Manga Review: Tegami Bachi GN 16

Tegami Bachi volume 16
Author: Hiroyuki Asada
Viz Manga/Shonen Jump
200 pages

After years of searching, Zazie is on the trail of the Gaichuu that devoured his parents' hearts. But the hunt will force him to learn more about himself—and his past—than he ever imagined. And Emil, the kindly blind girl who runs the nearby inn, has a terrible secret... (Source: Viz)

Spoiler alert: Spoilers for the 16th volume of Letter Bee/Tegami Bachi are within this post.

Reading how other fans reacted to this volume, I feel a little cruel saying that my reaction to the latest volume of Tegami Bachi was not pure, unadulterated affection. And to be truthful, this sixteenth book did nothing wrong per se. But something about the pacing of it and the way it crams two major plot points together to make them relevant to each other took a toll on my enjoyment of it all.

Manga Review: Tegami Bachi GN 15

Tegami Bachi volume 15
Author: Hiroyuki Asada
Viz Media/Shonen Jump
200 pages

To The Little People: Searching for the truth about Amberground, Lag heads home to the little town of Campbell. There, a woman named Sabrina Mary holds the secrets he seeks. But can he handle what he learns about his world, his government ... and his own mother? (Source: Viz Media)

It's rather fitting that my first manga review of 2014 would turn out to be Tegami Bachi's latest volume. After all, Tegami Bachi is a title I never expected to enjoy as much as I do now, and it continues to surprise me with every book. This book is truly no exception. We're kicking off the new year with a journey of self-discovery as Lag goes to Campbell in order to find the truth about his mother and the world around him. But what he finds will change his life forever, as well as the lives of those around him.

Manga Review: Tegami Bachi GN 14

Tegami Bachi volume 14
Author: Hiroyuki Asada
Viz Media
192 pages

Spoiler warning: Review contains spoilers for the Tegami Bachi series so far. Read on with caution!

As Bees and ex-Bees alike gather in Yuusari, the rampage of the unstoppable Gaichuu Cabernet continues—and heart attacks only seem to make it more powerful. As it absorbs the attacks, Cabernet keeps morphing into stranger and more sinister forms. Meanwhile, a tragic accident triggers a different kind of transformation in Niche… (Source: Goodreads)

Perhaps it's a bit of exaggeration on my part to say that this is the volume of Tegami Bachi in which everything changes. Okay, not everything changes but this is indeed a book in which some very important characters go through some irreversible changes that will decide the further direction of this series. After taking a bit of a back seat to the bigger drama in Amberground, Lag and Niche are once again at the heart of the action - and it's their own hearts that are in question as Tegami Bachi rolls through its fourteenth installment.

Manga Review: Tegami Bachi GN 13

Tegami Bachi volume 13
Author: Hiroyuki Asada
Viz Media
200 pages

Spoiler warning: Review contains spoilers for the Tegami Bachi series so far. Read on with caution!

While Lag and his fellow Bees fight a desperate battle against the Gaichuu Cabernet, the dark secrets of Amberground come to light. What unspeakable things did Garrard, director of the Beehive, see in Amberground’s capital? And why has former director Largo Lloyd joined the rebel organization Reverse? The answers lie in the top-secret district called Kagerou… (Source: Goodreads)

Tegami Bachi is pulling a Bleach and doing a far better job than Kubo could hope to do: it's sidelining their main protagonist and hero, Lag Seeing, and putting the focus on other key players in the current battle against Cabernet. By shifting away from Lag's narrative, Tegami Bachi frees itself to expand on the stories of characters like Largo and Garrard and Connor. What comes of this shift of focus is a series of monumental revelations that add to the world of Tegami Bachi as well as set the stage for an inevitable all-out conflict between Amberground and its detractors.

Manga Review: Tegami Bachi GN 12

Tegami Bachi volume 12
Author: Hiroyuki Asada
Viz Media
200 pages

Spoiler warning: Review contains spoilers for the Tegami Bachi series so far. Read on with caution!

As the ferocious Gaichuu Cabernet closes in on the capital of Amberground, the Letter Bees form an army to stop it. Lag is paired off with a novice Bee who informs him that he’s become a legend in the Beehive. But Lag’s reputation as the “Child of Light” won’t do him much good against the terrifying power of Cabernet…or the dark secret he’s discovered about his hero, Gauche Suede. (Source: Goodreads)

To say I adore Tegami Bachi would be quite an understatement. To see why I adore Tegami Bachi, just look at volumes like this one, volume twelve in a still ongoing series. The plot is really chugging away in this one, as the hunt for Cabernet goes into full attack mode, putting Amberground on high alert against the flying Gaichuu. As everyone is put on the offense, poor Lag Seeing is still reeling from the revelation about Gauche - but has little time to resolve his feelings as he is sent to the front lines with a fellow Letter Bee in an attempt to cut off Cabernet from the city. Yay, action!

The Note that Connects Dreams: Tegami Bachi and the power of letters

It's been snowy and winter is officially here and everyone is probably sick of the cold by now, so clearly this is a fantastic time to talk about a series that seems permanently stuck in winter mode: TegamiBachi/Letter Bee. Yes! It's a surprisingly sincere and engaging series, considering it's based around a kid who works for the postal service.

For those who haven't read this series yet, a brief primer: the story is set in the world of Amberground, where night is perpetual and artificial light only reaches so far, leaving much of the outer world in permanent darkness. Lag Seeing is a Letter Bee who delivers packages on a regular basis with his partner/Dingo, the strange girl Niche. 

Lag became a Letter Bee because his life was saved by one, a mysterious man named Gauche who ended up having disappeared by the time Lag made it to Amberground's capital. The series main story revolves around investigating a mysterious organization called Reverse, the search for Gauche, and the issue of Lag and Niche's collective pasts.

Weekly Anime Round-Up

Every Saturday, Nagareboshi Reviews will post micro reviews of the anime it's been watching over the past seven days, usually shows that are ongoing or don't warrant a separate post for 'initial thoughts'. Feel free to comment with the shows you've been watching this week as well!

Warning: Contains spoilers for the following series: Beelzebub; Blood-C; Blue Exorcist; Gosick; Tegami Bachi; Level E

Beelzebub: episode 10

A stray cat starts giving Oga some clingy unwanted attention, much to the irritation of Baby Beel, who starts showing his extreme jealousy through random shock attacks. However, Baby Beel and the stray soon become friends and end up going to playschool together, where they meet Kota, whose caretaker is none other than Aoi, the Queen of the Red Tails. Overall, a pretty fun episode full of Beelzebub’s trademark off-beat humor and in my opinion, more Aoi is always good, non? I’d love to see more of Baby Beel’s new feline friend in the future, as well as more Beel & Kota scenes. He’s getting pretty cozy with a human for someone who is destined to destroy humanity, a-yup.

Read the rest of my episode reviews after the jump!