Reviews

Bartender is an anime that for me I might consider a guilty pleasure. but that is not to say that it is something to feel guilty about watching. Bartender is simply a quaint little anime, offering itself as an escape from the constant humdrum of life and allowing the cast of characters and the audience alike to come into a hole in the wall bar that seems like it belongs in some fantasy setting, cast off their stress, and come out feeling ready to face the world once again. It is absolutely a feel good anime, that somehow sucks me in every time I watch it and I suspect it might have that effect on others too. short episodic stories lazily play out on screen, told by a soft spoken narrator, almost as if we were hearing the story from a bartender themselves. It is a slow anime, meant to be savored and enjoyed at a leisurely pace.

I can't say for certain but this anime is probably the best embodiment of the famous Japanese Hospitality that they hold in such high regards. I didn't even care about alcohol when I watched this show the first time, it was just so uniquely captivating in a way no other anime I had watched had managed to do. It manages to emote so many different feelings in such a short amount of time. Its brevity almost makes it feel fragile, as if speaking above a whisper while watching it might shatter the illusion and it might never return. I don't think I would ever call it one of the best anime of all time, but it was undoubtedly an anime worth the time I spent watching.

the only bad thing about this anime is that it will ruin your expectations about what bars and bartenders are actually like; the last one i went to the bartender all but spat at me and said go f-- yourself when i asked to see a drink menu. I really wish there were more Iyashikei anime like this. Peak Cinema.