Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee: Volume 1: Letter and Bee

by Hiroyuki Asada, 197 pages

Gauche Suede is a letter carrier, or Letter Bee, in the sunless world of Amberground. He's on his last pick-up before his long-sought transfer to the capital when he discovers that his designated package isn't a heart-filled letter. It's a child. Lag Seeing, a small, emotional boy who's recently seen his mother carted off and his home burned to the ground by mysterious men from the capital, initially trusts the capital-idolizing Gauche about as far as he can throw him--and considering how tiny Lag is, that's not far. If Gauche is going to deliver him safely to the address on the mailing label on his arm, the two will have to cooperate and count on each other's strengths--especially the strength of their hearts.

Giant, armor-plated bug monsters called gaichuu roam the less populated regions of Amberground, attracted to the "heart" of humans. The only way to destroy them is to shoot them with a heart-powered weapon right between the plates of their protective shells. All Bees are so-armed and draw their power by resonating their hearts with a piece of spirit amber, a bead of hardened amber containing an ancient insect. As long as they don't expend too much of their heart at once, they'll eventually recover the bits they spend in ammunition. When a weeping Lag accidentally powers up Gauche's gun to eleven just by picking it up, the older boy knows there's something different about this crybaby package. And as Lag observes Gauche's dedication to his mission regardless of the personal cost, the child vows to someday follow in his footsteps.

I quite like the animé based on this series, so I'm giving the books a read to see how the two compare. So far, so good. The visuals feel a little cramped by their frames, but I think that's just because I'm used to seeing them full-color, in motion, and in a "frame" the size of my monitor. :P Otherwise, they are plenty pretty. Lag is a tear and snot factory, poor thing, but his meltdowns never get annoying. And his hero-worship of Gauche and the Bees is naive and sweet. This volume only just touches on the mystery of Amberground and its capital Akatsuki's artificial sun, but there'll be much, much more to come.