Drops of God: New World

I can't really get too upset with the US publishers for this one. Apparently it was the authors themselves who asked for the English release to skip ahead several volumes. Apparently all of us "Westerners" can't enjoy reading about Old World wine, so we have to have the authors throw us a bone and focus on New World wines. If you recall at the end of volume 4, there was a note from the US publisher about this skipping ahead. So if you read the last page then you should know you're missing over 100 weeks of manga.And that being said, I can't give it a low rating because of that. If this had been one more volume released in order, it would be a solid 5 stars. It's kind of like jumping into a great television show on season 4 or 5. Say you started watching Lost in season 4 or 5, you wouldn't really know much of what went on in between, but you would still enjoy it.That being said, I sincerely hope that this volume will sell well. I have a feeling that if it doesn't do well, there might not be any more coming. Did you notice there is no pre-sale yet for a volume 6? The pre-sale for this volume was listed on Amazon right before volume 4 was released.So please understand that this was a decision by the odoriferous authors and their Japanese publisher, not the American company trying to translate and bring this over.----Update: finished it. Was pretty great as expected. Sad that we're not seeing the issues in between, at least at this time. Since the book itself doesn't say #5, I wonder if they might release the issues in between soon. As long as this issue sells well I think they will.----Update: The series is done in the US. The authors are upset with the low sales and Vertical cannot justify the licensing fees for new editions. Sadly I think it was just not marketed the right way. But it is 100% dead at this time. I have spoken to other people who will be buying the French versions in the meantime. Better brush up on my French!

The manga winequest continues arriving in the "New World"- most of the action takes place in Napa. The art continues superb as does the wine instruction though I doubt I'll ever be as "transported" in my wine tasting as these characters are!...but I'm planning to keep trying!

The whole drops of god series is amazing. It drops a lot of really good wine knowledge, is extremely entertaining, and a very easy read. Not to mention the fact that it's one of the most influential wine books of all time. A must read for anyone who loves wine!.

I just received my copy which I pre-ordered on Amazon. I am heartbroken. I regret to discover that these publishers, who have otherwise been doing a brilliant job of bringing Drops of God to America, do not understand manga readers and manga book collectors. Or if they do, they had some financial issues with the series and decided to take this drastic editorial step. For Vol 5 "New World" - is not really Vol 5 and doesn't follow Vol 4. Instead, it skips ahead in the story. The back cover warns us. I have been eagerly reading Vol 1, 2, 3, and 4 by the same publisher, Vertical. I've pre-ordered every volume as I have been collecting the books and following this story.I'm completely stumped and flabberghasted that the publisher has decided to do this. This is what the English language Oishinbo (another gourmet manga series) ended up as - a hellish hodge-podge of "best of" episodes with stories that started in the middle and made no sense. I did not follow Oishinbo in English precisely because the online reviewers complained. Perhaps the American publishers think by skipping to the "Napa Valley" story arc, more American buyers would pick up the series. IMHO, American manga readers don't want to read manga because it is more identifiably American. They want to read manga because it is Japanese-y and crazy sexy cool.I believe the only American buyers who would buy New World would be the same ones who have been buying Vol 1 - 4. No new fans are going to read New World as a stand-alone, because it starts in the middle of the story. So why do this? It's neither here nor there.Does this mean they would ever issue a Vol 5 to cover all the "episodes" in between Vol 4 and New World? Probably not, because if you read New World, you would have already read all the spoilers. To add insult to injury, the cover art and spine doesn't exactly match the previous 4 volumes and don't look good on my shelf. Be warned. You might be better off reading and collecting the Japanese or French versions, if you can do it. I am completely heartbroken. I weep at my lost innocence!Update: after catching up on interim episodes (published in the Chinese and French translation volumes, available in France, Hong Kong, Taiwan), I finally read this "skipped ahead" English volume. It's really good. I'm sad to read other online reviewers say that Drops of God in English has committed "manga-kiri" (i.e. no more English translations after this 5th volume). Says something about the American market and its attitude towards manga, wine, and other countries' cultures. I am glad I was "forced" to take foreign languages at school - now I know why - it's to read DROPS OF GOD! Because one can no longer reliably count on one's manga series to be translated into English!

This was good. I enjoy it.

Much maligned as it represents a break in the natural flow of the series this volume standing alone is still interesting and a worthy chapter in the overall series

This volume is about the wines from the new world. It has a lot of interesting information about New World wines, however I didn't find the story as appealing as previous volumes. Besides that there's a gap between the previously published volume and this one. This story happens much later from the story in volume 4, so I felt like I was missing information. But it's still a great volume of this interesting saga about wine

A shame that this book has jumped to the New World - so much omitted that I'd like to know more about from the previous issues not translated into English !!I shall have to read them in French (where they continued the translations, I understand)