Anime of the Childhood #26: Zatch Bell!

金色のガッシュ!!, Konjiki no Gasshu!!, “Golden Gash!!”

Welcome to the very last Anime of the Childhood. Today we’re talking about Zatch Bell!, an anime series based on the manga by Makoto Raiku (real name Makoto Kawada). The series follows the title character Zatch Bell, a mystical being called a Mamodo, who is partnered with a 14-year-old schoolboy Kiyomaro “Kiyo” Takamine for a once-a-millennium tournament on Earth that determines the right to rule the Mamodo world as king. During their adventure, Zatch and Kiyo encounter and battle various Mamodo and their human partners, and meet allies who aid Zatch in his quest to become a kind king.

The anime series ran in the United States on Cartoon Network’s Toonami and Miguzi programming blocks from 2005 to 2007 for seventy-seven episodes, and in Canada on YTV’s Bionix programming block from 2005 to 2008; in all, 104 episodes were dubbed in English. The English dub has been modified to meet the American and Canadian broadcasting guidelines, censoring content that is unsuitable for broadcasting.

Setting and Characters

In the decennial 2000s, a swathe of 100 mystical beings called Mamodo arrived on Earth from the Mamodo world for a free-for-all tournament that repeats every 1,000 years, the last rite occurring sometime during the 2nd millennium. Each Mamodo has a specific set of magical powers imprinted on grimoires, or spellbooks, that must be read to use them; therefore, each Mamodo must rely on a human partner to cast the spells for them. The Mamodo starts with only one spell but can gain more throughout the tournament. The Mamodo is eliminated from the competition if their book is burnt, at which point they are sent back to the Mamodo world. The object of the tournament is to be the last Mamodo to survive to be anointed their world’s king.

• Kiyomaro “Kiyo” Takamine (Takahiro Sakurai, Japanese; Jason Spisak, English) and Zatch Bell (Ikue Ōtani → Konami Yoshida, Japanese; Debi Derryberry, English) are the main protagonists of the series. Zatch’s spells are based on lightning which he fires from his mouth, alluding to Raiku’s pseudonym. Zatch’s most powerful spell is “Bao Zakeruga,” which uses up tremendous Heart Energy and is generally a last resort. Zatch is an overly cheerful and optimistic boy, but he sours at those who try to harm him or anyone else around him. As such, he strives to be a “kind king” of the Mamodo world to make many friends and protect them, as well as abolish future tournaments. Zatch becomes enthusiastic at the sight of yellowtail, his favorite food. The anime complements him with a sharp sense of smell. His partner, Kiyo, is a 14-year-old junior high school student with an IQ of over 180. Because of his intelligence, Kiyo has been shunned by students so much that he misses school regularly, thus making him introverted and socially withdrawn. After his father, Seitaro sends Zatch over to him, Kiyo’s attitude evolves throughout the series to a more empathetic and receptive nature, helping him befriend many other characters and gaining their trust.
• Kanchomé (Masami Kikuchi, Japanese; Richard Steven Horvitz → Jeff Nimoy, English) resembles a duckling with large eyes and a short bill, and donning a blanket sleeper. His powers involve transformations and illusions, including a spell that spawns clones with inhuman strength, and another that traps his targets in a psychological realm and gives him control over their senses. While Kanchomé tends to be acerbic and infantile, often crying and whining, he likewise displays a powerful resolve on parity with Zatch’s. His partner is Parco Folgore (Hiroki Takahashi, Japanese; Dave Wittenberg, English), a philandering and charismatic 21-year-old Italian musician and film star whom he views as a role model. His character provides the main source of comic relief for the series. Hailing from Milan, Italy, Folgore mostly tours the world with his two popular songs: Chichi wo Moge! and Muteki Folgore!. In the Viz Media translation, Chichi wo Moge! was changed to Hey Hey Let’s Dance all Day and Muteki Folgore to Iron Man Folgore.
• Tia (Rie Kugimiya, Japanese; Melissa Fahn, English) is a temperamental, tomboyish Mamodo depicted with hot pink hair. Her powers consist mostly of shields, as well as a healing spell for supporting others. She has a crush on Zatch, despite her penchant for haranguing and physically abusing him. Called Tio in the original Japanese release. Tia’s partner is Megumi Oumi (Ai Maeda, Japanese; Kate Higgins (the same voice actress who previously voiced Tails from Sonic the Hedgehog), English), a kind and courageous 16-year-old J-pop singer and idol. She devotes most of her time to her career and is often overburdened to the point of sleeplessness. She is also skilled at judo. Similar to Tia, Megumi expresses a romantic interest in Kiyo, who does not acknowledge this.
• Brago (Kazunari Kojima, Japanese; Wally Wingert, English) is a highly taciturn and antisocial Mamodo belying a more compassionate façade. His powers are centered on gravity, and he can fluctuate gravitational pulls within a localized area and create a gravitational well with his hands. Throughout the series, Brago becomes Zatch’s self-proclaimed archrival but often assumes an antihero role. Brago first encounters Zatch at Kiyo’s house and nearly crushes Kiyo to death with his spell, but Kiyo musters enough courage to avert him. Brago’s partner is Sherry Belmont (Fumiko Orikasa, Japanese; Saffron Henderson → Karen Strassman, English), a cold-hearted 18-year-old French noblewoman born into an abusive, affluent family. She was raised by an oppressive mother who only cared about upholding the family name. As a result, Sherry attempted to kill herself by jumping off a bridge but was dissuaded by Koko whom she immediately befriended. Called Sherry Belmondo in the original Japanese release.

ShoPro Entertainment (then VIZ LLC’s sister company, later merged to form Viz Media) acquired the license to the anime series, under the title Zatch Bell! in 2004, and announced its home video release in August 2005. The English dub of the series (produced at Studiopolis) premiered in the United States on Cartoon Network’s Saturday night programming block Toonami on March 5, 2005. The series was also broadcast on the network’s daily programming block Miguzi starting on April 3, 2006. Seventy-seven episodes were broadcast on Cartoon Network until January 20, 2007. The series also premiered on YTV’s programming block Bionix in Canada on September 9, 2005, and finished with the 104th and last English-dubbed episode on December 6, 2008. The anime series was formerly available to stream on Crunchyroll.

Civil trial against Shogakukan

In 2008, Makoto Raiku (pictured above), the manga’s creator, threatened Shogakukan by bringing a case against his former publisher to the Tokyo District Court because they lost five of his colored works. He demanded 3,300,000 yen (around US$23,000) as compensation. According to the beginning of his statement, he decided to do it because he did not want publishers and their editors to look down on manga artists. In addition, Raiku was treated extremely badly for a long time. That resulted in Raiku gaining total control over everything he ever made, this series included. It also rendered all preexisting contracts null and void, effective immediately. That meant Viz was forced to stop publishing the English translation of the manga (one of their best sellers outside the Jump line) just a few volumes from the end. Raiku later moved to Kodansha as his publisher as a result.

And that’s it for the anime series. That is the very last Anime of the Childhood. As you may have heard, Shinkansen Retrogamer will cease publication soon, but we will still be able to review a few more games from the past before then. More information on the Facebook page. I want to thank everyone who enjoyed this feature on Shinkansen Retrogamer. Thanks for reading this post on Medium.