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Zatch Bell!
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Zatch Bell!, known in Japan as Konjiki no Gash!! (manga) and , is a shonen manga series by Makoto Raiku published in Shogakukan's Shonen Sunday, 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). In 2003, the manga won the Shogakukan Manga Award for shonen.
In addition to an array of licensed merchandise, the series also spawned a series of video games (all of them were released in Japan, only three made it to America) for the Game Boy Advance and Playstation 2, and in the US a collectible card game was released by Bandai.
u said that he intended to create a "passionate story about a heartwarming friendship" and that he used the concept as a "base" while adding the mamodo, book, and spell concepts.
hundred mamodo (known as "demons" in the original version) go to Earth every 1,000 years to battle to be the king of the mamodo world (referred to as makai in the original, which can be translated as hell).
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Encyclopedia
Zatch Bell!, known in Japan as Konjiki no Gash!! (manga) and , is a shonen manga series by Makoto Raiku published in Shogakukan's Shonen Sunday, 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). In 2003, the manga won the Shogakukan Manga Award for shonen.
In addition to an array of licensed merchandise, the series also spawned a series of video games (all of them were released in Japan, only three made it to America) for the Game Boy Advance and Playstation 2, and in the US a collectible card game was released by Bandai.
Intent
Raiku said that he intended to create a "passionate story about a heartwarming friendship" and that he used the concept as a "base" while adding the mamodo, book, and spell concepts.
Story
One hundred mamodo (known as "demons" in the original version) go to Earth every 1,000 years to battle to be the king of the mamodo world (referred to as makai in the original, which can be translated as hell). Each mamodo has a particular element which it can control and attack with, a set of body supporting spells, and other spells (e.g. a defensive spell), all via the use of a special spell book. 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 is forced to return to the mamodo world. While the spells in each book typically are different for each mamodo, there are mamodo that share spells. The human and their mamodo gain these spells through experience. Each spell book is a different color. The last mamodo standing without their book burnt is the new mamodo king.
The main human 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
- Gash Bell (????·?? Gasshu Beru)/Zatch Bell - The titular character and Kiyo's mamodo. He has electric based spells. When he was found, he had no memory of where he was from or who he was except for his name, because of his brother Zeno. His favorite food is yellowtail tuna.
- Kiyomaro Takamine (???? 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. He is a genius whose battle plans help Zatch fight.
- Suzume Mizuno (???? 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.
- Vulcan 300 (????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 paper 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 Vulcan. Vulcan 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 (????·????? Sheri 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. After Zofis' defeat, Sherry decides to help Brago become king out of gratitude.
- Brago (??? Burago) - One of 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 (???·????? 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 (?????? 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 (??? 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 (?? ? Oumi 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/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 somehow 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 says "Since you look like a horse (pony) and I want you gone...", leading to Ponygon. Ponygon was at first scared of fighting, but after burning Dalmos' book, he is no longer afraid and will protect his friends.
- Kafka Sunbeam (???·?????)/Kafk Sunbeam - An easygoing man in his 30s. He is Ponygon's bookkeeper. He did not appear until midway through the second season. Unlike most of Kiyo's friends, he is a simple German engineer working on projects in Japan.
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 much of a conclusion, as the manga was still ongoing at the time. 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.
For the first season, the eyecatcher between commercial breaks would show Zatch riding on Ponygon through a field and then crashing into the camera, and then it would show Zatch being chased around the park by Naomi, and then Naomi crashing into the camera. The second season had two more eye-catchers. The first was Tia chasing Zatch around the park, and then the second being Suzy walking around town, running into Wife and Folgore. The third season continued the second season eye-catchers until episode 108. From episode 108 and on, Toei removed the eye-catchers, but added instead a cold opening to the beginning of each episode and a scene at the end of each episode with two characters having their hair styles swapped.
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, shortened, or Americanized, Zatch's tendency to run around naked was altered by giving him a pair of boxers, and Folgore's signature song, "Chichi wo Moge" (lit. "Grope the Breasts") was changed to "Hey Hey Let's Dance All Day". Weapons were made to appear as toys, often by making them glow, or sometimes changed to water guns. All blood was erased, all of the jokes centered around sexual innuendo (namely Big Boing) were censored, the swear words in the show were changed to phrases such as "Oh no!" or "Darn!", and moments of violence were covered with brief splashes of color. While most of the music in the English dub is brand new, there have been certain occasions where the original Japanese soundtrack has been used. Episode 14 of the English dub even used all of the background music from the original version of it. The original music for the episode title theme was used in that episode.
The original openings and endings are replaced with brand new openings and endings containing scenes from the original Japanese openings and some of the American dub episodes. Jokes, puns and humor are added to the dialogue and script.
The dubbed version of the anime is no longer showing on Toonami at the moment, last showing episode 77 on January 20, 2007, continued on Toonami Jetstream with episode 78 having recently been added as of August 25, 2008. Toonami Jetstream closed down on January 30, 2009. Viz has announced at the 2007 Anime Expo that the English dub of the anime will return to television eventually, although no arrangements have been made between Viz and Cartoon Network. So far, the series never concluded. Episode 78 of the dub aired on YTV in Canada in July 2007. Season 3 of the English dub (beginning at episode 79) began airing starting in September 2007, but after episode 82 in October 2007, it went on hiatus until airing more episodes on most Fridays starting on May 30, 2008 with episode 83. YTV officially removed the show on December 6, 2008.
Season 1 of the English dub was released on DVD by Viz Media. All the DVDs show the edited TV Version only, so there are no Uncut DVDs. A toy line was also made by Mattel shortly after the show was dubbed.
Unlike most of the DVDs of the anime that are Shonen or for teens that are rated T for Teen by Viz Media, the edited Zatch Bell DVDs are rated A for All ages. Magna Pacific will release Zatch Bell on DVD in Australia and New Zealand.
Writing style of the anime
Pam Gelman of Common Sense Media posted a review of the American English language version of Zatch Bell! on Go.com. Gelman describes Zatch Bell! as differentiating itself from other anime due to "focus on relationships and the ability to trust a partner."
Episodes and chapters
- See List of Zatch Bell! episodes
- See List of Zatch Bell! chapters
Theme songs
Japan (Konjiki no Gash Bell!!)
Openings:
- ???? / Kasabuta / "Scab" by Hidenori Chiwata (Episodes: 1-50)
- ????????????? / Kimi ni Kono Koe ga Todokimasu yo ni / "So That This Voice Can Reach You" by Takayoshi Tanimoto (Episodes: 51-100)
- ????? / Mienai Tsubasa / "Invisible Wings" by Takayoshi 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)
- ???? / Tsuyogari / "A Bluff" by Eri Kitamura (Episodes: 59-75)
- ??? / "Idea" by Tsukiko Amano (76-100)
- ??????? / Kyou yori Ashita wa / "Tomorrow more so than Today" by Echiura (Episodes: 101-125)
- ??FEVER 2005? / "?Aso FEVER 2005?" by Tomoe Shinohara (Episodes: 126-149)
- ???? / Kasabuta / "Scab" by Hidenori Chiwata (Episode: 150)
North America (Zatch Bell!)
Openings:
- (1-52) "Zatch Bell! Theme" by Thorsten Laewe and Greg Prestopino
- (53-) "Follow the Light" by Thorsten Laewe and Greg Prestopino
Endings:
- (1-52, 71-74) "Zatch Bell! Theme (Instrumental)" by Thorsten Laewe
- (53-70, 75-) "Follow the Light (Instrumental)" by Thorsten Laewe
See also
External links
English
Japanese
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