Selasa, 10 November 2009

Letter Bee


Beautiful settings and intricate costuming continue to create an enveloping fairy-tale ambience and the simple purity of its plot continues to appeal, even as Tegami Bachi as a whole fails to congeal into something compelling.

As orphaned Lag Seeing continues his cross-country trek with Letter Bee Gauche, the two naturally grow close. Gauche tries to distance himself, but the strengthening bond between the two is undeniable. Later Gauche is wounded saving Lag and Lag valiantly drags him miles to their destination. Once fully recovered, Gauche affirms his friendship with the one-eyed tyke and Lag swears to one day become a Letter Bee like Gauche.

There are suspiciously shonen-ish elements sprinkled throughout—Lag's dream to become a Letter Bee, his powered-up false eye—but the languid pace and quiet atmosphere set Tegami Bachi definitively apart from hyperactive action-fests of the Shonen Jump stripe. It's a deliberately slow and introspective show, far more interested in its characters and vaguely spooky fantasy setting than in its frankly cursory action. It can, and does, cross the line to maudlin and loves dropping specialized terminology (anime's answer to world-building), but it's also well-constructed and genuinely touching. That said, it has neither the insight nor the poetic bent of, say, Junichi Sato's forays into myth-building, nor does it have the compulsive watchability of the best serialized entertainment. Ultimately it's a good-looking, guilt-free diversion. Not something to be ashamed of, but nothing to cheer from the rafters about either.

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