Tegami Bachi, Vol. 2, 2

by Hiroyuki Asada

A New York Times best-selling sci-fi fantasy series with heart.

Amberground is locked in darkness. A man-made star casts only a dim light over the land. The pitch-black wilderness is infested with Gaichuu--colossal insects with metal exoskeletons. The Gaichuu make travel between the cities of Amberground extremely dangerous. But thankfully the Letter Bees, a brave corps of messengers, risk their lives in order to keep the hearts...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1421529505
• ISBN13: 9781421529509
• Release Date: March 2010
• Publisher: Viz Media
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.1" x 7.5"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

So far so good, almost

I've been waiting for this one to be released. The first volume was pretty good and I had a hard time waiting to see what happened next. So far in the story, we learned about a world with no sun. Only stars light the way for travelers, including one large, man-made star, which hovers over the capital. A postal-type service is run by Letter Bees, who deliver packages in the most diverse situations. One of the packages was a young boy named Lag Seeing, who gets delivered to his aunt by a Bee named Gauche Suede. Five years after the incident, Lag seeks to become a Bee himself. Story overview: Lag was diverted from his journey to the capital, where he was scheduled to take the Letter Bee exam. The diversion turned to Lag's favor as he acquired his Dingo, Niche. Now getting back to his goal, Lag finds himself in the town of "Dead End." It is here he plans to use his crossing pass to proceed over the bridge to the capital. When a girl by the name of Nelli finds out about the pass, she steals it from Lag. Her aim is to find a young man by the name of Jiggy Pepper, who had abandoned her and her brother to become a Letter Bee. Nelli aims to deliver the letter her brother wrote to Jiggy on his deathbed so that he can feel the same pain she did. With unexpected assistance from Lag, Nelli finds the true heart behind her brother's letter and gives back the crossing pass. With pass in hand Lag continues on to the Beehive where he has to compete for the Letter Bee position against other candidates. Their test is to deliver a single letter. The catch is that they have to make it past a gigantic Gaichuu. My thoughts: I was looking forward to this one, and where I was not disappointed, there were a few placed a bit on the cheesy side. I'm just hoping this series doesn't go too far down that road, as it has a lot of potential (and originality). Things to consider: Viz Media rates this TEEN (13 and up). The reason for this is due to fantasy violence and tobacco use. So in reality, the rating can probably be lowered to preteens depending on the discretion of the parent. I personally didn't see a problem with any of it. So far this is a manga that I think would appeal to both girls and boys. James D. Maxon Author of, The Cat That Made Nothing Something Again Manga and speculative fiction reviewer: [...]

More Chapters and More Letter Bee!

Unlike Volume 1 which featured two chapters that spanned its nearly 200 hundred pages, this volume fortunately contains five chapters of TegamiBachi Letter Bee goodness. In case you have Shonen Jump, the chapters emanate from the volumes 79 - 83 (March 2009 - September 2009). Volume 2 was particularly interesting in that it started off introducing and showing the relationship between the new character introduced at the end of volume 1 and yet another partner on their team. This explores the journey of the main character, Lag, as he tries to make his way to the capitol in time for his interview to become a letter bee. Along the way he gets involved with a delivery and has an adventure that spans the volume. For people who never read volume 1, they could possibly jump in with this volume because the first volume was really tons of background and everything is brought back to light in this volume. This volume was pretty interesting, it started slow, but had a fast pace once everything was fleshed out. Lag is a pretty fun character that I always found myself rooting for, and seeing the interactions with his close partners is always a thrill to see. I think the powers that are in this universe are also quite interesting and its definitely quite heartfelt. As an alternative to all the other action heavy shonen manga out there, this one provides a nice change of pace to one trying to diversify their portfolio with things other than pirate or shinobi action. Definitely check this out and enjoy it. Bonus -An encyclopedia on things introduced, a map, and a preview for the next volume

Volume 2 Has Me Excited About This Series

Reason for Reading: Next in the series. Summary: Lag is on his way to the National Postal Service where he must take his final interview and test to become a Letter Bee. Niche is accompanying him and insisting on being his Dingo which every Letter Bee must have. Niche is perfect to help in protecting Lag and helping him fight as she has amazing hair which is made of golden swords. They stop at a small town just outside the final bridge and meet Nelli, a friendly boy, that is until he steals Lags crossing pass and then they find out the sad story of Kyrie, the last town before the bridge, which has been nicknamed "The Dead End". This volume is all story and very exciting. Niche picks up a strange creature, a kind of pet, she calls Steak, which we're never quite sure whether she intends to eat or not. This new character is cute in a strange way and turns the journiers into a trio. There is mystery behind Niche as others know about her and who she is more than Lag or the reader does making her mystical powers more intriguing and leaving the reader wanting a background on her. Not much fighting in this volume which I was pleased to see, since Volume 1 went a bit overboard with it. It's good to see that the series isn't going to rely on heavy battle scenes all the time, not that I don't enjoy a reasonable amount of good fighting! The artwork continues to impress me. It lacks the typical abundance of overdone facial expressions of most Japanese manga which I'm not a huge fan of, though Niche is the character who does express herself in that way. The characters and backgrounds are drawn with great details and I enjoy slowly looking at the frames. The individual story arc that this volume concentrated on was wrapped up nicely with a big ending but then the story continued on with the overall story arc and ended with a shocker and a direction for the next volume which thankfully already has a release date later this year in Sept. (2010). Can't wait to read it as we will finally get to meet a character who has only been talked about so far.

Jiggy and the Letter Bee

He already has a dingo, but Lag Seeing isn't a Letter Bee yet. The real test of his worth takes place in "Tegami Bachi, Vol. 2: Letter Bee/The Letter to Jiggy Pepper," which not only pits the preteen mailman against grudges and vengeful people, but against the difficult obstacles that a potential Letter Bee must overcome. It's an exquisitely-drawn, star-spattered little story, and all the more adorable for its bittersweetness. Lag and Niche (and Niche's living lunch, Steak) stop off at a hotel in the miserable, dead-end town of Kyrie. A young boy named Nelli (who turns out to be a girl) offers to help them, only to steal Lag's crossing pass so he can escape Kyrie -- and deliver her dead little brother's last message to a Letter Bee named Jiggy Pepper, whom Nelli insists abandoned Kyrie, her and her brother. But Lag can't believe that a Letter Bee could be so cruel, and sets out to prove -- with the help of his amber eye -- that Jiggy did all this for his friends. Then Lag, Niche and Steak finally arrive at the central headquarters for the Letter Bees, and discover that it's run by a very familiar figure. To become a Letter Bee, Lag is given a rough route to a neighboring town that is threatened by gaichuu -- and he's in competition with some other kids who also want to become Letter Bees. After its quietly lovely first volume, "Tegami Bachi Volume 2" expands a little on the world of the Letter Bees -- including the people who don't live in cute little villages, and are desperate to escape their miserable villages. But Hiroyuki Asada's artwork makes it a lovely experience -- he fills out the story with starlit night skies, childlike round-faced people, and shimmering eruptions of "heart" that light up the desolate landscape. And Asada proves that he really knows how to jerk your tears -- the terminally ill child may be a cliche, but the final letter from the dying little boy is genuinely heartrending, as is the beautiful scene in which Jiggy's true intentions are revealed. Fortunately there's still plenty of comic relief, particularly from the ever-eccentric Niche -- especially since she continues to only wear underwear when she isn't mad at Lag. Lag himself moves fully into the spotlight with these stories -- he's sweetly naive and still shows great compassion and courage. What's more, Asada reveals much more about his mysterious amber-fueled powers. Niche's personality becomes a bit more formed, especially her stubbornness about being Lag's dingo and her odd way of thinking (taking Steak along as an emergency meal). As for Steak... well, he's a joke character, but he is an entertaining one (especially since cooking him seems to have little effect). I hate to peddle a cliche, but "Tegami Bachi, Vol. 2: Letter Bee/The Letter to Jiggy Pepper" makes you laugh and makes you cry -- it has lovely artwork, solid writing and endearing little characters.