How an anime studio and liquor brand brought the art of mixology to life

A bartender makes a Brandy Alexander, pouring equal parts of a Courvoisier V.S.O.P brandy, Marie Brizard crème de cacao, and fresh cream. He shakes it with ice, strains through a fine mesh strainer, and finishes it off with a neat pile of freshly-grated nutmeg.

This imagery may seem to be out of a bartending documentary, but it’s actually a scene from an anime series, Bartender: Glass of God. It’s this unavoidable, radical attention to detail in the animation itself that tells the story of a Japanese way of life–putting extreme care into one’s craft.

During scenes inside the bar, the liquor wall features an elaborate selection of spirits, the labels of which are meticulously drawn. They include Maker’s Mark bourbon, Roku gin, and Laphroaig scotch, all of which fall under the portfolio of Suntory Global Spirits, which provided “production support” for the show.

The show’s ability to combine real-life liquor brands with attention to detail helps it pull off a focus on craft that isn’t often seen outside of live-action documentary. The series portrays bartending as an empirical trade through the experience of each viewer watching on a screen. Not everyone watching will be a bartender nor will they each absorb every single nuance incorporated into the anime. But the care in the crafts of animation and bartending that Nakazawa meshed together with Suntory and other partners reveal a comprehensive and respectful illustration of the power of a cocktail.

A reboot with emphasis on details—and brands

Bartender originated as a Japanese manga, or graphic novel, in 2004 to then be turned into an anime series in 2006. Last year, anime studio Liber released a 12-episode revival, with streamer Crunchyroll releasing episodes dubbed in English from July through October. Creatives behind the reboot said the goal was to be as accurate as possible with cocktails and vibes.

“We focused on creating an authentic bar ambiance that viewers could experience through anime, ensuring the movements and atmosphere retained a sense of realism,” says Takaaki Nakazawa, the series’ lead producer. 

[Image: © Araki Joh, Kenji Nagatomo/Shueisha, Bar hoppers]

Nakazawa and his team pulled this off by consulting renowned Japanese bartenders Akihiro Sakoh of Sakoh Bar in Tokyo’s Shibuya district and Noriyuki Iguchi of Bar Gaslight in Tokyo’s Ginza district. “Before production, we interviewed them and filmed their actions—cocktail-making techniques and handling bottles—which the animation team studied closely to replicate the movements,” Nakazawa says. “They also prepared all the cocktails featured in the entire anime series.”

[Image: © Araki Joh, Kenji Nagatomo/Shueisha, Bar hoppers]

Suntory’s involvement is integrated throughout the series—mostly contained to brands behind the bar—but the anime also takes its protagonist, Ryu, to the Suntory Whisky Yamazaki Distillery in Osaka, Japan. It looks precisely in the anime the way it looks on Google Maps street view, down to the shrubbery.

“Every glass of whisky is a coalescence of memories–like history, distilled,” Ryu says to his friends outside the distillery. “And even if our guests know nothing about that history, isn’t it better that we know the meaning contained within each glass, so we can serve something that transcends flavor alone?”

[Image: © Araki Joh, Kenji Nagatomo/Shueisha, Bar hoppers]

This statement sums up the overall message of Bartender, which highlights the longing to feel empowered through human connection. Creating these scenes, with all of the partnerships involved in settings where the Suntory brand is so prominently placed, gives the viewers a sense that they can too feel that sense of empowerment when sipping on its products.

Focus on craft

Nakazawa has been a huge fan of the original Bartender manga and felt emboldened to reimagine it, borrowing some plot lines but catering it to a new generation. “When a customer visits a bar, they don’t perceive everything in a straightforward way,” he says. “Their perception changes depending on their individual circumstances.”

“It’s not what a typical, you know, Western audience would think of immediately,” says Crunchyroll CCO Asa Suehira. “We want to showcase anime more than just entertainment, but an art form that bridges cultures and tells a universal story.” Crunchyroll currently has 15 million subscribers, most of whom are in North America, but the service has been working to expand globally, including into Southeast Asia and India.

[Image: © Araki Joh, Kenji Nagatomo/Shueisha, Bar hoppers]

From an American perspective, the narrative may come across as cliché and over-exaggerated, but hospitality as an art form is taken more seriously in Japanese culture. The anime takes that reverence for craft and applies to a profession most American viewers might not think about much.

“When you have an excellent bartender, they’re able to connect with a lot of people,” says Chris Leavitt, a Las Vegas bartender and cocktail content creator. “That aspect was on par with what I experience as a bartender myself. It’s so important for someone who mans a bar to understand that’s the priority over everything.”

Neither Toho nor Crunchyroll commented on sponsorships other than Suntory. But dozens of other liquor brands, like Beefeater gin, Dolin vermouth and Heering cherry liqueur, are heavily featured in the show too despite not being Suntory brands.

Leavitt commends the precise attention given to the animation, from the style in which Ryu holds his bar spoon through his fingers, to the motion of his Japanese hard shake, both in close-ups and wide shots. “That’s exactly how these bartenders operate,” he says. “Nothing was inaccurate. Every drink recipe was on point.”

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