Araki Joh
Description
Araki Joh is a Japanese manga writer best known as the original creator of the series Bartender, which has been adapted into multiple anime productions, including the 2024 series Bartender Glass of God. As a writer, Joh is credited for the story and composition of his works, while the illustration is handled by different artists.
The original Bartender manga was serialized in Shueisha's Super Jump magazine from 2004 to 2011, later continuing briefly in Grand Jump. The series was written by Araki Joh and illustrated by Kenji Nagatomo, and its chapters were collected into twenty-one tankōbon volumes. The story follows Ryu Sasakura, a young and exceptionally talented bartender who works at a hidden bar called Eden Hall in Tokyo's Ginza district, where he serves cocktails that help his clients reflect on their lives and find solutions to their personal struggles. The series is known for its blend of detailed information about cocktail recipes, spirits, and bartending techniques with the emotional journeys of its characters.
Following the success of the original manga, Joh wrote three sequel series with illustrator Osamu Kajisa. Bartender a Paris was serialized from 2012 to 2013 and collected into six volumes. Bartender a Tokyo followed from 2013 to 2016, spanning eight volumes. Bartender 6stp, the final installment, ran from 2016 to 2019 and was collected into four volumes. These spin-offs shift the setting to new locations while maintaining the core thematic focus on bartending as a form of human connection and healing.
The Bartender franchise has seen multiple adaptations. The first anime adaptation aired in 2006, produced by Palm Studio and directed by Masaki Watanabe, consisting of eleven episodes. A live-action television drama was produced by TV Asahi in 2011, running for eight episodes. The most recent anime adaptation, Bartender Glass of God, was produced by Studio Liber and directed by Ryoichi Kuraya, airing from April to June 2024. This twelve-episode series serves as a reboot of the anime adaptation and is the title the user specifically mentioned.
Beyond Bartender, Araki Joh has written other manga centered on gastronomy and professional service. He is also the writer of Sommelier, a manga about a talented Japanese sommelier working in France, which similarly combines detailed educational information about wine with character-driven storytelling. This pattern reveals a recurring artistic identity in Joh's work: an interest in exploring specialized professions within the food and beverage industry, using them as a lens to examine human relationships, personal growth, and the therapeutic value of hospitality. His narratives typically focus on a highly skilled protagonist who uses their expertise not merely for technical display but to understand and help troubled clients, with each chapter or episode functioning almost as a self-contained case study.
Within the manga and anime industry, Araki Joh holds significance as a creator who helped establish and popularize the gastronomic manga genre, sometimes referred to as food manga or gourmet manga. While series centered on cooking and cuisine existed before, Joh's focus on the service side of dining and drinking specifically, particularly the refined, adult world of cocktails and wine, carved out a distinct niche within seinen manga aimed at adult readers. The Bartender series in particular has been commercially successful, with over 3.6 million copies in circulation by 2022, and is credited with bringing a respectful, almost philosophical portrayal of bar culture to a broad audience. The series has been praised for its iyashikei, or healing, qualities, offering a calm, contemplative tone that distinguishes it from more action-driven narratives.
The original Bartender manga was serialized in Shueisha's Super Jump magazine from 2004 to 2011, later continuing briefly in Grand Jump. The series was written by Araki Joh and illustrated by Kenji Nagatomo, and its chapters were collected into twenty-one tankōbon volumes. The story follows Ryu Sasakura, a young and exceptionally talented bartender who works at a hidden bar called Eden Hall in Tokyo's Ginza district, where he serves cocktails that help his clients reflect on their lives and find solutions to their personal struggles. The series is known for its blend of detailed information about cocktail recipes, spirits, and bartending techniques with the emotional journeys of its characters.
Following the success of the original manga, Joh wrote three sequel series with illustrator Osamu Kajisa. Bartender a Paris was serialized from 2012 to 2013 and collected into six volumes. Bartender a Tokyo followed from 2013 to 2016, spanning eight volumes. Bartender 6stp, the final installment, ran from 2016 to 2019 and was collected into four volumes. These spin-offs shift the setting to new locations while maintaining the core thematic focus on bartending as a form of human connection and healing.
The Bartender franchise has seen multiple adaptations. The first anime adaptation aired in 2006, produced by Palm Studio and directed by Masaki Watanabe, consisting of eleven episodes. A live-action television drama was produced by TV Asahi in 2011, running for eight episodes. The most recent anime adaptation, Bartender Glass of God, was produced by Studio Liber and directed by Ryoichi Kuraya, airing from April to June 2024. This twelve-episode series serves as a reboot of the anime adaptation and is the title the user specifically mentioned.
Beyond Bartender, Araki Joh has written other manga centered on gastronomy and professional service. He is also the writer of Sommelier, a manga about a talented Japanese sommelier working in France, which similarly combines detailed educational information about wine with character-driven storytelling. This pattern reveals a recurring artistic identity in Joh's work: an interest in exploring specialized professions within the food and beverage industry, using them as a lens to examine human relationships, personal growth, and the therapeutic value of hospitality. His narratives typically focus on a highly skilled protagonist who uses their expertise not merely for technical display but to understand and help troubled clients, with each chapter or episode functioning almost as a self-contained case study.
Within the manga and anime industry, Araki Joh holds significance as a creator who helped establish and popularize the gastronomic manga genre, sometimes referred to as food manga or gourmet manga. While series centered on cooking and cuisine existed before, Joh's focus on the service side of dining and drinking specifically, particularly the refined, adult world of cocktails and wine, carved out a distinct niche within seinen manga aimed at adult readers. The Bartender series in particular has been commercially successful, with over 3.6 million copies in circulation by 2022, and is credited with bringing a respectful, almost philosophical portrayal of bar culture to a broad audience. The series has been praised for its iyashikei, or healing, qualities, offering a calm, contemplative tone that distinguishes it from more action-driven narratives.
Works
- Topics: Anime overview