Just like the worldwide wine industry it portrays, the upcoming live-action Drops of God series will feature an international cast and crew from the Japan, France and the United States.
As reported by Variety, the new adaptation of the critically acclaimed manga series is being produced as an international collaboration between Legendary Pictures' Legendary Television divsion, Dynamic Television, France Televisions and Hulu Japan. The series will star French actror Fleur Geffier (Rémi Sans Famille, Elle) and Japanese singer and actor Tomohisa Yamashita, who previously starred in the 2016 movie adaptation of Ashita No Joe and will also appear in the upcoming American production The Man From Toronto, alongside Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson. Strangely, the announcement for the show only lists each actor's roles as "The Woman," and "The Man," suggesting that their protagonists names may be changed from their original manga, or that their characters might be completely different people all together. The show will be filmed on location in France, Japan and Italy.
"Legendary Television’s global division strives to bring the quality genre and character-driven content that Legendary is known for to local language projects," said Legendary Television's Anne Thomopoulos. " ‘Drops of God’ is the perfect opportunity to expand these efforts into France and Japan, adding to our existing development and production slate that already has projects underway in the U.K., Spain, and Mexico, among other territories."
Drops of God was created by sibling writing team Yuko and Shin Kibayashi, under the pseudonym Tadashi Agi, and features art from Shu Okimoto. Originally published from 2004-2014, the series has received widespread critical acclaim for its well developed characters and writing, and has also attracted attention from wine connoisseurs for its accurate depiction of the wine industry and the culture surrounding it. The series was highlighted in The New York Times' fine dining and wine section, and wine sellers and importers have even credited the series with increasing the sales of the real world wines featured in the manga.
The original manga tells the story of Shizuku Kanzaki, a young Japanese man who travels to France after his estranged father, a world renowned wine critic, dies there. Upon arriving, Shizuku is informed of his father's will, which says states that his son must collect thirteen rare bottles of wine, the last of which is known as "The Drops of God," in order to inherit his father's sizable estate. Standing in Shizuku's path is Issei Tomine, a young wine critic who was his father's protege. Resentful of his father's obsession with wine and his warm relationship with Tomine, Shizuku nonetheless accepts the challenge, which will require him to travel the world and learn the intricacies of wine tasting and production.
The new international production is actually the second adaptation of the series to be produced. A Japanese TV show based on the manga aired in 2009, starring Gokusen's Kazuya Kamenashi.
The Drops of God manga is published by Kodansha and is available digitally in English on Comixology. The series is also available for free on the Kindle app and devices for Amazon Prime subscribers.
Source: Variety
