"Madoromi Bartender" drama from 2019: Episode two recap

 

 Air Dates: July 14th until September 29, 2019 on BS Japan, TV-Tokyo and TV-Osaka for a total of twelve episodes, is also called Sleepy Bartender

Subs were done by Gabriel F. at DA, shows are ~22 minutes in length

Theme song/intro for the drama

Main Cast: The three woman are housemates and all work as barmaids. None seem to have a last name and it doesn't really matter.

Arisa Yagi as Hiyoko.... Will hold off on her bio as through two episodes we haven't seen much of her nor the following character.

Hyunri as Kiho.... Barmaid at the exclusive Elysion Tokyo Hotel.

Mai Kiryuu as Yuki.... Owner of a 'pop up bar' named Satellite which she moves on a frequent basis and usually sets up shop in a park. Yuki's only been so-so successful with this unique bar and the main reason could be is because she moves the location so often. Prior to her own bar had worked as a barmaid at the same hotel as Kiho.

 Guest stars for this episode

Shugo Oshinara as Aoyagi Tatsuya.... Man about forty in age who seemed way down on his luck and first met Yuki when he was on a drinking binge. Tatsuya hasn't always been down and out as twenty years prior was a very popular Idol singer.

 Writing these two up on a Thursday but waiting until publishing them until the weekend in hopes the third episode will be subbed. And voila(!), after I wrote that sentence visited the DA site and they're done so there should be one more recap after this(there is). Unsure if I'll be recapping the entire series, will watch all twelve shows and odds are increasing that all episodes will be done but we'll play it by ear for now. Another episode where the main focus was on Yuki as we once again didn't see all that much of Hiyoko or Kiho but least more than we saw them in the first show.

 Another enjoyable show but one which once again didn't have a fitting conclusion as we wondered what happened with the gust star? This time around it was the above man whose name is Tatsuya and at first he appeared to be a homeless alcoholic. He noticed Yuki cleaning up the alley he was lying in while guzzling beer, following her he was amazed she was had her own pop bar which is named Satellite. Not that he needed it but Tatsuya wanted another drink which Yuki refused to serve with him being so out of it. Which really wasn't the case as Tatsuya seemed more down in the dumps than drunk and was eventually served a Tom and Jerry drink by Yuki. Tatsuya had never heard of it but it hit the spot for him and the pair ended up having a short and nice conversation, when Tatsuya told Yuki his name she looked at him dumbly as she had never heard of it.

 To Yuki's eventual fury after a few more drinks Tatsuya had stumbled away without paying which she didn't realize at first. That following morning Yuki was still fuming about it as with so few customers she needs every cent she can make. When she told her two housemates Hiyoko and Kiho about the man they instantly recognized the name. Twenty years before Tatsuya had been a member of the very popular Shuncan Idol group, after they disbanded he became a successful actor for a few years. But then he seemed to have fallen off the edge of the Earth and these days has been mostly forgotten about but the two women certainly remembered him. 

 The reason we saw more of Hiyoko and Kiho this show is because that day they staked out Yuki's stall to see if Tatsuya returned which he did. The pair somehow thought there may be 'romance' in the air for Yuki which was far from truth, the duo watched Yuki's pop up bar for at least five hours but were somehow never noticed? Same drink this time for Tatsuya which was a Tom and Jerry, nothing to do with the cartoon. It was a drink created many decades before by a man named Jerry Thomas who was once an up and coming bartender who became very popular for his unique drink creations. Tatsuya had done some research on the man and the two shared a similar history for at one time both were at the top but their lives came spiraling down.

 Yuki had done her homework too and knew much about Tatsuya's past or at least up until a decade ago when he seemingly disappeared. Tatsuya told much of his history to Yuki and as is the case for most Idols one day you're a star, the next a has-been. He was successful as an actor for a while but Tatsuya's popularity eventually waned on the small screen, to his dismay he found himself singing his old hit songs to groups of elderly women fans! So while we didn't learn all of the details about Tatsuya's fall from grace the past decade hasn't been kind to him and he ended up hitting the bottle badly. To make ends meet on occasion he would take a temp job in an office or whoever would hire him, that's what he did earlier in that day. We saw a scene with Tatsuya accepting an envelope stuffed with cash but we're unsure if he didn't perhaps take the money and run?

 Tatsuya knew he had run out before paying his tab yesterday which was one reason for his return, also too was that Yuki is such a good listener and isn't that key for a barmaid? You can see above a different drink was prepared by her called a Blue Flame, one that once again hit the spot for Tatsuya and it was another one he had never heard of. In that top screenshot he was trying to give Yuki some sound advice which another customer and her housemate Kiho had also attempted. That's of how does Yuki think she can make a living operating a pop up stall bar and moving it constantly? Tatsuya was her only customer for the day and while Yuki may be a whiz at creating drinks how much longer can she stay in business? Yuki has such a passion for making drinks and for now doesn't appear to be worried about her lack of income but thinking deep down she's also wondering how will she keep this business afloat?

 Batting a thousand so far with this drama as it's been two fine episodes but do wish we had found out what's happened to Yuki's troubled customers. As mentioned in the beginning was hoping the third episode would be subbed by the weekend which it has been been. Haven't viewed it yet but will shortly and that'll be the next post, as usual plenty of screenshots from this show's action.