Tegami Bachi REVERSE – 10

Lag. in. drag.

I was convinced the first season would have covered this, but I guess not. Geez, what the hell even happened in the first season? I really don’t remember this part being this far from the beginning of the story. Then again, I started reading the manga AGES ago, when I saw a teaser of it in Shonen Jump, so my memory of what happened when is rusty. I’m just glad I’m getting to see my favourite parts animated now, kekeke~

Rewinding back a bit, Noir has just freed a Gaichuu from its icy prison in Blue Scales Blue. As the memory continues, Noir slowly leads it outside with heart from his shindan, almost collapsing from fatigue in the process. The memory ends once Zaji jolts awake, practically knocking Lag out. I’m relieved someone found Zaji and brought him into town…I was wondering how my favourite Bee was faring! Zaji explains his encounter with Noir to Lag, remaining vague about his condition but mentioning that he saw a Gaichuu in their memories. A huge one. Like, really huge.

“Lag, why is my jacket gone and why is my shirt unbuttoned?” “Uh…uh….”

Flashback to a scene we didn’t see before! The tail end of Blondie’s chat with Lag actually drifted to the topic of Lag’s spirit amber eye, we just didn’t hear about it last episode. She explains that there are revered insects called Spirit Insects (Spirit Bugs doesn’t sound as official, does it?) who become Gaichuu once they lose all their heart. This cave was meant to seal thousands of these insects before they undergo metamorphosis into a Gaichuu.

The topic shifts to Lag’s spirit amber in particular. You would spazz out if you realized your eyeball was just a Gaichuu waiting to happen. However, the spirit insects that became amber tend to stay that way, so he’s safe. Lag asks about Noir, and Blondie confirms the rumours. It was indeed Noir who came to the cave and freed a Gaichuu. It’s just one, it won’t hurt anyone, right? Yeaaahhh….>_______>

Does this look like the face of a killer to you?

Despite being Mr. Pessimist when Noir was attacking him, Zaji is still extremely supportive of Lag’s desire to save Noir. He cheers him up not once, but twice. The first time he cheers him up is when Lag starts becoming cynical about how blindly obedient the Bees are without knowing the truth. The second time is when Lag is unsure his newly written letter bullet (FINALLY) will reach Noir’s heart. Once all that chitchat is done with, they’re pretty much at the next town to meet Connor.

Zaji worried about Connor for nothing (damn, this boy worries a lot for being the cool guy of the bunch). The fat lard just gorged himself on cookies that some hot nun was selling. I mean, who wouldn’t fall for a pale-skinned, silver-haired temptress with violet eyes? Hmm, who does that sound like? Roda, you say? Well, you are correct, my friend. He’s been going there everyday to try and see her, but she’s been replaced with some fat chick. Every man’s nightmare.

The two Bees follow Connor to the cookie-selling place, where we are introduced to Sunny. Connor contributes even more to his fat levels with more cookies, as Lag actually does some important snooping. He manages to catch Roda sneaking in goods through the abbey’s sidedoor. He tells Zaji that he’s going undercover to infiltrate the abbey, and orders him to report to the Hive.

For a girl, Miyuki Sawashiro does a damn good job of sounding like a boy who is trying to be a girl. There is a difference. As seen in the preview, Lag dolls himself up in woman’s clothes (I guess awkwardly shopping for dresses with Zaji in the shops was cut out XD) and convinces Sunny that he’s on pilgrimmage and needs a place to stay.She lets him in, and doesn’t suspect a thing despite having just seen him as a man, like, an hour ago.

Sunny leaves “Lala” for a moment to take part in a very important prayer. CUE MISSION IMPOSSIBLE MUSIC! Lala goes into stealth mode, following Sunny until he reaches a huge room filled with lots of nuns who all look the same. Except for Sunny. Roda, clad in a white robe, preaches to them all about becoming a human sacrifice in order to change the world. All of these nuns sincerely believe in the power of Reverse, not even questioning a single word coming from the she-wolf’s lips.

Meanwhile, Zaji is relaying the rumours of Sunny being part of Reverse to Connor. He refuses to believe someone as cute as the unknown nun could be a part of such an evil organization. No, Connor, it’s BECAUSE they’re cute that they’re evil. That way, they get away with more. Trust me, I know from experience. Zaji senses that Connor is useless to talk to, and just tells him Lag is off doing something…somewhere..somehow…With that, he leaves for Yuusari as the messenger boy.

Zaji’s Connor impression!

If only Niche were here. Minutes after the nuns finish their cult ritual, Lala is found by Roda. He tries to breeze past her, but there’s pulling the wool over the eyes of a wolf. Drawing ever nearer to Lala, she pretends not to notice until she’s close enough to point a dagger at his throat. He “can’t resist” indeed, kekeke.

Who’s the big bad wolf?

The two of them have a quick scuffle, with Lag’s shindan being knocked away almost instantly. For the rest of the fight, all he can do is dodge, and try not to flash his man-panties at Roda. Lag unleashes his finishing move, the LAG ROCKET, which only stuns Roda long enough for him to try to get his shindan again. Try being the keyword. She backflips down an entire flight of stairs and blocks his passage.

By now, Roda has explained to Lag about her past. It’s nothing new to us, but Lag’s suspicions only grow once he sees yet another mutant of the government with his own eyes. The abbey starts to shake violently, but it’s not an Earthquake. The scene changes to that of hundred of nuns climbing a mountain to be sacrificed to the giant flying Gaichuu Noir released – Cabernet. Nevermind their imminent deaths, HOW DID THEY CLIMB THAT MOUNTAIN SO DAMN FAST?

Bonus ZAJI Screenshots:

IT’S THE MSOT HORRIBLE THING I’VE EVER SEEN. IT’S..IT’S…

Connor!!!

Zaji decided to show Lag his fierce runway walk once and for all. His timing couldn’t be worse.

….I’m not nosebleeding right now. Really. I..I’m not.

End Thoughts: First Lag was Loog, now he’s Lala…LOL. Wasn’t Gourry’s codename Lala when he had to crossdress in SLAYERS? Anyways, this episode was great! The humour from the manga usually ends up being lost on me in the anime, but it ended up being rather funny. Even with all the hi-jinks, the Bees still get a lot done as the suspense builds.I really love the whole corrupt religion theme, where followers sincerely believe that sacrificing themselves in the name of “insert thing here” is the right thing to do. It’s sad, because saving them just makes them angry.

The Cabarnet actually looks more fearsome in the anime than in the manga, where it just sort of looks like a blimp. That thing is gonna be around here for a while, if I recall correctly. Up until now, most of the Gaichuu have been easy one-hit kills, so it’s nice to see something that flies around and is harder to snipe. I like it when you actually feel like the enemy is VERY powerful, and that the hero isn’t gonna just turn around and be like “lololol I was hiding my secret move *one hit kill*”.

I have come to a very important conclusion this episode: I love Zaji and I hate Connor. Connor is just personified gluttony. I’m tired of the token fat guy character. Okay, I guess he KIND of develops later on, but I still don’t like him and his nearly non-existent eyes. Zaji on the other hand is just badass without being a total asshole. He’s just as nice to the other characters as Lag, he’s just more tsun-tsun about it. I think my ideal man would be like Zaji…RIGHT. SO. MOVING ON TO AVOID FANGIRLING. PREVIEW TIME. <_<

Preview: Hot damn, we get Gaichuu fighting action AND Gauche + Roda action! Will Lag be able to fire his letter bullet this time? It’s hard to tell given the chaos of the situation, with Connor tailing close behind Lag in an attempt to save all the nuns from having their hearts eaten. Trust me, the next episode is another good one!