Tegami Bachi

Tegami Bachi (テガミバチ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiroyuki Asada. It was first serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Jump from September 2006 to June 2007; after the magazine ceased publication, it was transferred to Jump Square, where it ran from November 2007 to November 2015. Its chapters were collected in 20 volumes. The series is set in AmberGround, a land illuminated by an artificial sun, and follows Lag Seeing, a Letter Bee with the ability to see the memories of people and objects, and his personal Dingo Niche on their journeys across AmberGround.

Tegami Bachi was adapted into an anime television series by Pierrot+, which aired for two seasons from October 2009 to March 2011. The manga was licensed for English release in North America by Viz Media; it was published in their Shonen Jump magazine, and they have released its 20 volumes. Both seasons of the anime series have been licensed by Sentai Filmworks.

Plot
The story takes place in AmberGround, a land of perpetual night partially illuminated by an artificial sun. Lag Seeing, who used to work for the Bee Hive delivery service, is appointed as a Letter Bee, traveling with his Dingo, Niche, and her pet, Steak, to deliver letters and packages while avoiding the Gaichuu—giant armored insects who feed on the "heart" within letters and packages. When he was a child, his mother was kidnapped by men from AmberGround's capital, Akatsuki, and he was sent as a "delivery" to his aunt thanks to Gauche Suede, whom he began to idolize and who was his inspiration for becoming a Letter Bee. After Lag becomes a Letter Bee, he learns that Gauche has disappeared as the resistance movement Reverse begins stealing letters from traveling Bees. Lag later encounters Gauche, who is devoted to Reverse's cause and seems to have no memory of his past, despite Lag's attempts to make him remember.

Characters

 * Lag Seeing (ラグ・シーイング)
 * A 12-year-old boy who was born on the Day of Flicker and is dedicated to his work no matter what situation he finds himself in. He wields a special gun called the Shindanjuu, which works by loading a "fragment of heart" into the gun, then firing a Akabari (Red Needle) at the target. His Spirit Amber visualizes memories of objects; his left eye is made of red Spirit Amber, which allows him to better use the Shindanjuu and fire a heart bullet from his body. When he was a child, his mother was kidnapped by men from AmberGround's capital, Akatsuki, and he was "delivered" by the Letter Bee Gauche Suede and inspired to become a Letter Bee like him. He originally has an antique from Campbell, though he later receives the Nocturne #20, Gauche's gun. In chapter 29, after Sunny loses her heart to a Gaichuu, he demonstrates a new power, as his body glows like Spirit Amber as he fires a special letter bullet at Noir (Gauche) in hopes of restoring his heart. His name is derived from "lagrima", a Spanish word for "tears", "rag", "Lú"/"Lugh", the name of the Celtic god of the sun of the Danann family, and "seeing", the measure of sight. His Dingo is Niche, whom he saved from a Gaichuu and decided to accompany him after seeing his memories through the Shindanjuu and he agreed when she asked him if saying goodbye would make him sad.
 * A 12-year-old boy who was born on the Day of Flicker and is dedicated to his work no matter what situation he finds himself in. He wields a special gun called the Shindanjuu, which works by loading a "fragment of heart" into the gun, then firing a Akabari (Red Needle) at the target. His Spirit Amber visualizes memories of objects; his left eye is made of red Spirit Amber, which allows him to better use the Shindanjuu and fire a heart bullet from his body. When he was a child, his mother was kidnapped by men from AmberGround's capital, Akatsuki, and he was "delivered" by the Letter Bee Gauche Suede and inspired to become a Letter Bee like him. He originally has an antique from Campbell, though he later receives the Nocturne #20, Gauche's gun. In chapter 29, after Sunny loses her heart to a Gaichuu, he demonstrates a new power, as his body glows like Spirit Amber as he fires a special letter bullet at Noir (Gauche) in hopes of restoring his heart. His name is derived from "lagrima", a Spanish word for "tears", "rag", "Lú"/"Lugh", the name of the Celtic god of the sun of the Danann family, and "seeing", the measure of sight. His Dingo is Niche, whom he saved from a Gaichuu and decided to accompany him after seeing his memories through the Shindanjuu and he agreed when she asked him if saying goodbye would make him sad.


 * Niche (ニッチ)
 * Lag's Dingo, who travels with him along with her pet, Steak. She fights with her hair, also known as "The Golden Sword", which she can manipulate into blade-like tentacles, and has bear-like forearms and claws. Lag finds Niche at a train station while on his way to his Bee Interview. She was a "letter", but the address on her mailing label was incomplete and she was scheduled to be "abandoned" in two days. Lag offers to take her to her new home ("Rabu Samuwan Daun (ラブ・サム・ワン・ダウン)" according to the mailing label, even though he is on a deadline for his interview. While traveling, Lag learns that she had several names, and so names her Niche after where he found her—in a niche at the station. After delivering Niche, Lag learns that she is to be part of a side show act as "The Child of Maka" (摩訶の子), Maka being a mysterious being worshipped and feared in AmberGround's northern territories. When he returns to Love Someone Down, Niche has destroyed the sideshow tent with her "Golden Sword" and fled toward Gaichuu territory. He follows her and saves her from a Gaichuu, after which she declares that she will be his Dingo. Lag assumes that she is seven years old based on her appearance, but it is later revealed that she was born about 200 years ago in the town of Blue Notes Blues (永久氷河). Later on, in Blue Notes Scale (氷河湖路), a cave near Blue Notes Blues, Niche learns that she has a twin sister and that she is Maka's child.
 * Lag's Dingo, who travels with him along with her pet, Steak. She fights with her hair, also known as "The Golden Sword", which she can manipulate into blade-like tentacles, and has bear-like forearms and claws. Lag finds Niche at a train station while on his way to his Bee Interview. She was a "letter", but the address on her mailing label was incomplete and she was scheduled to be "abandoned" in two days. Lag offers to take her to her new home ("Rabu Samuwan Daun (ラブ・サム・ワン・ダウン)" according to the mailing label, even though he is on a deadline for his interview. While traveling, Lag learns that she had several names, and so names her Niche after where he found her—in a niche at the station. After delivering Niche, Lag learns that she is to be part of a side show act as "The Child of Maka" (摩訶の子), Maka being a mysterious being worshipped and feared in AmberGround's northern territories. When he returns to Love Someone Down, Niche has destroyed the sideshow tent with her "Golden Sword" and fled toward Gaichuu territory. He follows her and saves her from a Gaichuu, after which she declares that she will be his Dingo. Lag assumes that she is seven years old based on her appearance, but it is later revealed that she was born about 200 years ago in the town of Blue Notes Blues (永久氷河). Later on, in Blue Notes Scale (氷河湖路), a cave near Blue Notes Blues, Niche learns that she has a twin sister and that she is Maka's child.


 * Gauche Suede/Noir (ゴーシュ・スエード/ノワール)
 * A Letter Bee and Lag's rescuer, who found him marked as a letter in Cosa Bell, a small town in AmberGround's low-class Yodaka District, and delivered him to Campbell Litus to live with his aunt. He seeks to become the Head Bee, the captain of the Letter Bees, so he can earn enough money to help his sister Sylvette live peacefully. Gauche later appears before Lag and steals the letter he is delivering, referring to himself as the Marauder Noir and seemingly without his memories of Lag or being a Bee. As Noir, he is emotionless, in contrast to Gauche's kind nature, but cares deeply for Roda and will do anything to protect her. It is revealed in chapter 10 that Gauche's sister Sylvette was born on the Day of Flicker, the day that the government went out for an investigation and to modify the artificial sun, but their mother died in childbirth. Aria claims that to fill the void in his heart left by the missing shards of his memories of his mother, he focused his attention on making Sylvette happy. In chapter 30, Lag fires a letter bullet at Gauche in hopes of restoring his memories, leaving him in a coma until chapter 38. It is later revealed that this partially worked, as it gave Gauche the memories Lag had of him rather than restoring his own. Gauche's Spirit Amber attack is called Kurobari (Black Needle). During his time as a Letter Bee, he wielded the Nocturne #20, but his current Shindanjuu is Gymnopédie, which uses the attack Raven Black.
 * A Letter Bee and Lag's rescuer, who found him marked as a letter in Cosa Bell, a small town in AmberGround's low-class Yodaka District, and delivered him to Campbell Litus to live with his aunt. He seeks to become the Head Bee, the captain of the Letter Bees, so he can earn enough money to help his sister Sylvette live peacefully. Gauche later appears before Lag and steals the letter he is delivering, referring to himself as the Marauder Noir and seemingly without his memories of Lag or being a Bee. As Noir, he is emotionless, in contrast to Gauche's kind nature, but cares deeply for Roda and will do anything to protect her. It is revealed in chapter 10 that Gauche's sister Sylvette was born on the Day of Flicker, the day that the government went out for an investigation and to modify the artificial sun, but their mother died in childbirth. Aria claims that to fill the void in his heart left by the missing shards of his memories of his mother, he focused his attention on making Sylvette happy. In chapter 30, Lag fires a letter bullet at Gauche in hopes of restoring his memories, leaving him in a coma until chapter 38. It is later revealed that this partially worked, as it gave Gauche the memories Lag had of him rather than restoring his own. Gauche's Spirit Amber attack is called Kurobari (Black Needle). During his time as a Letter Bee, he wielded the Nocturne #20, but his current Shindanjuu is Gymnopédie, which uses the attack Raven Black.


 * Sylvette Suede (シルベット・スエード)
 * Gauche's younger, paraplegic sister, who was born on the Day of Flicker. After he left to go to Akatsuki, he later disappeared and she believed him to be dead, but later learns that he is alive. By the end of the story, the sun takes her heart, but Lag reclaims it.
 * Gauche's younger, paraplegic sister, who was born on the Day of Flicker. After he left to go to Akatsuki, he later disappeared and she believed him to be dead, but later learns that he is alive. By the end of the story, the sun takes her heart, but Lag reclaims it.


 * Roda (ロダ) (dog)
 * Gauche's Dingo. She is a dog who specializing in fighting and tracking and is a skilled hunter.


 * Roda (ロダ) (human)
 * A child who Reverse's leader gave to Gauche as an assistant and whom he subconsciously named after his former Dingo. She was a failed experiment, having been mixed with several species/creatures, but was abandoned after the experiment failed until Lawrence found her.
 * A child who Reverse's leader gave to Gauche as an assistant and whom he subconsciously named after his former Dingo. She was a failed experiment, having been mixed with several species/creatures, but was abandoned after the experiment failed until Lawrence found her.


 * Steak (ステーキ)
 * Steak's pet, who began accompanying her after she destroyed Love Someone Down's sideshow and has the ability to sniff out a Gaichuu's weak spots. He is implied to be the last of the Kapellmeister, a species that once coexisted with the Spirit Insects and is now thought to be extinct.
 * Steak's pet, who began accompanying her after she destroyed Love Someone Down's sideshow and has the ability to sniff out a Gaichuu's weak spots. He is implied to be the last of the Kapellmeister, a species that once coexisted with the Spirit Insects and is now thought to be extinct.


 * Connor Kluff (コナー・クルフ)
 * A Letter Bee who first appears in chapter 2, where he escorts Lag to his Bee job interview. Connor made regular deliveries to Campbell Litus when Lag was growing up and seems to be popular with the townspeople. He falls in love with Sunny, a young girl from an abbey in Lamento Town, but is unaware that she and the other inhabitants of the abbey are members of Reverse. When the abbey's inhabitants lose their hearts to the Cabernet Gaichuu, he tries to attack it in a fit of rage, but eventually runs out of heart and passes out. After the battle, he remains in Lamento Town with a comatose Sunny, hoping that she will regain her heart one day. Later in the series, it is revealed that Sunny did not lose all of her heart, and she later recovers and becomes Connor's girlfriend. Connor's Spirit Amber attack is called "Heart Landmine", or 'Kibaku', Yellow Bomb, which he executes by placing shards of his "Appetite" on the ground and then igniting them.
 * A Letter Bee who first appears in chapter 2, where he escorts Lag to his Bee job interview. Connor made regular deliveries to Campbell Litus when Lag was growing up and seems to be popular with the townspeople. He falls in love with Sunny, a young girl from an abbey in Lamento Town, but is unaware that she and the other inhabitants of the abbey are members of Reverse. When the abbey's inhabitants lose their hearts to the Cabernet Gaichuu, he tries to attack it in a fit of rage, but eventually runs out of heart and passes out. After the battle, he remains in Lamento Town with a comatose Sunny, hoping that she will regain her heart one day. Later in the series, it is revealed that Sunny did not lose all of her heart, and she later recovers and becomes Connor's girlfriend. Connor's Spirit Amber attack is called "Heart Landmine", or 'Kibaku', Yellow Bomb, which he executes by placing shards of his "Appetite" on the ground and then igniting them.


 * Largo Lloyd (ラルゴ・ロイド)
 * The master of the Bee Hive, who later joins Reverse, having been as a test subject by them, and plans to overthrow the government.
 * The master of the Bee Hive, who later joins Reverse, having been as a test subject by them, and plans to overthrow the government.


 * Aria Link (アリア・リンク)
 * The sub master of the Bee Hive, who acts as Largo's right-hand man. Aria's Spirit Amber ability is the Heart Restoration Bullet, which she executes by playing music on her violin. It has a healing effect on those who hear it, which is stronger on those closer to her. Her Spirit Amber attack is "Benihiiro no Senritsu" (Crimson Melody), which is emitted from her violin.
 * The sub master of the Bee Hive, who acts as Largo's right-hand man. Aria's Spirit Amber ability is the Heart Restoration Bullet, which she executes by playing music on her violin. It has a healing effect on those who hear it, which is stronger on those closer to her. Her Spirit Amber attack is "Benihiiro no Senritsu" (Crimson Melody), which is emitted from her violin.


 * Sabrina Mary (サブリナ・メリー)
 * Lag's aunt, who lives in Campbell Litus and whom Gauche entrusted with Lag's care. She is a good friend of his mother, the current Empress.


 * Dr. Thunderland Jr.
 * A biologist who works for the Third Bioscience advisory panel of AmberGround division. He specializes in pathology and collects corpses for dissection and study, earning him the nickname "The Corpse Doctor." Despite his job, he has a kind heart, as he makes a star-shaped memorial for each corpse he dissects. Zazie once hated him because he thought he had taken a group of street kittens, but in reality he had quarantined them because of a disease. He is also one of the five survivors of the airship that crashed on the Day of Flicker.
 * A biologist who works for the Third Bioscience advisory panel of AmberGround division. He specializes in pathology and collects corpses for dissection and study, earning him the nickname "The Corpse Doctor." Despite his job, he has a kind heart, as he makes a star-shaped memorial for each corpse he dissects. Zazie once hated him because he thought he had taken a group of street kittens, but in reality he had quarantined them because of a disease. He is also one of the five survivors of the airship that crashed on the Day of Flicker.


 * Zazie Winters (ザジ)
 * A Letter Bee who is introduced in chapter 7. When he was a child, his parents were killed by a Gaichuu, leading him to become a Letter Bee in order to seek revenge against the Gaichuu, whom he is skilled at killing. Since he has dedicated himself to killing Gaichuu, he does not care for delivering letters. Zazie is fond of cats, which caused him to hate Dr. Thunderland because he thought that he had killed an alley cat he was feeding. However, he forgives him after learning that he had quarantined the cat because of a disease. Zazie is also fond of Jiggy Pepper and looks up to him. Zazie's Spirit Amber attack is Aotoge (Blue Thorn), which uses shards of his "Malice" instead of his heart.
 * A Letter Bee who is introduced in chapter 7. When he was a child, his parents were killed by a Gaichuu, leading him to become a Letter Bee in order to seek revenge against the Gaichuu, whom he is skilled at killing. Since he has dedicated himself to killing Gaichuu, he does not care for delivering letters. Zazie is fond of cats, which caused him to hate Dr. Thunderland because he thought that he had killed an alley cat he was feeding. However, he forgives him after learning that he had quarantined the cat because of a disease. Zazie is also fond of Jiggy Pepper and looks up to him. Zazie's Spirit Amber attack is Aotoge (Blue Thorn), which uses shards of his "Malice" instead of his heart.


 * Wasiolka (ヴァシュカ)
 * Zazie's Dingo, which is a black panther. It has stuck with Zazie since it was a kitten out of fondness towards him.


 * Jiggy Pepper (ジギー・ペッパー)
 * A Letter Bee who is first mentioned in chapter 3 by his adopted sister, Nelli, and who Zazie looks up to. He seeks to become stronger for her, and only follows who he wants to follow. Nelli hated him because she blamed the death of her brother Nello on him leaving them. Jiggy later saves Lag from a giant Gaichuu, telling him that had received a letter from Nelli telling him about his efforts, and thanks him before departing. Largo later entrusts him with caring for Zazie, and they leave to pursue the Gaichuu heading towards Akatsuki. His Dingo is a hawk named Harry. His Spirit Amber is Gunjou, Sea Blue Ultramarine, which he executes through a Shindanjuu he carries besides his motorcycle.
 * A Letter Bee who is first mentioned in chapter 3 by his adopted sister, Nelli, and who Zazie looks up to. He seeks to become stronger for her, and only follows who he wants to follow. Nelli hated him because she blamed the death of her brother Nello on him leaving them. Jiggy later saves Lag from a giant Gaichuu, telling him that had received a letter from Nelli telling him about his efforts, and thanks him before departing. Largo later entrusts him with caring for Zazie, and they leave to pursue the Gaichuu heading towards Akatsuki. His Dingo is a hawk named Harry. His Spirit Amber is Gunjou, Sea Blue Ultramarine, which he executes through a Shindanjuu he carries besides his motorcycle.


 * Anne Seeing (アン.シーイング)
 * Lag's mother, who at the beginning of the story was kidnapped by men from Akatsuki. She is later revealed to be from the royal bloodline and part of the machine keeping the artificial sun lit. During the Day of Flicker, she was struck by a fragment of heart, causing an accelerated pregnancy. After giving birth to Lag, who was a being of pure heart, she had Sabrina place a Spirit Amber in his eye socket to prevent him from fading away, which gave him human form.


 * Lawrence (ローレンス)
 * Reverse's leader, who aims to plunder the letters that Letter Bees deliver. He gave Gauche his new identity as Noir.

Manga
Written and illustrated by Hiroyuki Asada, Tegami Bachi debuted in Shueisha's Monthly Shōnen Jump on September 6, 2006. The magazine ceased its publication on June 6, 2007. Following a special un-numbered one-shot chapter published in Weekly Shōnen Jump on October 15, 2007, the series was transferred to the then brand new magazine Jump Square on November 2 of the same year,  where it ran until its conclusion on November 4, 2015. Shueisha collected its 99 individual chapters in twenty volumes, released from January 4, 2007, to January 4, 2016.

Viz Media announced that it had licensed Tegami Bachi for an English-language adaption in North America at the Comic-Con International on February 28, 2010. It was announced that Tegami Bachi, otherwise known as Letter Bee in English translations, will be serialized in the monthly manga anthology Shonen Jump, where it replaced the manga series Slam Dunk. It debuted in the March 2009 issue of the magazine.

Drama CD
A drama CD, which adapted the Jiggy Pepper arc, was released on February 16, 2009.

Anime
A special anime adaptation, running for about 30 minutes, was shown during the Jump Super Anime Tour events in Japan in the fall of 2008. It was titled Letter Bee: Light and Blue Night Fantasy (テガミバチ 〜光と青の幻想夜話〜), and was animated by Pierrot+. An original video animation was translated for free by Anthony Carl Kimm on the Jumpland website with English subtitles. It was later released on DVD in the beginning of 2009.

In the June 2009 issue of the Jump SQ magazine, it was announced that Tegami Bachi will get an anime series in the fall of 2009. This anime series is directed by Akira Iwanaga, and it features the same voice cast which had voiced characters in the previous 2008 special anime. This anime started airing in Japan on the TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, TV Aichi and other affiliated television networks around Japan on October 3, 2009, and it ended on March 27, 2010. The first opening theme song for this anime was revealed to be the song Hajimari no Hi (はじまりの日), which is sung by Suga Shikao and features Mummy-D, on September 7, 2009. This theme song was replaced by the song Love Letter no kawari ni kono Uta wo (ラブレターのかわりにこの詩を.), which is sung by singer Seira, in episode 14 of the anime onwards. In 2013, Animax Asia re-aired Tegami Bachi in English, under the title Letter Bee.

A second season of the anime, called Tegami Bachi Reverse was announced in the Puff magazine in Japan during an interview with the artist. This season of the anime retained its previous voice cast, and is also directed by Akira Iwanaga. The second season of the anime premiered on October 1, 2010. The first opening theme, Chiisana Mahō (小さな魔法) is sung by Stereopony, while the first ending theme Wasurenagusa (勿忘草) is sung by Piko. The second opening theme Yakusoku (約束) is sung by Suga Shikao, while the second ending theme Perseus (ペルセウス) is sung by Yamazaru.

In North America, both seasons have been licensed by Sentai Filmworks.

Manga
Deb Aoki of About.com reviewed Tegami Bachi Volume 1. Aoki said that the series "has the right stuff to appeal to both male and female readers: thrilling action, a magical world full of mysteries, likeable characters that are worth caring about, and lovely artwork, all done with a touch of light-hearted humor."

In Japan, volume 2 of the manga debuted at the 6th position during the first week of its release.

Anime
Carlo Santos of Anime News Network reviewed the first 6 episodes of Tegami Bachi. He commented that the series "may be one of the last few adventure series that is genuinely about adventure" and "an adventure with a unique vibe". Santos went on to say how the series as a whole isn't like typical adventure series, which deal with "the triumphs and tragedies of having the best sword", as it is built on "the triumphs and tragedies of the human heart". A negative point he said was about the animation—describing the Gaichuu as "plastic-looking CGI beasts looking woefully out of place among the scenery". However, Santos complimented the series' art direction by saying that "the artistry is far more commendable: the blend of feudal and industrial eras results in a unique visual aesthetic". Overall, Santos gave a positive review of the first 6 episodes of Tegami Bachi with an overall grade of B−.