I drink and watch anime

Love is Like a Cocktail  – Who Do I Sue?  

Irina

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Chisato really has it all. She’s young, beautiful, smart. Admired and respected by her coworkers and subordinates for her reliable and hardworking attitude that have earned her the position of  chief at the office. Everyone knows that if you need something done, and done right, you can always count on Chisato. Unless she’s had a drink (and only one is needed). Chisato’s terrible secret, carefully guarded from all those around her, is that despite her deep love of intoxicating libations, she cannot handle her alcohol and a single drink is enough to reduce her to a happy, overly friendly, messy drunk. Luckily that’s just how Sora likes her.

First Kobayashi, now this! I need to find the hidden cameras these Japanese writers are using to spy on me and convert my life to manga. They’re not even trying to hide it anymore. This is identity theft (no it’s not), copyright infringement (not even close), use of my likeness and personality without permission (well I am the only blonde in the world ho enjoys a stiff drink…)

yeah sure…like looking in the mirror

I’m guessing those of you who knew about this show figured this review would be coming right? I mean it would be ridiculous for me to skip this one especially since this is a short program with each episode clocking in at 3 minutes including credits. It didn’t exactly demand a huge investment on my part. That’s not always a good thing.

Short series don’t usually have a huge budget to play with and it my experience this tends to translate into simplistic art and minimal animation. This said, few series of the type are really high action (Luluco being an exception in both the action AND budget aspects) and as such they can get away with it rather easily. This holds true for Love is Like a Cocktail, with animation largely consisting of basic walking/talking animations or Chie’s repetitive letting her hair down move (which in some ways was parallel to a magical girl transformation scene). The art however, we quite nice, in typical moe style. Nothing too elaborate but it could easily compete with full length episodes.

Sora looks uncomfortably young to me

Sadly, this cocktail doesn’t pack much of a punch. One of the greatest possible infractions in my book! There’s really not much to the series. It’s cute but not actually funny and extremely repetitive. So much so in fact, that the abridged drinking game I’ve put together for it should get you completely hammered and that’s a non-alcoholic cocktail!

I’m not entirely sure what they were aiming for. The relationship between Sora and Chie was extremely sweet but without any conflict or drama it’s a little bland for traditional romance fans. Chie is a little too stiff to truly appeal to the CGDCT crowd and as I said, there isn’t any actual comedy to fall back on. It the end this little show is really just a palate cleanser.  

it does have some genius ideas

You may be thinking to yourselves that that’s all you can really expect from a short series but I would beg to differ. My beloved mermaid boy (Orenchi no Furo Jijō) had an even shorter total runtime but manage to pack every episode with something utterly weird or touching, worthy of your attention. It also had a few completely absurdist gags that had me laughing out loud. OK, so maybe the beautiful boys might be pushing against my bias, in that case so how about we look at I Can’t Understand what my Husband is Saying.

I Can’t Understand what my Husband is Saying has a nearly identical premise as Love is Like a Cocktail yet it presents it in a much more compelling way. The art and animation aren’t nearly as nice and visually it’s a much less attractive show but the characters are developed enough that their stories become compelling to the viewers. Actual humor and character arcs are weaved into the narrative to hold the entire thing together making you truly feel like you are sharing in Kaoru and Hajime’s lives rather than watching a series of random vignettes with interchangeable characters. I should say that the last two episodes of Love is Like a Cocktail, which feature a two-part flashback to Chie and Sora’s first meeting, were by far the strongest of the entire series. I remember thinking that the narrative was finally starting and I was for the first time looking forward to the next episode….then I realized that it was the last one.

but this is when it starts…

I wanted to love this show. I really did. On paper it was more or less written for me (or about me). However, in the end, even perfect man of my dreams Sora is just to unsubstantial to be of any interest. The series is ok, as in distinctly average (5/10). Maybe if you watch the last two episodes first you might relate to the characters a little better for the rest of the show but then again you might also have no clue what’s going on. Honestly just watch I Can’t Understand what my Husband is Saying instead.

Favorite character: Sora (he’s a bit boring to watch but I’m still 100% down with a cute guy who would make me delicious cocktails every evening)

What this show taught me: A lot of new recepies

I feel bad for people who don’t drink. When they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day.

Suggested drink: Episode 3 Cinderella

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