant, she is very knowledgeable in all matters related to wine and has shown some talents in wine tasting. However, due to bad luck and a possible lack of intuition, she has failed to pass the Sommelier qualification exam several times. She was subsequently contracted by Taiyo Beer to work as a consultant for its wine department and eventually earned her sommelier license during Shizuku's year-long traveling.

The "Twelve Apostles" and "The Drops of God"

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. The thirteenth wine, "The Drops of God", is never revealed in the series, stating every person has own personal "Drops of God" because every person's taste is different.

Media

Manga

Drops of God was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Morning from November 18, 2004, to June 12, 2014. Its chapters were compiled in 44 tankōbon volumes, released from March 20, 2005, to July 23, 2014. It was also published in South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Since April 2008, volumes have also been published in France by Glénat. By December 2007, the series had registered sales of more than 500,000 copies. By May 2021, Drops of God had sold over half a million copies, more than 3.5 million. By August 2021, the series has accumulated over 15 million copies in circulation.

Vertical Inc. published the series in North America under the title The Drops of God. After publishing four volumes (covering the first eight Japanese volumes and the first two Apostles), the fifth volume jumped ahead to the story arc for the Seventh Apostle (volumes 22 and 23 of the Japanese edition), published under the name The Drops of God: New World. Vertical stated that this was done "by author request" and urged readers to "tell all your friends about the series so there will be second and third seasons to fill in the gap!"

Starting on October 14, 2019, volumes 1–11 of the English translation were available digitally through ComiXology on Kindle, with plans to have all 44 volumes in English translation by Kodansha. These were available free for Amazon Prime members. In May 2020, volumes 12–22 of the English translation were released and volumes 23–33 in October 2020. The final volumes, volumes 34–44, were released in May 2021. In Fall 2025, Kodansha USA started reprinting the printed, 2-in-1 omnibus editions of the manga.

Drops of God: Mariage (マリアージュ ～神の雫 最終章～, Mariage - Kami no Shizuku Saishūshō)'s serialization began on May 28, 2015, a few months after the original manga ended its serialization, and was completed on October 15, 2020, collected into a total of 26 volumes.

On August 31, 2023, Kodansha USA revealed they licensed the sequel and the first volume was initially to be release digitally on September 26, 2023, but was pushed back to October 3, 2023.

Another sequel manga, titled Drops of God deuxième (神の雫 deuxième, Kami no Shizuku deuxième), began serialization in Weekly Morning magazine on September 21, 2023, and ended on April 18, 2024.

Live-action TV series

In 2008, a Korean adaptation was in the works, with actor Bae Yong-joon (who the Kibayashi siblings modeled character Issei after) expressing interested in it, but ultimately fell through and was never greenlit.

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

On August 24, 2021, a multinational, multi-lingual TV series was announced. The series is a co-production between Legendary Television, Dynamic Television, France Télévisions and Nippon Television-owned Hulu Japan and in partnership with Adline Entertainment. Legendary Television will handle worldwide sales for all territories apart from France and Japan. Apple TV+ picked up streaming rights for the series. It consists of two seasons, with Season 1 airing in 2023 and Season 2 in 2026.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced by Pony Canyon on November 20, 2025. The series will be produced by Satelight and directed by Kenji Itoso, with Yū Mitsuru writing and supervising scripts, Takehiro Suwa designing the characters, and Eishi Segawa composing the music. It premiered on April 10, 2026 on Tokyo MX and other channels. For the first cours, the opening theme song is "hate you? love you?" performed by Hokuto Yoshino, while the ending theme song is "Kami no Shizuku" (カミノシズク) performed by Maaya Uchida. For the second cours, the opening theme song is "Call Me Asap" performed by Super Dragon, while the ending theme song is "Every Summer" (エブリー・サマー) performed by Eill. Crunchyroll is streaming the series. Tropics Entertainment licensed the series in Southeast Asia for streaming on Tropics Anime Asia YouTube channel.

Others

A social game based on Drops of God and created by Mobage was released on February 9, 2011, and is only available in Japan. In November 2007, a music album inspired by the series was released.

On January 22, 2009, a diary book detailing the Kibayahi siblings creative process about the manga and columns of their research was released. A photo book about Kazuya Kamenashi and the 2009 TV series on March 3, 2009.

Reception and impact

The series has received both local and global critical acclaim, being praised for its story, art, and educational knowledge of wine. It has been featured in the New York Times Best Selling list of manga many times.

Drops of God was also featured in The New York Times' Dining and Wine section, highlighting the wines shown in the manga and their impact of sales.

The success, popularity, and cultural impact of Drops of God has been credited to its influence for increasing interest in wines, especially the ones introduced in the manga, most notably, propelling obscure winemakers to celebrity status, increasing domestic and international sales, and even fed into wine speculation with bottles that were usually priced around $20 reaching the thousands overnight. In 2018, online wine magazine Grape Collective that French wine producers, such as Château Calon-Segur, Château Palmer, Saint-Estèphe, and Château Le Puy, gained 130% rise in sales in Japan during the first year of the manga's publication. In 2013, the mention of Château Poupille in the series had increased sales by 20 to 30% in Japan and around 50% in Taiwan, China and Korea.

When French comic book publisher Glénat translated Drops of God, the French wine market experienced visible changes in their stocks, particularly for three producers in their international and abroad sales. One of the most memorable wines covered in the Drops of God is Château-Mont-Perat, with its normal price of €15 changing to €150 per bottle and rise annual production of 25,000 cases to 50,000. In L'Expansion, the manga is cited to be "an extraordinary [sales] lever, much more effective than the Parker points". In France, the French government acknowledged that contribution, and the writers were presented with two awards, Order of Agricultural Merit in 2011, and Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2018 for their influential impact in their economy and help in maintaining interest in wine in young people. In 2010, prestigious La Revue du vin de France awarded the Drops of God staff their "Special Award of the Year", making them the first Japanese people to receive the award. In July 2009, Drops of Gods was even featured the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards Hall of Fame.

The Japanese importer Enoteca has stated that the character Shizuku has begun to influence its stock ordering decisions. The sale of fine wines in South Korea has increased significantly as a result of the popularity of the comic, with the sale of wine rising from less than a third of the market to around 70 per cent of alcohol sales. In 2005, elite South Korean companies was even reported to had bought all the wines introduced in The Drops of God as a way to “educate” their employees.

Wine Salon and WineGame app

In 2019, the Kibayashis siblings collaborated with President of Bijou USA and Vice President of Bijou Japan, Peter Chiang, whose family the Napa Valley estate Kanpai Wines, on two Drops of God-themed projects, the Wine Salon and WineGame app. From October 20–21, the Kibayashis assisted in preparing the wine menu for a two-day event, choosing 30 different wines from 9 different producers. The Kibayashis also spend the event singing books and interacting with fans. During a press released, Shink and Yuko stated that they approached the event the same way they did with the series:

We will be applying the same principles for the exploration of American wines we shared in the manga: Heaven, Earth, Man and Marriage ... In The Drops of God, heaven represents the weather, and is a direct reference to the climate of a given geographical area. Earth refers to terroir, or soil and viticultural/cultural practices and conditions. Man refers to winemaking and cellar practices, while marriage refers to the marriage of wine and food.”

Winemakers that also attended the event credited the Kibayashis for their influence and praised Drops of God for its storytelling and creativity, as "[recognizing] these virtues in the wines that it folds into its stories" and emphasizes "The magic of wine is that it is as much a story as it is a beverage: a marriage of place, process, and people. Drops of God celebrates this magic.”

Following the venture, online wine salon for US consumers and a Wines of God app (developed by Chef Jose Andres and Rob Wilder), a branded version of the WineGame app, both named after the manga, was launched. Drops of God-themed Wine Salon and WineGame app features an interactive educational wine game, personal wine recommendations for individual members, special offers from restaurants and hotels, and notify members of wine-related events.