Comics / Manga

Tegami Bachi: Volume 16 Advanced manga review

By Leroy Douresseaux
February 23, 2014 - 16:30

Tegami Bachi Volume 16 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

Rated “T” for “Teen”

The country of Amberground is locked in darkness.  Only a man-made star casts a dim light over the land.  Gaichuu, giant insects with metal exoskeletons, infest the forests between the cities and towns of Amberground, making travel dangerous.  A brave corps of messengers, known as the Letter Bees, risk life and limb to deliver letters and packages to the cities.  Lag Seeing is a Letter Bee, traveling with his dingo, Niche (and her dog-thing, Steak).

As Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee, Vol. 16 (Wuthering Heights – Chapters 65 to 70) opens, Letter Bees, Connor Kluff and Zazie, follow the Gaichuu Laphroaig to the Petrified Woodland area.  In the small town of Little Tree, the two find people hurt by the Gaichuu.  Zazie is on a mission of revenge because it was Laphroaig that killed his parents.

Arriving at Wuthering Heights Inn, Zazie meets a blind girl named Emil Bronte.  She gives him a place to stay and provides him with warm meals while he searches for Laphroaig.  But Emil has terrible secret, and Zazie will learn the truth about his parents and about his last name.

THE LOWDOWN:  The Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee manga has reached that point in the narrative, where it begins spilling the secrets fast and furious.  And Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee Volume 16 certainly has some secrets to reveal.

However, series creator Hiroyuki Asada has a heartbreaking and ultimately heartfelt story to tell about Zazie.  Touching tales of triumph, tragedy, and triumph and tragedy are what this series does so well.  Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee is rich character drama, deeply involved intrigue, and compelling science fiction mystery-slash-conspiracy.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Anyone looking for a good alternate world science fiction comic book will want the Shonen Jump title, Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee.

 

Rating: A /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12