First Impression: Tegami Bachi (Letter Bee)
Story: Gauche Suade is a Letter Bee, a member of a guild charged with delivering letters to cities across the vast and dangerous wastes. Now, his new assignment is his strangest. The house where he was supposed to pick up the package has been burned down, and even stranger, the package is a young boy he finds chained to a nearby tomb. The child’s name is Lag Seeing, and the last thing he remembers was that his mother was kidnapped by a sinister group of men.
Impression
Shounen series that are unsubtle copies of copies are the norm, to the point where even when I give a glowing review to say, Bleach or Soul Eater, it seems pointless to mention its deep debt to forerunners like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures and Hokuto no Ken. However, Letter Bee seems different, with its exotic setting and strong streak of sentimentality. It has a lot of the formula we’ve come expect by now- a special child with promising powers, some malevolent force lurking the background, and insane powers with pseudo-scientific workings. Still, there are many interesting twists, and chief among them is that our super powered heroes aren’t anything flashy like Soul Reapers or pirates, but simple mailmen. They’re not here to save the world- though who’s to say that won’t come later?
The first episode packs a lot of atmosphere and sentiment. The latter is actually quite literal, since the power Gauche wields comes from his heart, and the creatures he has to destroy seem to have a tragic origin that’s tied to human feelings. If all that sounds mawkish, then welcome to the age of neo-shounen, where the fujoshi fan girls are just as pandered to as the little kids. You might even say this anime’s pretty boys are the new face of shoujo entertainment. Next we’ll be seeing a cartoon where the hero gets his power from rainbows. Even so, its maudlin power concept feels right at home in a world where the only state of weather is a starry night. It also helps that the episode is tightly plotted and never, ever feels boring. If this first episode is a good indication of the quality of future story arcs, we might be looking at the Next Big Thing.
Shounen series that are unsubtle copies of copies are the norm, to the point where even when I give a glowing review to say, Bleach or Soul Eater, it seems pointless to mention its deep debt to forerunners like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures and Hokuto no Ken. However, Letter Bee seems different, with its exotic setting and strong streak of sentimentality. It has a lot of the formula we’ve come expect by now- a special child with promising powers, some malevolent force lurking the background, and insane powers with pseudo-scientific workings. Still, there are many interesting twists, and chief among them is that our super powered heroes aren’t anything flashy like Soul Reapers or pirates, but simple mailmen. They’re not here to save the world- though who’s to say that won’t come later?
The first episode packs a lot of atmosphere and sentiment. The latter is actually quite literal, since the power Gauche wields comes from his heart, and the creatures he has to destroy seem to have a tragic origin that’s tied to human feelings. If all that sounds mawkish, then welcome to the age of neo-shounen, where the fujoshi fan girls are just as pandered to as the little kids. You might even say this anime’s pretty boys are the new face of shoujo entertainment. Next we’ll be seeing a cartoon where the hero gets his power from rainbows. Even so, its maudlin power concept feels right at home in a world where the only state of weather is a starry night. It also helps that the episode is tightly plotted and never, ever feels boring. If this first episode is a good indication of the quality of future story arcs, we might be looking at the Next Big Thing.
Summary
A low-key but tightly done episode that promises much better things to come. It’s as good an opening as we can reasonably expect for a new shounen series that could run for a long, long time.
By: Brad Meek
Series Premiere: October 1, 2009
Director: Akira Iwanaga
Animation: Studio Pierrot
