Setting expectations:

• This review is being written under a subjective lens and mainly enjoyment.

• The amount of spoilers will be as minimal as possible to none. I don’t talk more about the plot points except in spoiler text. There are some image spoilers but it's all out of context lol.

• If you come to expect opinions from a very critical sense, sorry, but I’m not your guy as we may have different tastes.

• I’ll try my best to explain what are the things that worked for me and what doesn’t in this review. Then you’ll hopefully be able to understand my point of view and maybe come to your own conclusion about what this will be like for you.

I preface because a lot of people online come to expect reviews to fit a mold of what they want which isn’t always realistic. For me, I just like to talk about anime I enjoy. And so this review is about such things. Sorry if this ain't what you're looking for.

Verdict

Love is Like a Cocktail or "Osake wa Fūfu ni Natte kara" is a 13 episode TV anime short series released in Fall 2017. It was animated by Creators in Pack Studio and based on the manga of the same name.

The total length of the show is about 36 minutes long which is like 1.5 episodes of regular-sized TV anime. The structure is also mainly episodic in nature.

This show doesn't aim to become anything special other than light entertainment and that's okay. To me, this show benefits from its 3 minute structure as the stories and characters are very simplistic in nature. Despite all of this, it's done well for what it has.

It's that type of show you put on before and after watching another anime. A nice palette cleanser or what another would say, a nice chocolate. You munch on it for a little bit, feel satisfied or feel okay about it then move on.

Would you like it? It depends on your preferences in respect to Romance, Comedy, Slice of Life, and Characterization. Check it out anyways if those aren't your thing since it's really short.

I would set low/neutral expectations when going into it. This is the type of show that I would see people put between 4 - 7 depending on how much they can tolerate what most may consider pretty average.

Personally, I recommend taking a bite out of the first 2 episodes of the show for a taste. From there, you can get a sense of sticking on-board with the show or not.

As for my experience, I found this to be an 8/10. It was very entertaining despite how light it was. Rating was landing around a 7 but the final episodes pushed it to an 8 as I enjoyed the characters.

If you would like to understand more about the rating and reasonings, read the sections below.

Explaining my Rating Scale

I think the common mistake with ratings is that we all tend to judge and associate each review rating on our own personal scale. When people see an average anime - they see that as a 5, some see that as a 6 and others as a 7. As you all know, we all have different tastes hence different rating scales. Hence why I’ll post my scale below.

My Personal Ratings Scale (Anime):

4 and below = I would've dropped this show already but made myself suffer through it for some reason. Regardless, this is the drop zone generally.
5 = This was really meh and I wouldn't take the time to rewatch.
6 = This was meh and I wouldn't watch it again unless I was forced to.
7 = It was okay and acceptable, it was good entertainment and you enjoyed the ride.

8 = This was a great story and you enjoyed the show/movie but it wasn't considered one of the best experiences. Just a great time overall!

9 = If you watched this show/movie for the first time, you'll love this a lot. It ain't life-changing but god damn you'll have one of the best experiences.
10 = This show resonated with me so hard - chills and intense emotional catharsis.

Background

Got recommended the show by a Zoom saying that I'll like it which he was correct.

I tend to like Romantic Comedies from all genres/demographics so long as I'm amused. Also, slice of lifes are my jam. So, this was a no-brainer in respect to my preferences.

Before making this review, I saw the TV version and I’ve only watched the TV in Japanese Audio, English subtitles.

The Review

Now the review. I’ll be talking about the anime in the following categories:

1) Story / Plot / Characters

The story revolves around an adult couple navigating their life and relationships. Plot is very formulaic in introduction, setup, and resolution. It's all episodic in nature.

For the lack of huge character conflicts, it instead becomes a very light character study about who these people are and their lives.

Personally, the character backgrounds are quite unique and so it definitely feels genuinely fresh to witness. I expected generic backgrounds but there was some genuine thought put behind in making all of these people. They follow some tropes but it's not so cookie cutter that it's offensive in nature. In the end, I liked these characters despite the short run-time.

I also will now aim to become a professional house-husband in the future.

2) Visuals / Animation

It's serviceable for delivering the story and characters. Nothing hugely stands out good or bad but it doesn't always have to. It was fine and good on the eyes.

3) Audio / Soundtrack / Voice Acting

Audio was serviceable as well as soundtrack. ED song was quite cool and the short snippet fits the short credits sequence as well as transitioning out.

I think the voice acting was well-done as they sold the characters. Props to all of them. To me, some of it was above-average in certain scenes. For most, it's probably really average but that's fine too.

4) Overall

I recommend trying this out briefly for like 2 episodes. Put it on if you want some filler/down-time after doing something.

As you can tell from the above, the story and characters are what will make or break this show for you.

There's really nothing much to talk about unless I go into spoiler territory. I do say that I hope you like drinking alcohol because it does make it more understandable to see the appeal of the featured drinks in the show. If you're a huge connoisseur of drinking alcohol then you probably will have a more informed opinion of the accuracy of these drinks.

In conclusion, hopefully you learned something useful from the review. Thanks for reading. :)