Letter Bee

The fall anime season is really starting to heat up with all the high profile series showing up. The next one on the list is Letter Bee (Tegami Bachi in Japan). Not being a fan of the manga, I didn't know much about the series prior to the first episode. However, I did know it was serialized in Jump Square, so it being good enough for a famous montly shonen manga, I thought "how bad could it be?".

In this world, there are delivery boys known as Letter Bees that use dogs known as "dingos" to help them across the dangerous land. They use guns that utilize energy from the user's heart, giving an obvious limit to the bullet use. That and the steampunk feel is really all I gained from the first episode about the universe this series takes place in.

The first episode involves the main protagonist, Lag Seeing, a young boy who has recently witnessed the kidnapping(?) of his mother. An 18 year old Letter Bee by the name of Gauche finds him and confirms that he is actually the package he has been sent out to receive and deliver. Some giant bugs attack, causing Gauche to use the gun a few times leaving him incapacitated by the end of the episode. Lag takes hold of the gun but ends up passing out as what seemed like an aura brought on by seemingly strong heart energy. That's about all that happened.

Obviously, I don't have enough to go on to determine the quality of the series. I could read the manga but I think I'll stick with the animated format for now to see if it's worth checking out. The opening implies the series will end up with a somewhat subtle tragic feel to it. I'll have more when the series gets a little farther in (or ends if it's ends up cancelled like all monthly adaptations do). You can watch the first episode here.