Final Impressions / First Impressions / Tegami Bachi

「精霊になれなかった者」 (Seirei ni Narenakatta Mono)
“One Who Couldn’t Become a Spirit”

I know I said I dropped coverage of Tegami Bachi, but I couldn’t help but say some words about the final episode, the addition of Horie Yui to the series (yay, Hocchan!), and the upcoming second season this fall. Since I haven’t been blogging about this show for the past month and a half, the rundown on what’s going on is that Lag is investigating the town of Honey Waters for clues about Gauche. Dr. Thunderland Jr. sends him there after recalling how Gauche met a man there claiming to be “someone who couldn’t become a spirit” five years ago, just prior to his sudden disappearance. Due to recent anti-government movements, Honey Waters has cut off deliveries by Letter Bees, so Connor gets sent with Lag as a precautionary measure. There, they find a woman named Sarah and a masked man with beast-like claws named Hunt, claiming to be people who couldn’t become spirits and drawing in the support of the locals using a Spirit Amber that resembles Gauche’s.

When a Gaichuu attacks the town, Zazie arrives to help and Lag’s shindan reveals that Sarah and Hunt are fakes, but resorted to such measures due to a difficult life in a freak show when they were kids. More importantly, Lag’s shindan also reveals how they ran into Gauche here years before, and the real person who claimed he couldn’t become a spirit, as he tried to recruit Gauche into the anti-government organization Reverse by saying he knows the cause behind Sylvette’s inability to walk. Fast forward to the present, where things get resolved in Honey Waters and Lag runs into Gauche shortly after, except he claims to be a Marauder named Noir. At the same time, Niche is attacked by a beautiful young girl going by the name Roda (Horie Yui), who tells Niche she’s a failure as a dingo. Confused beyond words, Lag gets shot by Noir’s shindan right after, before he walks off with Roda.

 

So it appears Gauche’s disappearance is linked with the Reverse organization, which is something they hinted at several times before, but made more obvious now. I gather he was lured in by the thought of being able to cure Sylvette’s legs, as that is pretty much the reason he was aiming to be a Head Bee in the first place. However, I suspect he learned about some government conspiracy of sorts as well, and that became the deciding factor for him to give up on being a Bee. Of course, since his personality’s completely changed and he doesn’t acknowledge Lag, there’s also the possibility that he overused his heart and deteriorated to who he is today, with the ingrained thought of curing Sylvette’s legs as the only thing propelling his actions now, whether or not he’s aware of it himself. Again, these are all just hunches on my part based on what I’ve seen (I haven’t read the manga), so I could be completely off.

What’s also interesting is that “Roda” is now a human girl who wields a knife/dagger, which I get the feeling is something that the Reverse members were responsible for too. Whatever the case, you don’t have to ask me twice about which version of Roda I prefer here, as having Horie Yui playing her is just awesome. Not included in CrunchyRoll’s stream of this final episode was the season two preview shown at the end, which looks really exciting in terms of plot. This one particular shot is what has me suspecting that the activities in Amberground and the government aren’t as rosy as they seem. What’s most shocking though is Connor carrying what looks like a lifeless Sylvette, and Lag being forced to fire his shindan at Gauche with tears in his eye. This first season was ridden with more fillers than I would’ve liked, but the last couple of arcs were really good, so I can’t wait to see season two this fall as the story continues to focus on Gauche/Roda. It should be good.

* P.S. It’s cute how Zazie has a new admirer in the local girl Ann (Kitamura Eri).

 

Season 2 Preview

15 Comments

  3. Finally Noir and Roda made his appearance… I thought he would never showed up with all those fu*** fillers…
    (¬¬)’
    Hmm… why don’t you read the manga??
    Show Spoiler ▼

    ゆかな
    Reply

  4. I’m glad for this post. Overlooking the fillers this was a powerful ending. Let’s skip summer and head into fall to see the next season. If Roda looks nice wait until they go wild and change Wasiolka. I don’t trust hint so sylvette just passed out after they fixed her legs 😛 The goverment can have an evil plot; but I don’t trust the organization since it came out. Maybe the can change niche’s arms too. Will they bring back Himeka for the new ending ?? I’m really looking forward for season 2, with less fillers of course.

    Island Esper
    Reply

  7. Show Spoiler ▼

    Island Esper
    Reply

  10. Judging from the shots of the preview, Season 2 is going to be chocked full of the storyline much to the fans’ delight ^_^
    However, I suspected this season would end with Noir and Roda.

    ichigo_daisuki
    Reply

  12. Can’t believe Gauche shot Lag.. Is that Niche, she look like an adult.. I hope Gauche would be able to regain back his memories. >_<

    Thank you so much for the screenshot and the preview. Will be waiting for season 2 patiently. 🙂

    Claire Phoenix
    Reply

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