The fourth episode of “Drops of God” focused on the relationship between Alexandre, Marianne, Honoka, and Hirokazu. The narrative was largely limited to the 1990s, which is when Alexandre and Marianne moved to Japan with the intention of starting their new life there. And while Marianne managed to set up her base, Alexandre struggled to fit into the rigid structure of the school where he was teaching about wine tasting. Things got even more complicated when Alexandre began an affair with Honoka, with the real kicker coming in the form of Marianne and Honoka’s pregnancies. Alexandre obviously chose Marianne, and Hirokazu appeared to pick up the pieces for Honoka. Eventually, it became clear that Issei isn’t some random student who is being given a chance to fight for the Léger inheritance just because he was the “teacher’s favorite.” He is Alexandre and Honoka’s son and, therefore, Camille’s half-brother.
Spoilers Alert
Issei Searches For The Missing Hirokazu And Digs Into His Parents’ Past
Issei won the first round of the tests arranged by Léger by correctly assessing the wine that was presented in front of him and Camille, who was almost correct. For the second round, Issei and Camille have to assess Fede Galizia’s painting, which features a glass compote with peaches and jasmine flowers on it and is surrounded by quinces and a solitary grasshopper, and assess which wine it is associated with. Yes, it’s the same painting that Alexandre showed in one of his classes. But we never learned about the “link” between the painting and the wine. Now, through Issei and Camille’s test, we’ll probably understand its deeper meaning. Since it’s a pretty long and arduous process (the first test took up four episodes), the search for the wine begins in the background while the character drama takes place in the foreground, starting with the future of the Tomine Diamond empire.
Previously, Issei’s grandfather, Noboru Tomine, had told him to step away from the race to Léger’s inheritance because it was staining the Tomine legacy. Issei didn’t listen to that, and that apparently enraged Issei’s grandfather. However, in a public press meeting, Noboru says that he’s quite proud of Issei’s recent win and supports his decision to vye for Léger’s wine empire. Meanwhile, Camille, Thomas, Miyabi, Lorenzo, and Luca go back to the drawing board to ensure that they win this round. Issei learns about Hirokazu’s disappearance, and, weirdly enough, Honoka tries to make it seem like Issei’s argument with him is the reason why he has left. We all know that Honoka’s cold treatment and her piercing words were the last straw for Hirokazu. To Issei’s (and the audience’s) surprise, Honoka says that she doesn’t want to pursue Hirokazu’s disappearance with the help of the police because it’ll stir up some unnecessary controversy. That sounds like a bunch of nonsense, and Issei calls Honoka out on this. Since Honoka doesn’t budge, Issei leaves with a picture of Hirokazu and himself.
On his way out, Issei comes across Noboru, and he sincerely thanks him for his support. Noboru essentially slaps Issei by revealing that his press announcement was a complete lie. He doesn’t want Issei to come back to the Tomine household, which means that winning the Léger competition is Issei’s only option. Camille continues her pursuit of the mysterious wine, and we see Miyabi and Lorenzo getting a little too frisky with each other. Then we return to Issei, who has decided to go to the police, thereby making the news of his father’s disappearance somewhat public. Realizing that the police won’t be of much help, he calls up the journalist who has been pursuing him, Katase Yurika, and requests that she look for Hirokazu. In exchange, he agrees to give her a televised interview. Yurika agrees to help Issei out since she believes he’s being honest about himself for once.
Camille meets Luca and learns about his offer to make her the writer of Alexandre’s Léger Guide, which is a yearly book with wine reviews. Since Camille is so good at what she does, Luca wants her to take up Alexandre’s spot. Although Camille is hesitant, Luca sets up a meeting with the publisher. As for Issei, he shows up at the school Honoka and Hirokazu used to study at. Going by his line of questioning, Issei is probably looking for his parents’ classmates under the assumption that he could be staying at their place. But it also becomes clear that he’s trying to understand the nature of Alexandre, Honoka, and Hirokazu’s relationship. Since the official at the university isn’t allowed to give away any confidential information, Issei only manages to get the address of Alexandre’s translator.
Camille Considers Writing The Latest Edition Of The Léger Guide
While having a beer at a bar, Camille and Thomas have a hilarious conversation about successful and unsuccessful marriages and the longevity of relationships. Thomas is clearly into Camille, and Camille is very clearly into Thomas. But when Camille tries to give their feelings a physical form, Thomas reminds her that he’s married to Juliette and he can’t betray her. So, Camille is rejected yet again, which can be a result of her choices or her inability to read Thomas’ body language. That said, this leads to a brilliant parallel between the loneliness in Camille and Issei as the episode cuts from an isolating shot of Camille at the bottom of the stairs to Issei standing in front of the window of his room and staring into the distance. It’s not hard to come to the conclusion that this is what the stoic Issei does in his free time.
Anyway, Issei gets a call from Katase, who gives him a screenshot from the CCTV footage of a railway station that she has received from one of her friends in the police. Issei recognizes Hirokazu amidst the sea of people. Katase says that they don’t know which train he boarded, but if they can specify the time window, they can learn where Hirokazu has gone. Well, at least this confirms the fact that Hirokazu hasn’t opted for death by suicide because, for a moment, it did seem like the man had lost the will to live. By the way, as soon as Issei confirms that Katase can be onto something, she reminds him that he owes her an interview. I know it can seem like a joke to people who aren’t in the journalism field, but you need to keep checking in with your interviewee so that they don’t cancel on you at the last moment.
The following day, Issei pretty much severs his ties with Honoka before heading to Yoko Sawaguchi’s house (the translator’s). Although Yoko isn’t available, Issei meets her adorably enthusiastic granddaughter, Ayame, who tells him to come back the next day to meet Yoko. Camille’s meeting with her father’s old publisher, Jacques, goes according to plan, though. That indicates that, despite his trepidations about Jacques’ methods, Alexandre did take Marianne’s suggestion and collaborated with him. Before talking about the topic, Luca and Jacques test Camille’s skills, and she is fascinated by the wine she’s given.
Once the test is over, Luca and Jacques decide that that’s one of Alexandre’s favorite wines, and, for the book, she has to describe other wines just like she described the one in front of her. Although she doesn’t give a solid confirmation, she admits to Thomas that she’s seriously considering taking up the task of writing the Léger Guide. Thomas scoffs at this idea, which leads to an argument between him and Camille. It ends with Camille telling him to go away for good. Lorenzo and Miyabi aren’t too bothered by the ups and downs of Camille and Thomas’ relationship because they’re in love themselves.
Issei Wants To Let Camille Know About Their Family Secret
Issei arrives for the interview with Katase, and after answering some standard questions about the tests and his relationship with Léger, he makes it official that he isn’t with Tomine Diamonds anymore. Noboru, who is watching the interview on TV, appears to be angry, which is confusing. Didn’t he want Issei to never return to the Tomine household? Or maybe it was a threat, and Noboru expected Issei to beg him to take him back and repent for pursuing his dreams of becoming an icon in the world of wine. Seeing all that go to dust on a national level must’ve been too surprising for Noboru, hence the reaction. In addition to all this, Issei talks about his love for Hirokazu, who is also watching the interview on TV. He appears to be working at a roadside eatery and seems content.
Camille finds out that Thomas has actually left Japan to return to France. She appears to be sad, but she wipes away her tears and begins examining Galizia’s painting, thereby indicating that she intends to keep her head in the game. Issei finally meets up with Yoko, who gives her two options: either he can take the photos from his parents’ university days, or he can sit down for a chat and listen to the truth. Issei obviously takes the second option and learns about Alexandre and Honoka’s affair and how Hirokazu basically pretended to be Issei’s father, even though they aren’t biologically related. At the end of “Drops of God,” Episode 5, we see Issei picking up his phone to call Camille and probably talk about what he has learned. However, he doesn’t go through with it. Maybe it’s a lot to take in for Issei. Although the show gave us hints about Issei’s connection to Alexandre, thereby preparing us for the eventual twist, it must’ve come as a shock to Issei.
Judging by Issei’s intention to call Camille, it means that he wants to conclude the tournament (of sorts) in an amicable way because they’re half-siblings, after all. Both of them have a lot in common, and they don’t see each other as enemies. Now, it’s entirely possible that even if Camille and Issei agree to handle Alexandre’s estate together, Alexandre’s will won’t allow them to do so, thereby forcing them to go through with the tests anyway. Apart from that, the show needs to unpack the unraveling of Hirokazu and Honoka’s relationship. Technically speaking, Honoka should’ve been thankful to Hirokazu for being there for her and her son after Alexandre essentially abandoned them. Why did she harass Hirokazu to the extent that he left everything and took up the job of a cook at a roadside restaurant? Did Honoka’s hatred towards Alexandre make her detest both Hirokazu and Issei? Is Honoka going to realize how she has traumatized these two men through no fault of their own and seek to correct her mistakes? We’ve got to wait until next week to get the answers to these questions.
