Jdrama Review: Kami no Shizuku (2009)

Kami no Shizuku
神の雫
6/10

Kami no Shizuku, or Drops of God, stars Kamenashi Kazuya as Kanzaki Shizuku, the son and presumed heir to a fortune – to a world famous wine collection left by his late father, a renowned wine critic. However his estranged relationship to his father left Kanzaki with a distaste for wine in any form. When a rival heir appears to take over the wine collection, Kanzaki is spurred on to take the challenge set by his father to win the inheritance. Along with spunky new girl buddy Shinohara Miyabi (played by Naka Riisa) sets off to discover the “Seven Apostles.” His only weapons are the written descriptions of each vintage, his own memories, and an inborn taste for wine.

Sound awesome? If you have a thirst to see KAT-TUN’s Kame and/or you want to learn something about wine (and the eloquent prose of wine critics), then this is the drama for you. If you’re also in the mood for a slow, sentimental story with a ‘feel good about family and friends premise’, then this drama is for you. If you get slightly bored by mostly plot-less dramas, overly characterized side characters, and a subdued main lead, I recommend a skip. 

Kami no Shizuku plods along at a pace that is just unhurried by anyone, and seems almost to take itself too seriously. I love reading a good wine description, but it’s mostly for the humor value. Hence, I got a lot of comedy out of what’s not exactly a comedy. The story is honestly not that intriguing, but it’s only 9 episodes! And I was in it for the wine. 

World, meet the “Seven Apostles” according to J-Dramaland:

Didn’t know this would be a wine ad, now did you? I’m assuming all of these gorgeous bottles of nectar actually do taste fabulous, but whether or not they symbolize what the drama claims they do, I’ll never know.

1. “Man’s Strength” 2001 Domaine Georges & Christophe Roumier Les Amoureuses, Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru, France: $1100
2. “Harmony” 2000 Domaine du Pegaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée da Capo, Rhone, France: $640
3. “My Beloved” 1999 Château Palmer, Margaux, France: $250
4. “Trial” 2000 Michel Colin-Deleger et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru, Côte de Beaune, France : $300
5. “Gratitude” 2001 Luciano Sandrone Barolo Cannubi Boschis, Barolo DOCG, Italy: $190
6. “The Path” 1994 Château Lafleur, Pomerol, France: $380
7. “Eternity” 2003 Château le Puy, Côtes de Francs, France : $100

We drank HOW much money in wine?

Bet they were sampling Welch’s grape-cranberry juice for this production.

Interestingly enough, a quick wiki search yielded some data about the increase of wine sales in Asia, particularly in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, that is tied directly to the popularity of Kami no Shizuku the drama, and from its original manga – which featured some slightly different wines. Maybe this has effected today’s estimated wine prices above (Thank you twinklelie for looking up the costs), or maybe these vintages are just that breathtaking. Excuse me while I head over to my local grocery store and buy me a nice $18 Texas wine.

Getting back to the drama, each “apostle” represents a memory or value of our hero’s father that in all-due-cheesy fashion, our lead has to figure out. There are some nice filler stories per individual episodes, a little bit of a romance between Kanzaki and Shinohara, and a properly strange mystery over the connection between Kanzaki and his rival Tomine Issei (Tanabe Seiichi). Mostly though the guy crept me out with his wine-gurgling “oohhhhhhh”. Can’t tell if overacting or he just had a really dry throat after all that cranberry juice.

Conclusion

It’s not a re-watch, but I enjoyed learning something about wines and vintages, a little of how they are made, and what natural or seasonal changes can affect the production. I also learned what a sommelier is and appreciated seeing some of the tricks of their trade. Especially with Kame as the model.