The first couple of episodes cover Lag’s encounter with Gauche at age 7, before catching up 5 years later as he leaves his Aunt’s town to travel to Yuusari and finally become a Bee. Tegami Bachi really does take its time telling the story. There were two frames of pixellation 2:40 into episode IV of the omake. One glitch in the transfer showed up on disc 1 in the Academy Shorts. It’s a small niggle in an otherwise impressively put together show, and the more simplistic character designs allow for more fluid animation. The world design is fairly impressive, offering a historical European vibe for its towns and villages, although one of the more fantastic elements in the story, the giant, insect-like Gaichuu, are rendered with the computer generated plasticity of elements that refuse to blend into the 2D animation. Tegami Bachi is an interesting anime, a story set in a twilight world, which in this case demands a lot of blues and purples in its palette. However there is no tearing or combing, leading me to believe this is a progressive encode, just not a very good one. It is however prone to jerkiness in pans and scrolls, something that actually seems worse with progressive playback. It’s clear and sharp, with adequate detail, and no significant signs of compression. Picture Tegami Bachi gets a 1.78:1 anamorphic NTSC transfer. But it’s the human heart that can fight them, energy focused by the Letter Bees through rare spirit amber, and embedded in special weapons called Shindanjuu, with the aid of Dingoes, partners, usually trained animals. It’s a difficult job as in the wilderness there are massive insect like beasts, Gaichuu, which can’t be fought with conventional weaponry, and who are attracted to and prey on the human heart. You need special permission to travel between these areas, and one group that have that permission are the postmen, the Letter Bees who deliver letters and parcels, forge connections and establish routes between the villages and towns. It’s a settlement segregated into three parts, the central elite world directly under the sun is Akatsuki, the middle classes live in Yuusari, the ring outside it, while the downtrodden and poor live in the dismal darkness of the outside ring, Yodaka. People have settled there however, living under a small artificial sun. It’s set in a world of eternal night called Amberground. This one has an intricate and imaginative fantasy setting that tantalises and inspires. Tegami Bachi is the kind of story that you go for if you love world-building.
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