First Impressions / Tegami Bachi

「赤と緑のリボン」 (Aka to Midori no Ribon)
“Red and Green Ribbons”

Zazie is definitely the grouch of the holidays. With the Letter Bees dressing up as Holy Night messengers (i.e Santa) and delivering presents to less fortunate kids up north, he wasn’t enjoying it one bit and made sure Lag knew every step of the way. While the two of them team up for this special occasion, Niche is unhappy about being forced to stay at the Bee-Hive, but finds some dingo companionship in Wasiolka.

For this Letter Bee Christmas episode, things revolve around Lag and Zazie’s visit to a girl named Sonja Malmola (Saitou Chiwa of Senjougara Hitagi fame), who lives alone and away from the rest of the village in Jewel Stone Mountain. Lag and Zazie deliver a picture book to her as a present, but Sonja surprisingly doesn’t take them up on the one wish they’re supposed to grant each child. When Lag insists, she simply asks that they stay for dinner. Some time later, Zazie ends up accompanying Sonja back to town to buy groceries, where he notices the people there don’t want her around. After a scrumptious feast, tear-jerking storytelling, and some games, Sonja reveals to Zazie that her parents were killed by a Gaichuu. The reason she’s treated as an outcast is because the villagers misinformedly believe that Gaichuu are attracted to her now.

Hearing this, Zazie is reminded of how his parents were also killed by the insect-like creatures. Just as Lag and Zazie are about to leave, they catch word that a Gaichuu is attacking the village and quickly act to dispose of it. The villagers are still convinced that Sonja’s at fault though, so Zazie angrily explains that Gaichuu are attracted to the hearts of people and not the children of their victims. As thanks for saving everyone and clearing things up, Sonja gives Lag and Zazie her red and green hair ribbons, which the latter ends up giving to a stray cat he’s been taking care of.

 

Overall, this was a cute episode thanks to Sonja and focused a lot more on Zazie than Lag. Niche on the other hand was completely sidelined from the onset, but I didn’t mind because Zazie’s misery was so fun to watch. He just loved to complain about everything from wearing a bright red outfit to walking in knee-high snow. Because of that, I rather enjoyed watching him fall flat on his back for all his ranting. The funniest part though had to be Lag’s inability to read the book to Sonja without crying like crazy near the end of it. At moments like this, there’s no need to feel compassionate towards Lag’s tears and we’re free to laugh away. Story-wise, it was interesting them to see a bit of Zazie’s past, which more or less explains why he’s intent on killing Gaichuu with his malice-filled shindans.

As for some other series-related tidbits, I noticed how all the Gaichuu seem to be named after types of alcohol. In particular, whiskeys, bourbons, and liqueurs. For example, the large centipede here was a Cointreau. We’ve also come across ones named, Booker’s, Glen Keith, and Duvel. I wonder if this means author Asada Hiroyuki has a thing for hard imported liquor of if this was merely a theme he decided on. In either case, I found this naming scheme rather unique so I thought I’d point it out.

For those who have been wondering, word is that the anime is slated for 26 episodes. This is based on the fact that an artist for the second opening theme has already been decided on, and that the seven DVD volumes scheduled for release contain two episodes in the first and four in the rest (i.e. 1×2 + 6×4 = 26). I haven’t seen any mention on what the new song will be, but the artist is Seira 「星羅」, who supposedly made her big debut this past May with the song “Suuji to Koi” 「数字と恋 」 (Numbers and Love). You can view the PV for that song here. We can probably expect the new opening to be included with episode 13 or 14 since that would be the halfway point of the series. The single for the song in question is slated for a January 20th, 2010 release.

Given the pacing thus far, I kind of figured this was going to be more than a one cour series. However, it’s good to know it’s been confirmed and we have more Tegami Bachi in store for next year. Out of all the series I’m covering right now, this is the only one that’s not ending this month.

 

Preview

25 Comments

  5. It seems to poach bits from Honey Waters, while depriving AmberGround of some of its ruthless desolation by having the Bees hand out presents. I wonder if they’re padding here so they can end the next half of the show at a certain point in the story.

    m
    Reply

  12. The interesting about Zazie is that initially the author was making him as a her. However, down the road, Zazie seems a lot more like a guy than anything so during one of the later chapters the author pretty much says that Zazie is now a guy which seems more fitting.

    Silver
    Reply

  14. This was a nice episode, and great we are going all the way to 26. Although Niche was like 2 second in the show; she made them count. Sitting under the tree with Wasiolka was as moe as it gets. I paused it and stared at them for minutes. As for Sonja I thought she was a gaichuu in disguise. The eyes were dark and weird; also she’s a little girl living alone in the mountains ? The whole village deserve to die for allowing something like that. Anyway by the end she grew on me and looked like a dark evil loli… moe again want to see her again with better accessories like a whip and some chains.

    Island Esper
    Reply

  22. mabber:
    I’m watching Bantorra, but it’s not a series I care to discuss a whole lot about. To be quite honest, I’m not even sure why I’m still watching it.

    Eater-of-All:
    This is actually the voice acting Saitou Chiwa’s more known for. Her role as Hitagi was really unexpected. That goes for her song “staple stable” too. This is the Chiwa singing I’m used to.

    divine
    Reply

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