is a ongoing shōnen manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 series written and illustrated by Hiroyuki Asada

Hiroyuki Asada

is a Japanese manga artist who is best known for his steampunk series Tegami Bachi . The first manga series he created was called I'll, and was a basketball series. All of Asada's manga were serialized in the monthly shōnen anthology Monthly Shōnen Jump...

. This manga is set in the fictional land called "AmberGround", where a artificial sun only illuminates the capital of the land, Akatsuki. The story follows Lag Seeing, a letter bee who has a special ability to see the memories of people and items, and his personal dingo Niche on their journeys around the AmberGround.

The series was first serialized in the September 2006 issue of Monthly Shōnen Jump

Monthly Shonen Jump

is a now defunct monthly shōnen manga magazine published in Japan by Shueisha from 1970 to 2007 under the Jump line of magazines. It was the sister magazine to Weekly Shōnen Jump.- History :...

. After ten chapters, the manga was moved to the new monthly magazine Jump SQ. after the Monthly Shōnen Jump was ended by Shueisha

Shueisha

is a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...

 in June 2007. The manga is still currently being serialized Jump SQ. Tegami Bachi was adapted into two separate anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 television series, entitled Tegami Bachi and Tegami Bachi REVERSE respectively.

At the 2010 Comic-Con International

Comic-Con International

San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans...

, Viz Media

VIZ Media

VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...

 announced that it acquired the license for Tegami Bachi in North America. It serialized this manga in its Shonen Jump

Shonen Jump (magazine)

Shonen Jump, officially stylized SHONEN JUMP and abbreviated SJ, is a shōnen manga anthology published in North America by Viz Media. It debuted in November 2002 with the first issue having a January 2003 cover date...

magazine from March 2009 to March 2010. It also released the manga in the tankōbon

Tankobon

, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...

format, with 6 volumes being released as of September 2011.

Plot

The story takes place in the land of AmberGround, a place of perpetual night only partially illuminated by an artificial sun. Lag Seeing works as a "Letter Bee" (delivery boy) at the "Bee Hive" (a delivery service), with his Dingo, Niche, and her "pet", Steak, traveling with him. As a Letter Bee, Lag's job is entrusted to deliver letters and packages from town to town while avoiding Amberground's deadliest hazard — a species of giant armored insect known as Gaichuu, who attempt to feed off the "heart" that reside within these letters and packages.

Characters

The main protagonist

Protagonist

A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

 in Tegami Bachi. He is a 12 year old boy with a very focused mindset, regardless of what situations he gets into and always focuses on delivering the package. He was also born on the day of the Flicker. He's very emotional and is nearly constantly crying. He has a special gun called the Shindanjuu, literally the "heart bullet gun" where he loads a "fragment of heart" into the gun, then fires Akabari (Red Needle) at the target. He is seemingly being able to control the direction of the shot. His spirit amber visualizes memories of an animated object. As a child, he was "delivered" by the letter bee Gauche Suede, and was inspired by him to become a letter bee. He is searching for his mother, who was kidnapped to the capital of the country. His left eye is made of red spirit amber, allowing him to better use the Shindanjuu and also allowing him to fire a heart bullet from his own body. He originally has an antique from Campbell, though he receives the Nocturne #12, Gauche's gun. In chapter 29, after Sunny lost her heart to a Gaichuu, Lag's body glowed like spirit amber as he fired 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

Lu

Lu may refer to any one of the several Chinese surnames that have the same phone. The most common ones with this romanization are 陆 , 鲁 , 卢 and 路 ....

" or "Lugh", the name of the Celtic god of the sun of the Danann family, and "seeing", the measure of sight.

His "Dingo" is Niche, a girl he saved from a Gaichuu (armored insect) who decided to stay at his side when he said yes to her asking him if saying goodbye would make him sad after seeing his memories via the Shindanjuu.

Lag's personal Dingo. She travels with Lag, acting as his bodyguard against Gaichuu, and sticks closely to Lag along with her "pet", "Steak", on her head. She battles using her hair, also known as "The Golden Sword", manipulating it into powerful blade-like tentacles capable of lifting things several times her size. She has bearlike forearms and claws which she usually keeps covered with oven mitt-like gloves. Niche displays animal-like characteristics, such as licking wounds and sniffing the air for any trace of danger. She dislikes wearing underwear, but wears them for Lag's sake, claiming that he is the first person to ever make her wear underwear. Lag assumes that she is 7 years old based on her appearance but it was later revealed that she was born approximately 200 years ago in the town of . Later on in , a cave by Blue Notes Blues, Niche finds out that she has a twin sister with the same power as her and that she was the child of Maka. The sister refers to Niche as "imouto" (younger sister). Her name is derived from "niche", a crevice or narrow space to put flowers as an offering to the Holy Mother.

Lag found Niche at a train station 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 more days. Lag offered to take her to her new home ("" according to the mailing label in the local writing, which he thought was an orphanage) even though he was on a deadline for his Bee job interview. While traveling, Lag found she had multiple names, so he named her Niche after where he found her - in a niche at the station.

After delivering Niche, Lag found out she was to be put in a side show act as , Maka being a mysterious being both worshipped and feared in AmberGround's Northern territories. Lag hurried back to Love Someone Down with the excuse that Niche's delivery receipt had not been signed. When he got there he found that Niche had already wrecked the sideshow tent with her "Golden Sword" and gone on the run towards Gaichuu territory. He followed her and consequently saved her from a Gaichuu. She decided to stay with Lag after he explained that her address had become unknown (since she had destroyed the mailing label), and she insisted that from then on she would be Lag's "Dingo".

Lag's rescuer, who first appears in chapter 1. He is the letter bee that finds young Lag Seeing marked as a letter in "Cosa Bell", a small town in the "Yodaka District" (The low class district in Amberground). He has to deliver to "Campbell Litus" a town also in the "Yodaka District" so he can join his aunt who was trusted to take care of him from the person who wrote Lag's letter data. Gauche is also a caring and enthusiastic letter bee, he is trying to become the "Head Bee" (Captain of the letter bees) so he has enough money to help his sister and live peacefully. In Chapter 7 it is revealed that Gauche is no longer a Letter Bee. Gauche later appears before Lag and steals the letter he is delivering. He refers to himself as a Marauder

Marauder

A marauder is a bandit, outlaw, raider or such like who moves about in roving fashion looking for plunder.Other uses of marauder, usually derived from the above include:in " Football"...

 known as Noir and appears to have no memories of Lag or being a Bee, possibly having lost that part of his heart. Later on a Marauder is explained to be a "Plunderer" who takes on the job of theft. Marauders mainly target Letter Bees to keep them from delivering their letters. His name is derived from Gauche the Cellist

Gauche the Cellist

is a short story by the Japanese author Kenji Miyazawa. It is about Gauche, a struggling small town cellist who is inspired by his interactions with anthropomorphized animals to gain insight into music. The story has been translated into English and Italian, and was adapted into a critically...

. In chapter 30, Lag fires a letter bullet through Gauche, which brings back Gauche's memories, but also leaves him comatose til chapter 38.

It is revealed in Chapter 10 by Aria Link that Gauche's sister Sylvette was born on the Day of Flicker. He'd gone to the Hill of Prayer to pray for his mother and sister when Sylvette was born. The Day of Flicker (romanised as "The day of blink" in Japanese media) was the day when the government went out for an investigation and a modification of the manmade sun. His mother died after Sylvette was born. Subconsciously, Aria says that to fill the void in his heart left by the missing shards of his memories of his mother, he started focusing all his attention on making Sylvette happy.

Gauche's Spirit Amber attack is called Kurobari (Black Needle). During his time as a Letter Bee he owned the Nocturne #12, but his current Shindanjuu is Gymnopédie that uses the attack Raven Black.

Gauche's younger, paraplegic sister. Born on the Day of Flicker, like Lag. Her brother left her to go to Akatsuki, and eventually disappeared. When she would meet Lag, years later, she had claimed to have given up on Gauche being alive. She later learns he is alive, and Lag promises to find him. After the encounter with Noir outside Honey Waters, when Lag returns home, Sylvette throws him a party because he had found Gauche, as promised. She rents Gauche's room to Lag, Niche, and Steak, and she makes Dolls to cover the rent and expenses. Lag thinks her soup is as terrible as "The Three Brothers' Soup" Gauche had brought with him on his journey; Zazie sympathizes with him on this.

(dog)

Gauche's "Dingo". She is a skillful dog that seems to be very well trained for fighting and tracking situations. She appears to be a skilled hunter as well.

(human)

A child that was given to Gauche as an assistant from the leader of Reverse. Gauche subconsciously named her after his former Dingo.

Steak is Niche's live bait and emergency food supply. He followed her from the LOVESOME DOWNS sideshow after she destroyed it. He is usually seen traveling on her head, very rarely moving from his perch even while she is battling Gaichuu. He has the ability to sniff out the weak spots of Gaichuu, allowing Lag to fire his Shindanjuu at the weak spot, killing the armored insect. Steak is also known to bite people on the head, his whole body represents that of a mouth.

Niche has remarked that Steak would taste delicious (hence his name). Steak seems to have accepted his fate as a future meal and appears to have meekly submitted to Niche's (interrupted) attempts to cook him. But in all the attempts to cook him, he only got a perm.

Steak may be the last of the Kapellmeister

Kapellmeister

Kapellmeister is a German word designating a person in charge of music-making. The word is a compound, consisting of the roots Kapelle and Meister . The words Kapelle and Meister derive from the Latin: capella and magister...

, a species that once co-existed harmoniously with the Spirit Insects, and was thought to be extinct.

A young Letter Bee who was first seen in chapter 2, escorting Lag to his Bee job interview. Connor made regular deliveries to Campbell Litus as Lag was growing up, and seems to be popular with the townspeople. He has a hearty appetite and a stocky build, and tires easily. His Dingo is a hound dog named , who is skilled at tunneling. He fell in love with Sunny, a young girl from an abbey in Lamento Town, not knowing she and all in her abbey were members of Reverse. When she, along with all other members of her abbey, lost her heart to the massive Cabernet Gaichuu, lost control and furiously tried to attack the Gaichuu, but eventually ran out of heart and passed out. As of the latest chapter, he remains in Lamento Town with the comatose Sunny, still believing she will regain her heart one day.

Connor's Spirit Amber attack is called "Heart Landmine", or 'Kibaku', Yellow Bomb, which he executes by setting shards of his "Appetite" on the ground and igniting them under the Gaichuu.

The Master of the "Bee Hive". Largo tends to have a more invested interest in Lag and his deliveries, though the reason for this is unknown.

The Sub Master of the "Bee Hive". Aria acts as Largo's right hand, taking care of the minor things for him. She was earlier introduced in the series in Gauche's memories as a letter bee and Gauche's love interest.

Aria's Spirit Amber ability is the Heart Restoration Bullet, which she executes by playing music on her violin. The music has a healing effect on everyone who hears it. The closer one stands to her while she is playing, the stronger the healing effects.

Aria's Spirit Amber attack is called "Benihiiro no Senritsu" (Crimson Melody), which is ejected from her violin.

Lag's aunt who lives in "Campbell Litus" and was trusted with Lag's care since he was delivered to her at the age of 7 by "Gauche Suede" the letter bee.

Dr. Thunderland Jr.

A biologist who belongs to the Third Bioscience advisory panel of Amberground division. He specializes in pathology

Pathology

Pathology is the precise study and diagnosis of disease. The word pathology is from Ancient Greek , pathos, "feeling, suffering"; and , -logia, "the study of". Pathologization, to pathologize, refers to the process of defining a condition or behavior as pathological, e.g. pathological gambling....

 and collects corpses for dissection and study, earning him the nickname "The Corpse Doctor." He has a morbid interest in dissection. Nonetheless he has a kind heart, and makes a star-shaped memorial for each corpse he dissects. Zazie hated him at one point, because he thought Thunderland had taken a group of street kittens Zazie liked, however, it was shown he only quarantined them.

Dr. Thunderland Jr. is also one of the five survivors of the airship that crashed on the Day of Flicker due to the blindness of the light going out.

Zazie is a young Letter Bee who was introduced in chapter seven. He is very skilled at killing Gaichuu. Zazie's parents were killed by Gaichuu when he was young, leading him to become a Letter Bee so that he could seek revenge against all Gaichuu. Because he is so focused on killing Gaichuu, delivering Letters is of course of little interest to Zazie. Zazie is very fond of cats. At one point, he was mad at Dr. Thunderland because he thought that the Doctor killed an alley cat he was feeding. However, when he found that Dr. Thunderland quarantined the cat because of a disease, Zazie forgave him.

Zazie is also quite fond of Jiggy Pepper, and looks up to him as, in a sense, 'his idol.' A minor reference to that is at the end of Chapter 20, when Lag is telling Zazie (and Conner, who happen to be at Sylvette's) about what had happened, and Zazie yelling in disbelief that he really rode Jiggy's Bike. He then goes on to questioning every detail, with a hint of jealousy in the comic panel that it's explained in. There's also been a four-strip comic in which Zazie questions Jiggy's pay, and finds that he plans to be a express delieverer like Jiggy. Lastly, in chapter 43, Zazie wakes to find himself on Jiggy's bike, and, while combating the Cabernet Gaichuu, he claims that he'd 'rather die' than back down when Jiggy speaks of the risks.

Zazie's Spirit Amber attack is called Aotoge (Blue Thorn), which uses shards of his "Malice" instead of his heart.

A semi-recurring Bee, whose Shindanjuu is his motorcycle. He was first mentioned in chapter three by his adopted sister, Neli. Neli hated him because she blamed the death of her brother Nero on his leaving them. When Lag shot off a heart bullet at Nero's letter, it was revealed he wanted to get stronger for Neli. Jiggy later appeared saving Lag from a giant Gaichuu that had trapped him in a trance. He said he had received a letter from his sister Neli, telling him about Lag's efforts, and thanked him, before departing. He later appears due to a request from Largo and says that he follows who he wants to follow and no one else. Largo then gives him a wounded Zazie to take care of and they leave pursuing the Gaichuu heading towards the capital. Zazie worships him as a hero. His Dingo is a hawk named Harry.

Jiggy's spirit amber is Gunjou, Sea Blue Ultramarine, which he executes through a Shindanjuu he carries besides his motorcycle.

Lag's mother. She was kidnapped to the capital of the AmberGround, Akatsuki at the start of this manga.

Terminology

: A delivery person who is entrusted with shards of the population's "hearts" in their letters, which they have to deliver despite the threat of armored insects.: A bodyguard who is picked and trained by a Bee to protect them from armored insects. A dingo can be anything from a dog to a human.: The headquarters of the delivery service where all the "Bees" work. Located in Yuusari, the middle-class area of AmberGround.: Giant insects covered in jeweled armor, said to be spirit insects that lost their hearts. They live in the dark lands outside of the artificial sunlight and attack anyone who travels along the darkened paths. Each Gaichuu that has appeared thus far in the manga is named after an alcoholic beverage.: The "fragments of heart" used when firing the "heart bullet gun.": The weapon Lag uses to combat armored insects. He first loads a "fragment of heart" into the gun, then fires it at the target, seemingly being able to control the shot's direction.: A powerful amber stone that has the power to allow its user to shoot a heart bullet from its heart bullet gun. It comes in a wide range of colors that each have different abilities. It contains this power because of the spirit insects trapped inside it.: Extinct insects from ancient times, they have all either become Gaichuu or imprisoned in Spirit Amber.: A group trying to cause a of AmberGround. It is led by a man known as the "Person who was not able to become a Spirit.": Agents of the group "Reverse" who steal letters from Bees.: A bullet used to convey one's heart to another person. A small letter is written and placed within the bullet, with an address to a specific person on whom the bullet will only work. The bullet also stores more "heart" than a normal heart bullet. This is also a physical cartridge with a red liquid within it.: A letter written with heart, but that consists of solely an image. Such a letter conveys hopes and feelings of nostalgia, and has a strong message (sometimes) for the receiver of the letter.

Manga

The first ten chapters of Tegami Bachi were originally serialized in the now-defunct Monthly Shōnen Jump

Monthly Shonen Jump

is a now defunct monthly shōnen manga magazine published in Japan by Shueisha from 1970 to 2007 under the Jump line of magazines. It was the sister magazine to Weekly Shōnen Jump.- History :...

. A special un-numbered chapter was published as a one-shot in Weekly Shōnen Jump

Weekly Shonen Jump

is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of July 2, 1968, and it is still circulating. One of the longest-running manga magazines in Japan, it has a circulation of 2.8 million copies...

prior to the launch of Jump Square

Jump Square

is a Japanese monthly shōnen manga magazine with a circulation of over 300,000. Published by Shueisha, the magazine premiered on November 2, 2007 as a replacement for Monthly Shōnen Jump, another manga anthology that Shueisha discontinued in June of that year. The magazine is a part of the Jump...

, where Tegami Bachi is now serialized.

Viz Media

VIZ Media

VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...

 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

Shonen Jump (magazine)

Shonen Jump, officially stylized SHONEN JUMP and abbreviated SJ, is a shōnen manga anthology published in North America by Viz Media. It debuted in November 2002 with the first issue having a January 2003 cover date...

, where it replaced the manga series Slam Dunk. It debuted in the March 2009 issue of the magazine. Serialization ended after the March 2010 issue, while the volumes have since continued to be released. Additionally, in Australia and New Zealand, another English version of Letter Bee was released by Madman Entertainment

Madman Entertainment

Madman Entertainment is an Australian company that distributes international films as well as Japanese anime and manga in Australia and New Zealand. The company is owned by Funtastic Limited and is one of the major entertainment companies in Australia. It employs 130 people and has an annual...

.

Tegami Bachi was also translated into Traditional Chinese and published in Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

 by Ever Glory Publishing

Ever Glory Publishing

is a Taiwanese publisher of manga. It was founded in June 1991. In October 1992, the company obtained the Chinese license for Akita Shoten's Weekly Shōnen Champion...

 and in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 by Jade Dynasty

Jade Dynasty

Jade Dynasty is a Hong Kong publisher. Jade Dynasty Group Ltd. is mainly responsible for comic book publications in Hong Kong.-Notable works:*666 Satan*Angel Heart*Boys Over Flowers*Capeta*Fullmetal Alchemist*Initial D*Soul Eater*Spriggan...

, where it is known by the name . It was also translated into Simplified Chinese and released in Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 under the name of by publisher Chuang Yi

Chuang Yi

Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd. is a publishing company based in Singapore that specializes in producing domestic and imported comics and comics-related merchandise, in English and simplified Chinese. Chuang Yi distributes all or some of its products in Singapore, Malaysia, India, and the Philippines...

. In Europe, the series is licensed and translated into Italian in Italy by Panini Comics

Panini Comics

Panini Comics is an Italian comic book publisher. A division of Panini Group, best known for their collectible stickers, it is headquartered in Modena, Italy...

 under their Planet Manga division. Kana

Kana (publisher)

Kana is a French publisher affiliated with Les Éditions Dargaud. Kana was founded in 1996 by Yves Schlirf. The company publishes manga in French and Dutch. Its headquarters are in the Dargaud offices in the 18th arrondissement of Paris.-External links:*...

 also released the French version of Letter Bee in France. The Spanish version of Letter Bee was released in Spain by Planeta DeAgostini Comics.

Drama CD

On February 16, 2009 a Drama CD was released of the Jiggy Pepper arc. It was named "Drama CD Tegamibachi" and has the ISBN 978-4-08-901167-6.

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 , and was animated by Studio Pierrot

Studio Pierrot

is a Japanese animation/animation studio, founded in 1979 by former employees of Tatsunoko Production. Its headquarters is located in Mitaka, Tokyo.The company has a simple logo of the face of a clown...

. The 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 Tokyo

is a television station headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Also known as , a blend of "terebi" and "Tokyo", it is the key station of TX Network. It is one of the major Tokyo television stations, particularly specializing in anime...

, TV Osaka

TV Osaka

is a TV station affiliated with TXN in Osaka, Japan. The mascot character is "Takoru-kun" .-Offices:*The headquarters - 1-2-18, Otemae, Chūō-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan...

, 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 , which is sung by Suga Shikao

Suga Shikao

is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter from Tokyo. Though he uses katakana for his recording name, the kanji for his name are 菅 止戈男, but the romanization is the same. Suga is his family name and Shikao is his given name....

 and features Mummy-D, on September 7 ,2009. This theme song was replaced by the song , which is sung by singer Seira, in episode 14 of the anime onwards. Tegami Bachi was also broadcasted within South-east Asian countries and Taiwan by Animax Asia

Animax Asia

Animax Asia is the Japanese anime TV network Animaxs English language feeds in Southeast Asia and South Asia, as well as its feeds across other regions of mainland Asia, including Hong Kong and Taiwan...

, starting on August 16, 2011.

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.

Manga

Deb Aoki of About.com

About.com

About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....

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

Carlos Santos of Anime News Network

Anime News Network

Anime News Network is an anime industry news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, Japanese popular music and other otaku-related culture within North America, Australia and Japan. Additionally, it sometimes features similar happenings throughout the Anglosphere and elsewhere in the...

 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

Adventure

An adventure is defined as an exciting or unusual experience; it may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome. The term is often used to refer to activities with some potential for physical danger, such as skydiving, mountain climbing and or participating in extreme sports...

, 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-.

External links

• Shueisha Tegami Bachi official website
• Hiroyuki Asada's blog