Fine wine, fine manga: The Drops of God Volumes 1-11 now out from comiXology Originals!

Oct 14, 2019

The word's greatest wine manga continues! Kodansha Comics and ComiXology Originals are pleased to announce they're completing the internationally renowned wine manga The Drops of God in English for the very first time. Volumes 1-11 debut October 14 and can be read digitally as part of the comiXology Originals line of exclusive content—available for purchase only on Kindle and comiXology and streaming on Amazon Prime Reading, Kindle Unlimited and comiXology Unlimited. Thirty-four of the 44-volume series have never been translated in English. Today’s release sees the previously published volumes 1-8 re-edited with new cover art and volumes 9-11 appearing today in English for the first time ever. More volumes to be added at a later date.

Created and written by Tadashi Agi, a pseudonym for siblings Shin and Yuko Kibayashi, with artwork by Shu Okimoto, The Drops of God has had an unprecedented impact on the international wine market and the various wines featured throughout the series. How many manga see their debuts announced exclusively in Wine Spectator? When world-renowned wine critic Kanzaki Yutaka passes away, his will reveals that his fortune of a wine collection isn’t automatically bequeathed to his only son Kanzaki Shizuku, a junior employee at a Japanese beverage company whose main focus is selling beer. In order to take ownership of his legacy and the inheritance, he must correctly identify and describe thirteen wines, the first twelve heaven-sent wines known as the "Twelve Apostles" and the thirteenth known as the "Drops of God," while competing against the stellar young wine critic, Toomine Issei. With determination, a strong sense of taste and smell, and an uncanny ability to describe his experiences, Shizuku submerges himself in the world of wine to try to solve its mysteries and defeat Issei.

The creators, the brother-sister duo Shin and Yuko Kibayashi (a.k.a. "Tadashi Agi"), will be appearing Stateside October 20-21 in a pair of exclusive appearances in Napa Valley (where else?) and Beverly Hills! More info including an exclusive Q&A with the Kibayashis here. The Drops of God is a fun and educational page-turner for wine connoisseurs and beginners alike. It has appeared on the New York Times Bestseller list, the 2011 New York Times Holiday Gift Guide and About.com’s Best New Manga list of 2011 and has received enormous praise: “My favorite wine book of 2011 … Pick up this first volume at your sleep’s peril. It’s a one-nighter, a wine tale that is equal parts coming-of-age, love and detective stories. Along its nervy way, it nonetheless plainly explains various wines, wine talk and the how-to of wine tasting. As a graphic novel, it gets across a lot more emotion and imagery than mere prose … You’ll be drunk with anticipation.” —Chicago Tribune “An almost psychedelically beautiful work… It’s like Speed Racer crossed with Wine Spectator.” —The Daily Dish (LA Times) “Absolute page-turner … It’s the sweeping two-page illustrations of taste-transporting moments (a shirt-tearing jam by rock band Queen, a maiden fleeing through strawberry fields) that better capture wine’s great allure than a thousand dry scribblings on history and weather conditions.” —Time Out New York “It presents wines rapturously and in creative ways … I’m a vodka man, but Drops of God left me with a new appreciation for the grape, new vocabulary words like terroir (the flavors and aromas that soil and geography impart to a wine) and a fascination with decanting, which the book depicts as an art form.” —The New York Times