Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee Reverse - Reviews

I did a review for the first series, and I will say, at the very least, this season is better than the first. They managed to take all the good things the first season had going for them- the art, the setting, the back story, a few of the better characters, and good music and voice actors, and grow on that. They also managed to fix the two parts of the series that made it almost intolerable- Lag's non-stop crying (oh, it's still there, but nowhere near as much) and the fact that they made the series into an episodic, letter of the week series instead of growing upon a very interesting story. Now, seeing that they have great art, a fairly strong story, good voice talent and music, and some interesting characters, you would expect a better overall score, but this is what this series fails to deliver- and sort of climax. There are probably a dozen different instances where I thought "man, this is pretty cool," but felt absolutely nothing. Somehow this direct manages to take any and all exciments out of all the marque moments in this series, which simply kills it. That aside, I loved the story, just not the person telling it. If you had seen the first season and managed to enjoy it, this series is definitely worth picking up, otherwise, the first season is not worth wading through to simply watch this.

Story- The second season continues where the first left off, Lag recovering from his first encounter with Gauche or should I say Noir. The story sees a lot of progression during this season, which may explain why its a huge improvement over the first. Lag faces the organization Reverse, which was hinted during the first season and its awesome!

Animation- The animation has always been one of the strong points about the series and I think it got better. Examples would be the last opening animation, the brief fight between Niche and Roda, and so on.

Sound- The soundtracks for the show were pretty stellar, especially with the last opening and ending. The OSTs will go great when I'm reading the manga.

Characters- A lot of the major characters from the first season actually get some good development during this season, such as when Lag went to the lighthouse and when Niche got her origins introduced. During the season I felt that the characters got their development when it mattered most. Although its a shame Garrard's role in the story got thrown to the wayside cause he did have some importance. What's important is that the studio didn't change Lag's motivations, his goals at the end of the story, and that's why I can find myself happy with how the anime ended. It felt faithful with how they handled the main character, unlike how Madhouse handled Claymore, since they were both monthly series from the same magazine that I grew up with. It really sucks how they changed Clare's character at the end of Claymore.

Ultimately, I can suggest the Letter Bee anime for people who want to give the story a shot before getting into the manga, cause that's what I'll be doing, finishing where I left off in the manga. 

Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee is an anime that was recommended to me years ago. I kept on putting it off yet every time I saw it I would have one of those "oh right, I should watch this soon" moments. When I finally got the opportunity to give it a chance, I was excited. The first season was nearly perfect in my eyes and I couldn't have been happier to learn there was a second season.

Now, here, this should be made clear from the get-go: The anime has a different end than the manga. Although the anime is inspired by the manga, there are slight differences in the story regardless. I'd prefer to think of the ending in this anime as a derivative ending and not the "true end," if that makes any sense. Like... an alternate ending and a possible "what if" scenario. However, this doesn't change that I'm slighltly disappointed with how it ended here.

Story: The story's good up until the latter half of this season. There is slight filler but it's kind of to be expected from anime at this point; the filler isn't as bad as the first season, though. All the episodes contribute to the plot in some way which is, obviously, a very good thing. However a lot of things felt very... rushed. Let me explain:

On multiple occasions, the show would bring up a huge detail that seems like it should be important later on. Like, for example (since this was shown since season 1 and I'm guessing everyone already knows this much), the fact humans were experimented on by the government. This is a huge point against the government in the show yet it's never fully addressed. As a matter of fact, the show ends with Lag still working as a Letter Bee which - fine, it fits his personality and character well - but never does anyone do anything against the obviously terrible government that the show has told us awful things about since season 1.

This show's antagonist should have been the government itself. Perhaps Lawrence could've been a "false antagonist" of sorts; a character with the right idea but the wrong way of doing things. Instead, the main cast is forced to fight a giant gaichuu created by Lawrence out of his hatred for the people who experimented on him. I sat there watching the last episode scratching my head like: "Really? That's all? The government is never mentioned again?"

Nope. Not at all. It's just thrown to the side and we're expected to just forget about all the shitty things its done. In the last episode, we see Lag looking at the artifical sun - which is a huge sign that the government is still a powerful force in this world. Really? It feels like they just forced out a quick ending because the studio they worked for forced them to. The manga ended in 2015 I believe, so the studio could've added a final third season where all this is finally talked about in detail - but because the anime ended in the way it did, it's now impossible. The studio basically shot itself in the foot here.

Animation: The animation is good, as expected from this series. You can tell that the animators put a lot of hard work into the fluid motions of the characters sometimes which is always fairly cool. Now, I will say that the gaichuu look like they don't belong in the show because they're so strangely 3D, but... this is an anime from 2009-2010. That's kinda to be expected, to be fair.

Sound: Sound was good, if not a little repetitive at times. But this is more of a personal opinion than anything.

Characters: Okay, here we go again - another rant-y part of this review. Now, the characters are good for the most part. I love them all and appreciate how the script follows their personalities well. However, Lag Seeing - as much as I love him - was so frustrating at some points in this season. I will cut the show some slack when it comes to him being a crybaby because hey, the kid's 12 - of course he's going to be immature. But it wasn't his crying that I was annoyed about.

Spoiler time: Noir told Lag so many times that he isn't the Gauche that he once knew. Instead, he's only a fragment of who used to be Gauche - he lost his heart and will never be able to get it back. Despite this, Noir shows Lag that it's almost like he's been reborn - he has a new heart that was made the moment he woke up without any memories. It may not be as strong as the heart Gauche had, but he still has one although it's implied he'll never be able to have a full heart ever again. 

Instead of accepting Noir as... well, his own person, and instead of trying to help Noir get treated in the process, Lag just cries, points the shindan at him, and says "You"re Gauche! I'll bring back your heart someday!" and other things of that sort. Hell, even during the final battle, Lag nearly cries while Noir is telling him to shoot the giant gaichuu - not because said gaichuu could easily destroy everything, but because Noir expressed that he isn't "Gauche Suede" anymore. That scene made me smack my head against the desk in frustration.

In a following scene, Lag says that Noir will always be the person he idolized regardless of who he may be now. That scene was actually heartwarming and may be one of my favorites in the entire series, but the fact he nearly got sad over it again made it feel like he's mad at Noir for not wanting to pretend to be "Gauche" anymore. It's like Lag is thinking only of himself and doesn't care how Noir feels at all - and the audience is meant to just agree with him and be mad as well. Had this not being so rushed, it could've been a powerful moment.

For example, imagine that Lag was slowly coming to accept that Noir isn't capable of being "Gauche" anymore - instead of just shouting whenever Noir tried to express discomfort. Then the two could come to acceept the situation together. Maybe Noir feels bad later on seeing how much everyone missed "Gauche" - Lag then could've reassured him and said he'll always be his hero. This feels like a much better conclusion in my opinion.

Overall, I still recommend this show because it truly is really good and underrated. Check out the manga as well, as it ties up all the loose ends the anime carelessly tossed to the side.

Haiiii~ (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ ♥

This review is a continuation of my Letter Bee review, Letter Bee Reverse is a sequel, so before checking out Letter Bee Reverse, make sure to watch Letter Bee.

So since I reviewed season 1, I decided to do the same for the second season :3

I'll just start off by saying that this is ABSOLUTELY one of my top 3 favorite anime of ALL TIME. I liked it so much, both seasons.

Oh, and this review might contain some minor spoilers, that won't really spoil your experience.

Let's start~ 

STORY

So the story is same old Letter Bee. Lag Seeing and his dingo (partner) Niche, along with Steak continue to deliver letters across the Amberground.

However, what I did not expect. Is a HUUGE plot twist and complications with the story. This didn't cause confusion thought, it only made the story more interesting and deep.

So what I absolutely didn't expect is that a bubbly and cute kind of story of Letter Bee turned into a dark and twisted anti-organization, conspiracy and corruption kind of thing. I will admit that the story is still based on a cute lil' boy being cute and caring for everyone, but it does have it's dark moments, which I didn't expect from such a show.

The story is quite better than in first season. It has more depth, it developed well, and it has a great ending. Honestly, I was expecting a typical happy-go-lucky ending but I am so glad it didn't end up perfectly for everyone

Without a doubt, 10/10

ANIMATION

So, in my previous Letter Bee review I noted how there's something special about the animation. The thing is, it's even better in Reverse. The environment is so magical and the setting is very mystical. I love it so much.

I'd even say that the animation is better than in first season. There are much less sloppy still images, which is good of course. Also, there's still something about character desing that I love so much.

I'll give it a 10/10 as well. I really enjoyed watching this anime, and animation is an important factor for that.

SOUND

Sound is basically the same. It still has that charm and voice acting that might be annoying to some. I'd say that OP/ED music is better.

I love the second ED song. It sounds kinda raw, and it almost feels like it's in accent. It's very catchy though.

Music really fits in with the story/setting/concept of the show. 9/10

CHARACTERS

Plenty of new characters, lots of old characters return or make a cameo. There are finally antagonists.

Also, a major character is back. If you watched the first season you probably know who I'm talking about. There's much going on with him. I like how they developed him and how it all turned out in the end.

I'm glad they developed secondary characters which was kind of expected and needed. Of course, this is a good thing.

So, most of the characters are the same. New characters they introduced only made it better. Therefore 10/10

OVERALL

So, I'll just say that these 50 episodes were such a blessing for me. I've been looking for this kind of anime for a loong time. I am so glad I found it.

I already said this, but this anime has what most others don't. And that's actually what this anime is about. Heart.

It almost seems like you can feel their emotions. It's really well done . . . (ok I have no idea if I actually took this whole show too seriously... but even if I did I'm glad I did so therefore shhhh)

This is definitely one of my favorite anime of all time. And it's very rare for me to like a show so much. ^^

Thank you for reading my review. I hope you find it useful. I would suggest this anime to anyone who needs positivity and hope in their lives (wow that sounded deep haha)

Rate if you found this review helpful, funny, or just like it. I have more anime reviews so check them out if you want!

Thanks and have a nice day ^^

I have never found an anime that I have wanted to like more than this one, I will assume you watched the original show and know all of the characters and the general storyline. The story, ah yes the story, it had so much potential and an interesting idea even though it is very similar to D Gray Man but it is way too childlike, if they had made this a darker anime with a little bit rougher animation it would be amazing. Reverse could be the epitome of anti-Government organizations but it falls short of having any real goal, the "All-Powerful Government" is relying on a 9 year old to do its field work, where is its military? But skipping to the animation I have to judge it for how it is, not how I think it should be, overall the animation in my opinion is nice, it flows and the characters seem to fit into the world they live in. The sound would be higher than 6 if it wasnt for the choice of opening songs, these songs dont match the mood of the anime at all and are very annoying in my opinion, cant wait to skip over them. The characters is what really gets me, I love Niche as a character, and her entire back story is really the only thing thats kept this anime afloat at times but Lag Seeing is such a cry baby that when it comes to the point in the episode where he just has to cry i find myself dreading it because it kills the serious mood that the show could have, any other character who could redeem the show is ruined by having one flaw that the creators decided to use over and over again, Gus is annoying in his stubborness and Dr Thunderland who I always thought could be a very cool character is ruined by him constantly talking about dissecting things.

Overall this anime isnt near as good as it could be, I was hoping once Gauche became Noir that the show would take a turn into being more dark but if anything the show has revealed large twists in the storyline but still focuses on Lag being a stupid little crybaby. Very sad for what it could have been :(