Sometimes, Ryu Sasakura’s drinks can cure all. Sometimes, they can’t. Here is our review of BARTENDER Glass of God episode 10.
Trigger warning: suicide and death.
Recap of the Episode
Kitakata reveals to Miwa the real reason Sasakura won’t work at Hotel Cardinal: One of his previous customers walked off a building and died following a visit to Sasakura’s bar. The customer was experiencing suicidal thoughts when going to Sasakura’s bar. Though not his fault, Sasakura blames himself for the customer’s death.
Despite going their separate ways, Hayase and Kimishima make another appearance and go on a date following a chance encounter at Edenhall. Hayase reveals that he is moving to the United States for work after working through so many hardships. However, a visit to Kitakawa’s bar with Sasakura has him second guessing his decisions.
Miwa confronts Sasakura about the customer’s death and Sasakura’s inability to move on. After their conversation, Sasakura realizes he hasn’t gotten over the death, and he cries in the rain, thanking Miwa.
Review of BARTENDER Glass of God Episode 10
Much of BARTENDER Glass of God episode 10 deals with mental health struggles. This includes Sasakura’s customer who died by suicide. Sasakura is holding onto this burden to the point where he doesn’t want to move on to work at a bar in a skyscraper. Though Sasakura has made it very clear he doesn’t want to work at Hotel Cardinal, it feels as if he doesn’t have much of a choice.
Chairman Kurushima began putting Sasakura’s face on flyers, announcing him as a new bartender. Edenhall’s owner, Maki, said he would shut Edenhall down if Sasakura went to Hotel Cardinal. While it provides a better opportunity for Sasakura, it doesn’t feel as if the other characters care for Sasakura’s wishes to stay at Edenhall. Though Sasakura has not made it easy for others to understand why, it feels disrespectful for all of Sasakura’s decisions to be made for him. That includes having private information revealed about him to Miwa.
One line that was disappointing in this episode came from Miwa. Sasakura asks Miwa what she would do if someone wanted to die. She said, “If it was me, I’d slap some sense into them. And say, ‘Quit acting like a child!’” Seeing poor mental health having this negative stigma still being presented in the media is saddening. If Miwa gave a more caring answer, the scene would have been much better.
Hayase is moving to America due to all the struggles he had to endure to get there, including his wife’s death, but all that changes when he sees Kimishima again in Edenhall. He struggles to decide what the right decision to make is: Go to the United States for a promotion he’s worked so hard for, or stay in Japan and try to make it work with Kimishima. It’s implied that Hayase chose the latter after drinking a Boilermaker, though he knew his decision all along. It felt like fate and a second chance that Kimishima was in Edenhall that night, and I hope there will be at least one more update on the potential couple before the series ends.
Miwa has broken down a wall that Sasakura has built up and guarded for so long. Sasakura finally feels like he is allowed to have and show emotions, despite always being told that bartenders shouldn’t share their feelings to guests. Now that Sasakura has allowed himself to feel pain, perhaps he can work at Hotel Cardinal. This would symbolize his acceptance of what happened in the past and moving on to a better future.
BARTENDER Glass of God premieres every Wednesday on Crunchyroll.
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