Oded Ruskin’s new series “Drops of God” aired its first episode on April 21st. The series is based on the famous manga “Drops of God” or “Kami no Shizuku,” written by Tadashi Agi and illustrated by Shu Okimoto. The series has gained a huge fan base internationally and has been favored a lot in the country of France, which is why the manga was adapted by Oded Ruskin into the series. The story is about a complicated relationship between a father and a daughter. It delves deeply into the psychological trauma the daughter has faced and how her father’s last wish was to connect with his daughter regardless of her mother’s wishes. The series follows Camille, who addresses her trauma by getting over the series of misunderstandings that had led to her estrangement from him the father-daughter duo. “Drops of God” is rich with oenological studies and really helps the audience better understand the world of wine.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Does Camille Not Drink Alcohol?
“Drops of God” Episode 1 introduces a young Camille honing her palette to memorize and understand different tastes and smells. She was introduced to different tastes under a blindfold so that she could recognize their unique feel and qualities and correctly guess what the taste belonged to. At the beginning of the episode, the topic of the series is already introduced through Issei, another character in the series. Therefore, young Camille was being trained to become a sommelier who would rival her father’s legacy. However, once the timeline shifts to the present, Camille is introduced as a young lady who has a book under her belt. She is shown visiting a bar to meet with her friends, where she meets a guy who introduces himself as her fan. While they chatted, Camille received an urgent call from her father urging her to come to Tokyo at once. He had also sent her plane tickets so that she would not waste her time dilly-dallying and preparing to meet with him. Indignantly, she asks him the reason behind his urgency, and this is when he confesses that he is going to die and that he would like to see her one last time. Camille returns to the bar to excuse herself while she harbors a mixture of emotions battling inside her, only to be intercepted by the guy. He asks her to drink, and upon her refusal, he drinks the shots himself and forcibly kisses her to make her drink. She accidentally swallows the drink due to the assault, and her reaction to it was immediate. She faints with a nosebleed and has to be rushed to the hospital. It seems that the once budding sommelier had a huge mental block that acted as an allergy toward the very drink her father had been a revered genius in as well.
Did Camille Get To Meet Her Father?
After she returned home from the hospital, she sat down with her mother to tell her about her decision to meet with her father. Her mother had, in the beginning, been supportive of her when she heard about the fiasco with the guy in the bar. She wanted Camille to go out and date more, but her support ended when Camille told her she would be visiting Alexandre Léger, her father, in Tokyo. She immediately started emotionally manipulating Camille while constantly patronizing her by calling her fragile. She did not stop until Camille had left for the airport. She boarded a private jet and was greeted by Alexandre’s longtime friend, Luis Inglese. Luis took her to one of his restaurants after informing her of her father’s death. She met Miyabi, the head sommelier of Luis’ chain of restaurants, who offered her condolences to Camille. Here, Luis discovered that Camille avoided alcohol altogether. Luis then took her to Alexandre’s house in Tokyo, where she could rest for a while before attending the reading of the will and the cremation ceremony. She looked around the house for a while before calling her mother up, who immediately began manipulating her against her father. Camille informed her about his death and promptly hung up after bidding her goodbye.
‘Drops Of God’ Episode 1 Ending Explained: What Did The Will Of Alexandre Léger State?
The next day, Camille was escorted to the lawyer’s office, where François Talion, Aexandre’s lawyer, read out his will. She had been surprised to find Issei Tomine, Alexandre’s student, sitting there. Issei was a very promising student of oenology, and Alexandre had taken him under his wing, first to give him the training he deserved and second to fulfill the emptiness he felt as his wife kept him away from Camille. Issei was continually pressured at home to leave his practice and join his parents’ company instead. He had been meeting with Miss Sayaka of the Konoe Group when he was informed about the death of his favorite professor. Therefore, when he was called to be included in the will, he did not hesitate to participate because the will was his way out of his overbearing family. Camille and Issei read the contents of the will, which stated that Alexandre had devised a series of tests to determine who was more deserving of the estate and his private wine collection between the two. There were three tests, where both Issei and Camille had to recognize the grape, vintage, and estate of the wine so as to correctly identify the wine they would drink. This included the sniff test to correctly identify the aromas, the color test to correctly identify the age, and the taste test, which would lead them to solidify their findings.
Final Thoughts: What Was Léger’s Real Wish?
At first, Camille had been absolutely distraught and exasperated by her father’s antics, so much so that she was ready to renounce her inheritance. She was all set to return to France after attending the funeral. She returned to the Tokyo estate after the funeral, and Luis led her to view Alexandre’s private collection. While she looked around, she came across an untouched box containing wine that had been marked by a note that stated that Luis would open this bottle when Camille turned 18 to celebrate and drink with her. This clicked open the floodgates, and Camille was hit with the feeling that she had, in fact, lost her father. Luis had been intent on sharing a message that Alexandre had left before he died, but Camille had refused to listen to it. She changed her mind while she began to make her way outside, and Luis shared the message.
Alexandre, in the message, had foretold her emotions and used the tests to connect with his daughter. He simply wanted to get his daughter back and connect with her the best he could in his own element. He apologized for not being a better father, but he was a genius sommelier, and thus he wanted his daughter to follow in his footsteps and understand him better. He wanted the chance he had lost earlier, when she was young, which is why he told Camille to hone her senses again at the Domaine. Domaine was owned by Philippe Chassangre, who had been in charge of it when Camille was young. He would help her with the identification and also help her regain her palette. While his message played Camille saw herself enjoying the game of recognition in the flashbacks. She saw herself being excited to play the game and was quite serious when they began. This points to the fact that maybe the psychological trauma was induced by herself and by her mother as her memories were distorted and the things she had loved, she associated them with disgust now. The flashbacks made up her mind to pursue her memories and also prepare for the tests further as Camille made her way toward Domaine, “Drops of God” Episode 1 ended on a note promising an intriguing beginning.
