Letter Bee

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Tegamibachi


caption =
ja_name = テガミバチ
ja_name_trans = Letter Bee
genre = Supernatural, Steampunk, AdventureInfobox animanga/Manga
title =
author = Hiroyuki Asada
publisher = flagicon|Japan Shueisha
publisher_en = flagicon|United States flagicon|Canada Viz Media, LLC.
publisher_other = flagicon|Italy Planet Manga
demographic = Shōnen
magazine = Monthly Shōnen Jump
Weekly Shōnen Jump
Jump Square
first = September 2006 -
volumes = 4 volumes, with 20 total chapters (as of August, 2008)Infobox animanga/Anime
director = Mamoru Kanbe
studio = Studio Pierrot
network = flagicon|Japan TV Tokyo
first = October 2008
last =
episodes = TBA

nihongo|"Tegamibachi"|テガミバチ|Tegami Bachi|lit. "Letter Bee", A manga originally serialized in Monthly Shōnen Jump magazine for the first ten chapters, and is currently serialized in the new monthly magazine Jump Square.

Plot

The story takes place in the land of Amber Ground, 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. He is entrusted with the "hearts" of the everyone in Amber Ground to deliver their packages.

Characters

;Lag Seeing
*

:The main protagonist in Letter Bee. He is a young boy with a very focused mindset, regardless of what situations he gets into and always focuses on delivering the package. He has a special gun called the Shin Ganjuu, literally the "heart bullet gun" where he loads a "fragment of heart" into the gun, then fires it at the target. He is seemingly being able to control the direction of the shot. 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 Shin Ganjuu.

: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 Shin Ganjuu.

;Niche
*

: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 pants, but wears them for Lag's sake, claiming that he is the first male to make her wear pants. Lag assumes that she is 7 years old based on her appearance.

: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 ("Rabusamu Wandaun" according to the mailing label, 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 "The Child of Makka", Makka being a mysterious being both worshipped and feared in AmberGround's Northern territories. Lag hurried back to Rabusamu Wandaun 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 sideshow), and she insisted that from then on she would be Lag's "Dingo".

;Gauche Suede/Noir
*

:Lag's rescuer, who first appears in chapter 1. He is the letter bee that finds young Lag Seeing marked as a letter in "Coza Bel", a small town in the "Yodaka District" (The low class district in Amberground). He has to deliver to "Cambel Litus" a town also on the "Yodaka District" so he can join his aunt which was trusted to take care of him from the person who wrote Lag's letter data. Gauche is also a 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 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 take on the job of theft. Marauders mainly target Letter Bees to keep them from delivering their letters.

;Roda: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. When Gauche, under the name of Noir, confronts Lag, Roda, in a human female form, confronts and distracts Niche.

;Steak
*:Steak is Niche's "pet" and emergency food supply. He followed her from the Rabusamu Wandaun 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 Shin Ganjuu 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) attempt to cook him.

:Steak may be the last of the Kapel Meister, a species that once co-existed harmoniously with the Spirit Insects, and was thought to be extinct.

;Connor Culh:A young Letter Bee who was first seen in chapter 2, escorting Lag to his Bee job interview. Connor made regular deliveries to Cambel 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 Gasu, who is skilled at tunneling.

:Connor's Spirit Amber attack is called "Heart Land Mine", which he executes by setting shards of his "Appetite" on the ground and igniting them under the Gaichuu.

;Ralgo Lloyd
*

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

;Aria Link
*

:A Letter Bee / Vice supervisor of the "Hive". Aria Acts as Ralgo's right hand, taking care of the minor things for him. Was/is the girlfriend of Gauche Suede.

: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.

;Sabrina Mary:Lag's aunt who lives in "Cambel 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 Amberground Science of Living Creatures Advisory Board, Third Division. He specializes in pathology 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.

;Zaji:A young Letter Bee who was introduced in Chapter 7. She is very skilled at killing Gaichuu. Her parents were killed by Gaichuu when she was young, leading Zaji to become a Letter Bee so that she could seek revenge against all Gaichuu. Because she is so focused on killing Gaichuu, delivering Letters is of little interest to her. Zaji is very fond of cats. Her Dingo is a big cat resembling a black panther, named Vashka.

:Zaji's Spirit Amber attack is called Aotoge (Blue Thorn).

Terminology

* "Bee", A delivery person who is entrusted with the "hearts" of everyone to deliver the letters while combating the armored insects.
* "Dingo", 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)
* "Bee Hive", The headquarters of the delivery service where all the "Bees" work. Located in Yuusari, the middle-class area of AmberGround.
*"Gaichuu" (lit. "armored insect"), Giant insects covered in jeweled armor, they live in the dark lands outside of the artificial sunlight and attack anyone who travels along the darkened paths.
*, 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.
* "Spirit Amber", A Powerful amber stone that has the power to allow its user to shoot a heart bullet from its heart bullet gun. It contains this power because of the spirit insects trapped inside them.

Manga

Release

The first ten chapters of Tegami Bachi were originally serialized in the now-defunct Monthly Shōnen Jump. The eleventh chapter was published as a one-shot in Weekly Shōnen Jump prior to the launch of Jump Square, where Tegami Bachi is now serialized. As of July 2008, there have been 20 chapters serialized.

Four tankoubon have been released so far in Japan. The first contains chapters 1 and 2; the second contains chapters 3-7; the third contains chapters 8-10 plus the One-Shot published in Weekly Shonen Jump; and the fourth contains chapters 11-14.

Anime

An anime adaptation has been announced on its official website and details in Jump Square slated to debut October 2008, with its title nihongo|"Tegamibachi: The Fantasy Night Talk of Light and Blue"|テガミバチ 〜光と青の幻想夜話〜|Tegami Bachi: Hikari to Ao no Gensou Yawa. The anime version will be handled by Studio Pierrot.

Notes and references

ee also

* Jump Square

External links

* [http://www.tegamibachi.com/"Tegami Bachi" official website] ja icon
* [http://mj.shueisha.co.jp/t_bachi/index.html"Tegami Bachi" official website] ja icon
* [http://www.asadahiroyuki.com/ Asada Hiroyuki's blog] ja icon
*ann manga|id=8256|title=Tegami Bachi