207. Tegami Bachi, Letter Bee Vol. 3

Meeting Sylvette Suede by Hiroyuki Asada (Canada) - (USA)
Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee, Vol. 3


Pages: 178 pages
Ages: 13+
Finished: Oct. 3, 2010
First Published: Sept. 7, 2010
Publisher: Viz Media
Genre: YA, manga, fantasy
Rating: 4.5/5

First sentence:

What do you mean?!

Acquired: Received a review copy from Simon & Schuster Canada.

Reason for Reading: Next in the series.

I love this series! Immediately upon arriving in Yuusari, Lag is told that Gauche is no longer a Letter Bee. He lost his job and hasn't been heard from in 4 years. Lag finally takes his exam to become a Letter Bee himself. He visits Gauche's sister Sylvette Suede whom we've been hearing about since Vol. 1 and this new female character is a blast. She's aggressive and takes on Niche with no problems, yet will cry at the drop of a pin, just like Lag. Some humour comes from these "crybaby" sessions. Lag is sent out on some letter deliveries including one very important one that takes up the whole last chapter.

But this volume also starts to expand the storyline, taking the plot somewhere deeper than what has gone on so far. We meet the Beehive Director and Assistant Director, hear murmurings of something going on inside the organization and Lag realizes that the AD will be a friend in high places, should one be needed later on. We learn of a mysterious incident that happened one day in the past that now is a solemn holiday, the 311th day, when the man-made sun flickered and something else happened that day that the government quickly explained away and now doesn't even recognize, but it all has a connection to Gauche, Sylvette and Lag. Just as much fun as previous volumes but also becoming a much more involved plot. I like the direction this is going and can't wait til February for the release of Vol. 4!