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.
Opportunities for discussion:
Intentions. One of the themes here is that Nelli did not know the intentions of her brother or Jiggy Pepper. Only by seeing into both of their hearts by the special ability of Lag Seeing’s Spirit Amber is she able to discern what their intentions really were. This is true to life and we often find ourselves quick to judge someone without knowing fully why they did what they did. Unfortunately, we don’t have access to Spirit Amber, and the only person in history who could see into people’s hearts was Jesus. Remind your children that they too are not God, and that they should be careful to make judgments about people. Ask them if they have ever misjudged someone before, and then find out how it made them feel afterward.
Past reviews in this series:
1) Tegami Bachi (Volume 1)
Books For Youth 