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Zatch Bell!
The protagonists of Zatch Bell, Zatch (right) and Kiyo (left)
Genre	Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Shōnen
Created by	Makoto Raiku
Manga
Written by	Makoto Raiku
Published by	Shogakukan VIZ Media Kana Norma Editorial Egmont Chuang Yi (Chinese and English) SIC
Anime
Directed by	Tetsuji Nakamura
Studio	Toei Animation
Feature Movies
Konjiki no Gash Bell!!: 101 Banme no Mamono Konjiki no Gash Bell!!: Attack of the Mechavulcan

Zatch Bell!, known in Japan as Konjiki no Gash!! (manga) and Konjiki no Gash Bell!! (anime) (金色のガッシュベル!! Konjiki no Gasshu Beru!! literally translates to "Golden Gash Bell!!"), is a shōnen manga series by Makoto Raiku, which has been adapted as an anime TV series by Toei Animation. Many of the Zatch Bell! graphic novels have short comics inside titled Zatch & Suzy (Gash and Suzume in the original versions).

Story

One hundred "stupidheads" (known as "mamono", or demons, in the original version) go to Earth every 1,000 years to battle to be the king of the mamodo world. Each mamodo needs a human partner in order to use his or her spell book, and if his or her spell book is burned, the mamodo has to return to the mamodo world. The spell books contain spells that only the human partner can read and must use them for battling other mamodo. The books depend on the human heart to give the spells power. The human and their mamodo gain these spells through experience. They come in different colors for each mamodo. The last mamodo standing without their book burnt is the new mamodo king.

The main character, Kiyo Takamine (Kiyomaro Takamine in the original version), is a 14-year old boy in junior high school. His father, Seitaro Takamine, discovers an unconscious mamodo named Zatch Bell (Gash Bell in the original version) while in a forest in England. His father sends the mamodo to be Kiyo's mentor. Unlike the other mamodo, Zatch lost his memory of the mamodo world. Kiyo and Zatch are now caught up in the battle to be the king of the mamodos.

Characters

Main article: Zatch Bell! characters

Gash Bell (ガッシュ・ベル Gasshu Beru) / Zatch Bell The titular character and Kiyo's mamodo. He has electric based spells that correspond with his emotions. When he was found, he had no memory of where he was from or who he was, except for his name. His favorite food is yellowtail tuna.

Kiyomaro Takamine (高嶺清麿 Takamine Kiyomaro) / Kiyo Takamine - A brainy junior high school student who is Zatch’s bookkeeper and friend. At first, the two do not get along due to Kiyo's snobbishness. Early on, Kiyo had few friends and was disliked in his school. After his father sent Zatch, things began to change.

Suzume Mizuno (水野鈴芽 Mizuno Suzume) / Suzy Mizuno - A ditzy girl who has a crush on Kiyo. She draws faces on fruit to express how she is feeling and often uses oranges. She gets jealous when she hears that Kiyo is hanging out with other girls, namely Megumi Oumi or Shion Hibiki.

Vulcan 300 (バルカン300) / Volcan 300 - Zatch's best friend. He is said to be a robot that can launch up to 300 air missiles. He was created in five minutes with a hyper body made of a Pocky box ("cardboardium") and chopsticks. He was made by Kiyo as a way to occupy Zatch, and he shows up several times in the series. He apparently had to be remade several times due to his poor construction, and Zatch keeps graves of each previous Volcan. Volcan was first made in episode 3 when Zatch began crying because he had no one to play with him while Kiyo went to school.

Sherry Bellmont (シェリー・ベルモンド Sherī Berumondo) - A girl with a painful childhood who is trying to find a way to defeat a mamodo named Zofis, who has brainwashed her best friend, Koko. Her mamodo is Brago. She is not a particularly friendly person because of her callousness.

Brago (ブラゴ Burago) - By far the most powerful mamodo, who uses gravitational spells and isn't exactly thrilled with having to have a human partner, much less a weak girl, to read his spells. He often expresses disdain for having to team up with a human to win the mamodo battle. Exceptionally strong, he is one of the few mamodo who do not require spells to fight.

Parco Folgore (パルコ・フォルゴレ Paruko Forugore) - An Italian superstar who has a mamodo named Kanchomé. In the original version, his "trademark song" is the infamous "Chichi wo Moge" (which translates into English as "Groping Breasts"). The American dub changes the song to the more innocent "Hey, Hey, Let's Dance All Day". In the original version, he's a pervert who gropes every girl he comes across, but in the American version he is simply a flamboyant womanizer. He likes to call himself "The Invincible Folgore" and he even has a song for it.

Kanchomé (キャンチョメ Kyanchome) - Folgore's mamodo, who seems weaker than Gash, but only because his spells are more based around deception and transformation of form. He is dubbed "crybaby" by those around him. He is extremely loyal to Folgore and sings Folgore's songs all day. He has an "endless pocket" filled with all kinds of candy, but despite that he will always try to take candy that is nearby, which has caused him problems.

Tio (ティオ Tio) / Tia - A tomboy female mamodo that used to bully Zatch, yet is now his ally. At first, she did not believe that mamodos could team up, but that all changed due to Zatch. She is very outgoing and a bit pushy because of her stressing partner. Her spells are mainly defensive (shields), with sword-based ones later on. She apparently has a crush on Zatch, who is oblivious to her actions. Tia went as far as to give the lunch she made for Zatch to Kiyo as an attempt to hide her feelings.

Megumi Oumi (大海恵 Ōumi Megumi) - A Japanese teenage idol who befriends both Zatch and Kiyo (some would say more than friends on the latter). Her mamodo is Tia. There is currently no background info on her, but she is always busy due to tours and concerts. Tia is really upset at the fact that she has limited vacation time. She can make Kiyo blush many times in one day. She also seems to be skilled in Judo and has also taught her mamodo how to defend herself physically.

Umagon (ウマゴン) / Ponygon - A mamodo that appears to be a kind of miniature horse. This mamodo uses armor based spells, although he is unable to find his partner for a very long time. First befriended by Zatch in England in the manga (in the anime, he first shows up in Japan), he is consistently obsessed with eventually finding his book keeper and taking part in the mamodo battle as well. His partner turns out to be Kafk Sunbeam, a German engineer who can somewhow understand Ponygon. Ponygon seems good-natured and befriends everyone easily, except for Kiyo. His real name is "Schneider", but because no one can understand his language, they end up calling him Ponygon (even Kafk, who tries to ask his real name and ends up getting the same answer as everyone else). In the original version, this stems from uma ("Horse") and gon (as in Monster). In the American dub, Kiyo merely says "Since you look like a horse (pony) and I want you gone...", leading to Ponygon.

Anime

The anime series was produced by Toei Animation, and while it followed the manga, there were a number of liberties taken with the storyline, particularly towards the end of the series. The anime was a success in Japan, spawning two feature films and a good deal of merchandise. However, the series ended in March 2006, after 150 episodes. The story did not have a conclusion, as the manga is still ongoing. While part of the problem involved the writer, Makoto Raiku, breaking his hand preventing him from drawing for two to three months, it was further compounded with the animation studio catching up with the artist and another anime series, Digimon Savers, scheduled for that time slot starting in April. These lead to Toei choosing to create their own ending with the final episodes, creating their own battles and scenarios for the end of this arc as well as making adaptations to certain things already introduced by Raiku in the chapters that were not animated, both prior and after their cutoff point. While some plot points and specific spells remained the same, others would bear a remarkable difference between Toei's interpretation and Raiku's version, particularly those done by the mangaka after the anime's end.

When the anime was adapted into English, it was adapted to a tone that would be considered more kid-friendly to American audiences. Some names were changed or shortened, Gash's tendency to run around naked was altered by giving him a pair of boxers, and Folgore's signature song, "Chichi wo Moge" (Groping Breasts) was changed to "Hey Hey Let's Dance All Day". Weapons were made to appear as toys (often by making them glow) and moments of violence were covered with brief splashes of color. (however, there is one exception to this where a dub episode shows the actual usage of guns without changing its shape or color, but mostly against a mamodo who can just heal away his bullet wounds; the same episode also shows a bookkeeper putting a gun against his own head) Aside from this, Zatch Bell has stayed relatively true to the original Japanese version. While a majority of the music in the English dub is brand new, there have been certain occasions where the original Japanese soundtrack has been used; one episode even used the original episode title theme.

Episodes

See List of Zatch Bell! episodes

Theme songs

Japan (Konjiki no Gash Bell!!)

Openings

カサブタ / Kasabuta / "Scab" by Hidenori Chiwata (Episodes: 1-50)
君にこの声が届きますように / Kimi ni Kono Koe ga Todokimasu yō ni / "So My Voice Is Able To Reach You" by Takeyoshi Tanimoto (Episodes: 51-100)
見えない翼 / Mienai Tsubasa / "Invisible Wings" by Takeyoshi Tanimoto (Episodes: 101-150)

Endings

"PERSONAL" by Aya Ueto (Episodes: 1-30)
"STARS ~you don't have to worry about tomorrow~" by KING (Episodes: 31-58)
つよがり / Tsuyogari / "A Bluff" by Eri Kitamura (Episodes: 59-75)
イデア / "Idea" by Tsukiko Amano (76-100)
今日より明日は / Kyou yori Ashita wa / "Tomorrow more so than Today" by Echiura (Episodes: 101-125)
★遊FEVER 2005★ / "★Aso FEVER 2005★" by Tomoe Shinohara (Episodes: 126-149)
カサブタ / Kasabuta / "Scab" by Hidenori Chiwata (Episode: 150)

U.S. (Zatch Bell!)

Openings: (1-52) "Zatch Bell! Theme" by VIZ Media; (53-) "Follow the Light" by VIZ Media

Endings: (1-52, 71-74) "Zatch Bell! Theme (Instrumental)" by VIZ Media; (53-70, 75-) "Follow the Light (Instrumental)" by VIZ Media

Cast

Main article: List of Zatch Bell! cast members

External links

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English

Japanese

French

French Zatch Bell! website

Fan Sites

v t e Zatch Bell! by Makoto Raiku
Media	Chapters Episodes Season 1 2 3 Attack of Mechavulcan Video games Mamodo Fury Mamodo Battles
Characters	Kiyo Takamine and Zatch Bell

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