Wine spy from the Empire of the Rising Sun, is it where the rise and fall of some French wine houses might come from?
A brother and sister Manga team seem to be proving that point.
Expat site Expatica calls Drops of God, their creation, The manga that poured French wine into Asia (Nov 2009).
The article relates the following story which points to their not so humble start:
"In the cobblestone square of Bages, a tiny village in the Medoc wine country, a dozen influential Bordeaux vintners dressed in flowing red robes gathered for an unlikely event.
The vintners from southwest France were about to induct two Japanese comic book authors into their exclusive wine brotherhood, the Commanderie du Bontemps.
Yuko and Shin Kibayashi, a fashionable sister-brother duo publishing under the pseudonym Tadashi Agi, created Kami no Shizuki (The Drops of God), a phenomenally successful manga series that has brought wine to subway commuters across Asia, sparking a wine boom."
Published as 'Les gouttes de Dieu' in French, Kami no Shizuku – The Drops of God has now hit the screens.
The plot is:
"The main character of the manga, a young man called Shizuku Kanzaki,
discovers the beauty of wine after his father, a famous wine critic,
dies and leaves an unusual will: a description of 12 wines he considers
to be the best in the world, comparing them to Jesus Christ’s disciples.The first person to find these “disciples” will inherit the father’s
wine collection, a contest that pits Shizuku against his adoptive
brother, Issey Tomine, who works as a wine critic."
Didn't we all start our wine love affair with Domaine de la Romanee Conti (DRC)?
Pressing the grapes for Tokyo Thursdays #147
Previously: Japan Expo, Manga with Hiro Mashima, Kawaii
Pop, Shiatsu, Black Cat, July 1st to 4, Paris