A manga about mailmen may not sound very interesting at first glance, but when you throw in giant monsters that can only be defeated by bullets shot from one's heart, it ends up being a workable concept that Tegami Bachi handles relatively well.
The manga takes place in the dark and desolate land of Amberground, a country lit by an artificial sun and infested with armored insects known as Gaichuu. Letter Bees risk their lives to deliver the mail across the land, and a boy named Lag Seeing hopes to become to become Head Bee in order to see his mother and Letter Bee friend Gauche Suede again.
The manga alternates between one- or two-chapter stories about individual deliveries and longer story arcs that advance the main story. Many of those side stories can be interesting in their own right, and a few have noticeable impacts on the main plot, but some people may find that they drag down the pacing. Since the series was released on a monthly basis, it's more enjoyable when binged.
The setting is rather interesting. It also has rather striking visual design that the anime is most effective at bringing out by virtue of being in color. There's a good amount of worldbuilding involved, and much of the series involves gradually uncovering the mysteries of Amberground.
The main characters aren't terribly deep, although some of them do end up getting Hidden Depths. Surprisingly, some of the most memorable characters are bit players who only appear in single story arcs. One example is an author who sends letters lying to his mother; it turns out he feels guilty about failing to get published in spite of all the sacrifices his mother made for him, and doesn't want his mother to worry about him.
While this is a shonen manga, the fighting is a secondary part of the story. Most fights boil down to Lag or the other Letter Bees searching for the Gaichuu of the Month's weakness and shooting it with a heart bullet, and the Gaichuu is often irrelevant to the current plot. As such, the series may not appeal to those who care more about fighting.
The anime is, for better or worse, an adaptation in the same style as the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist anime in that it has a lot of Filler in the first half and diverges from canon in the second half. Both adaptations end with anime-original endings and adapt less than half the source material. However, while the first FMA anime had noticeable differences from the manga from the get-go, the Tegami Bachi anime's plot diverges from the manga at Episode 30 out of 50.
Tegami Bachi isn't quite a classic of the genre, but it's an enjoyable lesser-known shonen manga that's worth a look if the concept appeals to you.
A manga that delivers heart
A manga about mailmen may not sound very interesting at first glance, but when you throw in giant monsters that can only be defeated by bullets shot from one's heart, it ends up being a workable concept that Tegami Bachi handles relatively well.
The manga takes place in the dark and desolate land of Amberground, a country lit by an artificial sun and infested with armored insects known as Gaichuu. Letter Bees risk their lives to deliver the mail across the land, and a boy named Lag Seeing hopes to become to become Head Bee in order to see his mother and Letter Bee friend Gauche Suede again.
The manga alternates between one- or two-chapter stories about individual deliveries and longer story arcs that advance the main story. Many of those side stories can be interesting in their own right, and a few have noticeable impacts on the main plot, but some people may find that they drag down the pacing. Since the series was released on a monthly basis, it's more enjoyable when binged.
The setting is rather interesting. It also has rather striking visual design that the anime is most effective at bringing out by virtue of being in color. There's a good amount of worldbuilding involved, and much of the series involves gradually uncovering the mysteries of Amberground.
The main characters aren't terribly deep, although some of them do end up getting Hidden Depths. Surprisingly, some of the most memorable characters are bit players who only appear in single story arcs. One example is an author who sends letters lying to his mother; it turns out he feels guilty about failing to get published in spite of all the sacrifices his mother made for him, and doesn't want his mother to worry about him.
While this is a shonen manga, the fighting is a secondary part of the story. Most fights boil down to Lag or the other Letter Bees searching for the Gaichuu of the Month's weakness and shooting it with a heart bullet, and the Gaichuu is often irrelevant to the current plot. As such, the series may not appeal to those who care more about fighting.
The anime is, for better or worse, an adaptation in the same style as the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist anime in that it has a lot of Filler in the first half and diverges from canon in the second half. Both adaptations end with anime-original endings and adapt less than half the source material. However, while the first FMA anime had noticeable differences from the manga from the get-go, the Tegami Bachi anime's plot diverges from the manga at Episode 30 out of 50.
Tegami Bachi isn't quite a classic of the genre, but it's an enjoyable lesser-known shonen manga that's worth a look if the concept appeals to you.