This episode was definitely meant to thicken the plot here. At first it seemed like another delivery from Lag, in which he had to deliver another letter full of lies, but the creators cleverly used it as a device to introduce a couple of new characters. Who are pretty much immediately a delight to watch and a worth addition to this series’ cast.
Reverse really has something for collecting skilled ex-bees here. First Gauche, and now it also turns out that one of the most skilled Bees of thirteen years ago is working on his side. This episode also gives us the first real hint beyond the nature of the Akatsuki that the government is really pulling off stuff behind the scenes, but again in this episode we just got to see the side of the Reverse.
Either way though, as characters they’re really charming. Valentine as a veteran Bee works really well: he’s mature, has experienced a lot and forms a real contrast with Lag. His dingo meanwhile is one of those lovable tough guys who gets the formula right with a neat balance between charms and temper. I especially loved the scene between him and Wasiolka.
Also, this episode again spoke of this mysterious “head bee”, but really: what do we exactly know about that? All we know is that it’s the best of the Letter Bees, but we’ve never seen it: neither Gauche or Valentine, despite being the most talented around due to rumours, didn’t manage to become one. So what does it take to make a head bee anyway? And who is the current head bee?
Rating: ** (Excellent)
The head bee hasn’t appeared in the manga yet either although the crunchyroll translator for the last season said that there can actually be multiple head bees at once (it’s more like a rank than a position I think). And that certainly was interesting to watch as a manga reader since most of that was completely new stuff, wonder if it’ll become canon in the manga as well.
It’s weird: Valentine shouldn’t have appeared now, and his association with Reverse shouldn’t be that clear at this point of the story. They unveiled infos about reverse that are not to be unveiled yet in the manga at episode 4X! It’s happening too early!
I hope this is not a flag leading to an early end of the serie after only 2 seasons. Infact there’s enough manga material for at least one more season to be produced.