Bartender

is a manga series written by Araki Joh and illustrated by Kenji Nagatomo. The manga was first serialized in Shueisha's Japanese seinen magazine Super Jump from 2004 to 2011. The individual chapters were collected by Shueisha and released in twenty-one tankōbon volumes. Bartender was later adapted into an anime television series, broadcast in 2006 on Fuji Television. The manga was also adapted into a Japanese television drama in 2011 that aired on TV Asahi. Three spin-off manga have been serialized in Grand Jump and Grand Jump Premium starting from 2012.

Plot
Bartender follows the nightlife of Ryū Sasakura, a bartending prodigy who is said to mix the best cocktails anyone has ever tasted. Upon returning from his studies in France, Ryū works as an assistant for a senior bartender at the bar Lapin. He later opened his own bar, the Eden Hall (イーデンホール Īden Hōru), which is hidden in a nook of the Ginza district in downtown Tokyo. Rumor holds that potential patrons cannot simply find and enter Eden Hall; rather they must be invited in by the host. Sasakura is known to serve the "Glass of the Gods", a way of saying that he knows just the right drink to serve in a particular situation.

The only other regular character is Miwa Kurushima, the granddaughter of the owner of the Hotel Cardinal, Taizo Kurushima. She is the office lady of the company and requires him to compete for the job of bartender in the hotel. Ryū is initially rejected by Kamishima, the manager of the hotel beverage department. However, upon Miwa insistence, Taizo meets Ryū and becomes fascinated by his abilities, requesting her to insist on Ryū to bring him to work in the hotel.

Over the course of the manga, various other figures, all of whom share unusual troubles and heavy burdens, are invited into Eden Hall and are treated to Sasakura's fine drinks, which, with guidance from the young bartender, lead the customers to reflect upon their lives and decide on a course of action to tackle their problems.