"When You Run Away, Head To The North"

"When you run away, head to the North"

Heyo! This is different post from my artwork. I should probably make a new blog for this, but for now I shall post such wandering thoughts here. This is a post about my thoughts on a part of a manga. So if you don't want to read a post on such melancholy wanderings, you can go. It's gonna be a looong post. If you are a bartender this might interest you. (I hope)

The quote above is from Bartender by Araki Joh and Nagamoto Kenji. It is manga series about a bartender who aims for the "Glass of Gods". (Spoiler warning for those who have not read chapters 121-127). For those staying on, the intro is going to be a bit long. Bear with me.

So for those who don't know, "Bartender" is a manga series about a young bartender who returned to Japan from France after studying there. Sasakura Ryū is a qenius bartender who aims to serve the right drink at the right time, to help with the customers' problems, aiming for "the Glass of Gods". When he came back, he works at different bars, before settling down at Eden Hall.

"Bartender is predominantly an episodic series, and although the clients and problems vary, each story revolves around problems being resolved through the right drink. Alcohol is not depicted as a potential problem that might have negative effects such as drunkenness in the series; instead, "Bartender insists the right drink at the right time ... is about starting an earnest conversation with oneself. "To know which beverage is the most appropriate, according to the series, a bartender must be more than a liquor connoisseur; he or she must be a good observer. For example, Ryū deduce one's feelings by looking at one's hands and can know if someone is telling the truth or not.[As such, it is not just about drinking; "the stories of the customers are sometimes, if not almost always, as important as and at times even parallel to the history of the liquors imbibed." ( from wikipedia, sorry for the long intro! I just want you all to know how great this series is)

In the middle of the series, he takes a break, going to Sapporo, Hokkaido, which is in the north of Japan. He went there for 3 days. The chapter( Vol 16 Chap 122: Sauve Qui Peut) starts with these words:

"Does everyone know why the kanji for defeat (敗北) uses the character (北) ?

(北) resembles two people standing back to back, which symbolises running away with your back towards the enemy (敗北) doesn't just mean defeat. It means defeat and running away.

So when you run away, you should always head North(北)."

He went there before 6 years ago, as a sort of pilgrimage, wondering about his life's path as bartender. He now went there again, probably to renew his conviction to be a bartender.

First, he went to a bar he visited 6 years ago, Bar Yazaki. There, he confided in the old bartender about his troubles. He asked him on whether he has thought about quitting as a bartender when he encounters the strong negative emotions of the customers and whether running away is a sin. He replied that this kind of pain can hone the soul. Later on, after finishing his cocktail and he started to leave, he broke the glass. The bartender did not scold him, but told him "Sauve Qui Peut".

"When a captain goes down with his ship, regardless of it being a commercial cruiser or a battleship, helplessly sinking after a gruesome battle, the captain always lives and dies with the vessel. As the ship sinks, the captain will say this to his subordinates, "Sauve Qui Peut" which means...."

" Every man for himself...in other words live on if you can"

He then replied to his second question : "A bartender is like the captain of a sinking ship, no matter how painful it gets, you cannot abandon ship. We encourage our customers to live on. People who survive have the duty and responsibility to live on. ......Normally I keep these words to myself, but will say it in my heart as I watch my customers leave."

At these, Sasakura- san left, leaving with tears in his eyes. The old bartender's words touched him, and helped him to continue the path of a bartender.

Next, he went to buy liquor from a local liquor store. "When bartenders travel, they would always visit a certain place, a local liquor store. You want to find one that that has been in business foe more than 20 years and hasn't been remodeled. It's even better if it doesn't exclusively sell foreign liquor. In these stores, you can sometimes find rare whisky and liquor that are out of production for a bargain." (Vol 16 Chap 123 : The Clown of the North: Part 1)

Thirdly, he went to a whisky distillery, the first whisky distillery to be opened in Japan. He met an old woman and her grandson on the train and went with him. As they went along, she told the story of the person who opened the distillery and his foreign wife, Rita who he met in Scotland. Homesick and alone, he met his boss's family and fell in love with his daughter, Rita. He then brought her to Scotland, and opened the distillery. They went through many trials: waiting for the whisky to mature, selling apple juice and cider while waiting,and of Rita being a foreigner etc. But their love for each other helped them through, even until her death. ( Vol 16 Chap 125-127 : The Story of Taketsuru and Rita (Part 1- Part 3))

He finished off the trip by going back to Bar Yazaki (with the old woman and her grandson). He finds old friends: the man met earlier on in the bar, who turned out to be the old woman's son, the "18 till I die" old man (who he met in Tokyo in an earlier chapter) is her husband, and a young woman who is a colleague at the hotel he worked at, who was engaged to her grandson. They begged Sasakura-san to make cocktails for them. He conceded, and first made cocktails for the ladies : Rita's Bell, also known as Wedding Bells.

So I was thinking: if Sasakura-san was in England, he would have gone to Newcastle-upon-Tyne. One of the things Newcastle is known for is brown ale. And if he was in France, he would have gone to Lille, Hauts-de-France. Who might he have met and which distillery would he have gone, I wonder?

I know most people do not have the same conviction as Sasakura Ryu and the old bartender, but I hope this post has helped inspire you to continue being a bartender, or to continue helping others even when the whole world does not seem to care. Ganbatte! (Never give up, good things come to those who wait!)

Also, Sasakura-san informed his apprentice and friends he was going away, so if any of you want to have a break from life and want to go off, please inform your friends and family properly. Please don't just leave a 'Oh, I'm taking a break so I'm leaving for a bit' note and go off without warning.

Compared to the other manga, this series is rather low key and doesn't have the high jinks of most manga. So if you want something slower and like Tales from the Cafe: Before the Coffee gets Cold, please read it. Also there is an anime adaptation (not really faithful to the storyline, but still great). Do go watch it.

I am but a greenhorn in life, but I hope I have made your day more interesting.

Ciao!

Character Poll 2: Main Protagonist Girls!

Yossu! Thanks to all who voted and liked(unexpected) my first poll! It was fun to see the results, although I expected Tanjirou to win cause he is quite a popular character. Omedeto(Congratulations), Tanjirou 💚🌻! I am happy Italy got 2.1% as he is one my favourite characters! Well, everyone on the list was actually.

I want to post my own artwork, but I am not confident enough yet, so for now it's a character polls blog!

Now for the main girls! Who will win this time?

Please comment below!

Cherry Stones & Stems

I haven't been drawing lately cause I got lots of ideas in my head...and it takes time to draw before I can colour so I felt I dunno which to draw. Today I got inspired by the cherry stones and stens from the cherries that I ate. And more inspired by Mabel by Balloon (Vocaloid). Its simple..but I'm happy with this

Conan in Cool Jacket

Welcome to My Art Room!

Hi! Konnichiwa! Hola! Yaho! I'm Pink4rt25, and my pronouns are She/Her. I post artwork of anime/manga here, or anything else that catches my fancy and want to share. I only post when I feel ready to share,(which can be a long time because I am very critical of my own work, and think a lot before doing something, and usually don't do it....)

Here are some of my favourite anime/manga/shows: Detective Conan Precure Pokemon Hetalia Bungou Stray Dogs Kamen Rider Ultraman I create art the traditional way, as I am fiddly with computers. Enjoy!

I mostly just post manga and anime stuff so...don't get your hopes up. I will just pop up with an artwork one day🙂

Hey! 10 Aug 2024. I am now making character.ai bots! Hetalia and Bungou Stray Dogs. I will be posting here. It will take some time so...look forward to it!

Happy Belated Birthday, Shinichi!

It's kinda plain. cause I didn't have much time, cause I had to study. I still have to...

Here's Shinichi making this face cause he never thought he'd celebrate his 17th (or 18th birthday?) cause of the black organization. Which presents are from who? And quite a lot of letters too! Not just from fans either....

(gold letters: Otanjobi Omedeto Gozaimasu Kudo Shinichi! it means happy birthday)