 |
This article or section has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page.
|
| Zatch Bell! | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 The first Tankōbon of Gash Bell the manga released by Shogakukan in Japan on May 2001 |
|||
| 金色のガッシュベル!! (Konjiki no Gash Bell!!) |
|||
| Genre | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy | ||
| Manga | |||
| Author | Makoto Raiku | ||
| Publisher |  Shogakukan |
||
| English publisher |   VIZ Media Chuang Yi (Chinese and English) |
||
|
|||
| Demographic | Shōnen | ||
| Magazine | Shōnen Sunday |
||
| Original run | January, 2001 – December, 2007 | ||
| Volumes | 33 | ||
| TV anime | |||
| Director | Tetsuji Nakamura Yukio Kaizawa |
||
| Studio | Toei Animation |
||
| Licensor | Pony Canyon Viz Media Magna Pacific |
||
| Network | Fuji Television   Cartoon Network formerly Toonami (Cartoon Network), now Toonami Jetstream |
||
|
|||
| Original run | April 6, 2003 – March 26, 2006 | ||
| Episodes | 150 | ||
| Feature movies | |||
| Anime and Manga Portal | |||
Zatch Bell!, known in Japan as Konjiki no Gash!! (金色のガッシュ!! Konjiki no Gasshu, lit. Golden Gash!!) is a shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Makoto Raiku. It was published in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday.[1]. The series follows a mamodo (demon) child and his 14-year-old human partner as they continuously struggle in a battle between 100 mamodos to determine the king of mamodo world (demon world).
The manga was later adapted into a 150 episode anime TV series titled Konjiki no Gash Bell!! (金色のガッシュベル!! Konjiki no Gasshu Beru, lit. Golden Gash bell!!) by Toei Animation. The anime was directed by Tetsuji Nakamura. Konjiki no Gash Bell premiered on Fuji TV on April 6, 2003 and ran until March 23, 2006.[2] The television run of the anime finished without a conclusion to the story. The anime ranked 64th of the Top 100 anime in 2005 according to a web poll conducted by TV Asahi.[3] In 2003, the manga won the Shogakukan Manga Award for best shōnen title of the year.[4]
In addition to an array of licensed merchandise, the series also spawned a series of video games for the Game Boy Advance, Playstation 2 and Gamecube, and in the US a collectible card game was released by Bandai.
Contents |
Plot
One hundred mamodo 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, a book that seals the powers of the mamodo. When read outloud, the spells are casted by the mamodo producing many effects. If the 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. The last mamodo standing without their book burnt is the new mamodo king.
The story follows, Kiyo Takamine, is a 14-year old boy in junior high school. His father, Seitaro Takamine, discovers an unconscious mamodo named Zatch Bell while in a forest in England who then sends Zatch to live with Kiyo. Unlike the other mamodo, Zatch lost his memory of the mamodo world. Kiyo learns about the spell book when he reads a spell causing Zatch to fire lightning from his mouth. As Kiyo and Zatch begin to encounter different mamodos and learn more about the mamodo battles, they discover that there are those who do not wish to fight and there are those who fight for the wrong reasons. After meeting a mamodo named Kolulu and seeing how this kind mamodo was forced to fight due to the power of her spells, Zatch decides to become a kind king in order to stop the battle from ever happening again. As the story progresses, Zatch and Kiyo meet other mamodos that share similar views to them and become allies.
As the number of mamodos decreases, Zatch and his allies encounter a mamodo called Zofis who takes control of several mamodos who were sealed in stone from the previous battle to decide the king. After the battle against Zofis, the whole world is put in danger as a giant mamodo named Faudo who is brought to life by a mamodo named Riou, however, Faudo is then taken over by a mamodo that looks like Zatch, which turns out is Zatch's twin brother Zeon. Finally, when the number of mamodos have decreased to ten, an evil and powerful mamodo named Clear Note appears.
After many sacrifices, Clear Note is defeated leaving Zatch and Bargo the remaining mamodos. After Kiyo's graduation ceremony, Zatch and Bargo battle and Zatch is crowned the Mamodo King. Three weeks later, a letter is sent Mamodo's to their human partners. Zatch's letter reveals that all is well in the Mamodo world.
Production
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. He was inspired by a western magic story that he read to create Zatch's red spell book. The reason Zatch uses lightning spells because his name had the word "Raiku" means "lightning" in Japanese. He mentions he created Folgore with the words "Invincible Italian Man" as a base.[5]
Media
Manga
Written and drawn by Makoto Raiku, Konjiki no Gash! premiered in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday magazine in January, 2001 and finished its serialization on December 26, 2008. The manga spanned a total of 323 individual chapters and 33 Tankōbon volumes.[6]
Anime
The anime series was produced by Toei Animation and aired on Fuji TV's 9:00 am time slot from April 6, 2003 to March 26, 2006. The final 2 episodes aired in a one hour special. While the anime 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.
When the anime was adapted into English, it was adapted to a tone that would be considered more kid-friendly to American audiences.[citation needed]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. 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. 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 which was added on August 25, 2008, however, Toonami Jetstream closed down on January 30, 2009 and no more episodes were made available in the United States after that. Viz 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 after airing episode 104 on December 6, 2008. Most of the dubs of the anime worldwide such as spanish and portuguese only aired season one of the anime. The only dub to go as far as the english dub is the Italian version. Viz Media has not given a statement as to why the dubbing of the anime stopped with only 45 episodes left in the series.
Season 1 of the English dub was released on DVD by Viz Media and no more DVD's were released after that. 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.
Differences towards the end of the anime
 |
This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this article to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (June 2009) |
Due to Makoto Raiku breaking his hand and thus putting the manga on hiatus[7], Toei was forced to create their own ending to the anime. The anime's plot follows the manga up until the second half of the Faudo arc. The major turning point from the manga occurs in episode 138 of the anime which is equivalent to chapter 212 on the 22nd volume of the manga. Zatch and Kiyo along with the rest of their allies, fail to sink the giant mamodo Faudo to the depths of the ocean and therefore decide to enter the mamodo in order to get to the control room in the brain in order to stop him manually before he arrives and destroys Japan. The major differences are the following:
- Faudo is timed to arrive in Japan in 6 hours. Also, the device that would have allowed Faudo to return to the mamodo world was shut down by the mamodo Riou. In the manga, Faudo was timed to arrive in Japan in one hour and the device to send Faudo to the mamodo world is still operating.
- The team separates into 2 groups. The first team consisting of Kiyo/Zatch, Megumi/Tia, Alishie/Riya and Liyen/Wonrei. The second team consists of Folgore/Kanchome, Sauza/Karudio, Sunbeam/Ponygon, Elle/Momon and Elly/Earth. They do this in order to arrive at the control room faster. In the manga, they do not separate into groups, however, Riou forcibly separates Zatch and Kiyo from the rest of the group in order to make him fix what he did to the device that sends Faudo back to the mamodo world.Kiyo and Zatch end up losing in a battle against Riou and Kiyo loses his life but is then resucitated and put into a healing tank with Faudo liquid
- As they proceed to the control room, the first minion they encounter is the mamodo Rodeaux and his partner Chita. Wonrei and Liyen stay behind in order to fight so that the others can keep going. Wonrei's book is burned at the conclusion of his fight. In the manga, Wonrei fights the stomach guardian Unko Tin Tin and his book is burned
- Ponygon and Karudio battle against Fango and Jedun, and succeed in defeating them. This fight does not take place in the manga. Ponygon and Riya fight against Zaruchimu and Fango.
- Alishie and Riya battle against Gyaron and his partner Jet. After winning, Zaruchimu and his partner appear along with a fake Liyen which turns out to be Rodeaux in disguise. Zaruchimu ends up burning Rodeaux's book and then keeps Zatch, Kiyomaro, Megumi and Tia from moving so that he can fight Alishie by himself. Zaruchimu ends up retreating in the end because Ted had arrived to help. In the manga, Alishie and Riya don't fight against Gyaron.
- Kanchome and Momon battle against Keith but are no match for him. During that battle, Bari appears and faces Keith and the rest of the group keeps going to the Brain. In the manga, Keith only battles Bari and is defeated by him.
- Ted and the rest find Cherish who turns out to be an enemy. However, Ted convinces her that they shouldn't fight and so she gives up but the Heart Guardian of Faudo appears and burns Cherish's book. Ted, seeking revenge defeats the Heart Guardian. In the manga, Ted fights against Gyaron and Cherish. Cherish only fights because she is being hurt by Zeon. Ted's book ends up being burned.
- Earth is the first to arrive at the control room but is defeated by Riou. After a while, Zeon appears and defeats Zaruchimu and Riou and takes the stone that control's Faudo. In the manga, Earth never fights Riou. He and Karudio went to protect the device that send Faudo back to the mamodo world and fight the Heart Guardian. Zeon appears much earlier after Faudo is revived and defeats Riou.
- Zeon only brings Zatch and Kiyo inside the control room so they can fight. Zeon overpowers everyone after they break into the control room. As Zeon is about to erase Zatch's memory again, Zatch powers up and his book turns golden thus defeating Zeon and Faudo in the end. The anime ends with an epilogue of Zatch and Brago beginning to fight. In the manga, Tia, Kanchome, Ponygon and Momon fight Rodeux and Jedun who are in the control room with Zeon. Kiyo is still uncouncious, so Zatch cannot fight. Everyone except Momon is captured and put inside pillars. Momon attempts to buy time until Kiyo gets there but his book is burned. Kiyomaro arrives while Momon is dissapearing. He and Zatch easily defeat Jedun and Rodeux and battle against Zeon.They struggle in defeating him but they get some help from Cherish and Rodeux, who betrays Zeon. In the end, Zeon is defeated but he sees the hardships Zatch went through and realizes his mistakes. Zatch and Kiyo attempt to stop Faudo until he is returned to the mamodo world.
In the manga, there is one more arc after the Faudo arc. It is called the King Festival arc.
Films
The series spawned two films. The first film, Unlisted Demon 101, was released in Japanese theatres on August 7, 2004 and on DVD on December 15, 2004.[8] The movie tells the story of a mamodo called Wiseman who steals a mysterious white spell book in order to enter the battle to decide king even though he was not chosen to participate. Zatch and his friends fight against him and his parter Kotoha, who he is forcing to fight.
The second film, Attach of the Mechavulcans, was released in Japanese theatres on August 6, 2005 and on DVD on January 2, 2006.[9] The movie tells the story of Dr. M2 who travels from the future mamodo world to the human world with his army of mechanical Vulcan 300 look-alikes.
The first film did very well. It debuted in the fourth place on its release week and remained on the top ten films in Japan for five weeks.[10]. The second film, however, did not do as well. It was only on the top ten once which was on its release week.[11]
CDs
The Konjiki no Gash Bell soundtracks were composed by Kou Ohtani[12]. The first Original Sountrack was released in Japan on August 27, 2003 which contained 25 tracks. The second Original Sountrack was released on January 7, 2004 and also contained 25 tracks. The third and last Original Sountrack of the anime was released on March 24, 2006 and contained 28 tracks. The first movie Original Soundtrack titled Gekijôban Konjiki no Gash Bell!! 101-banme no mamono Original Sound Track was released on September 26, 2004 and contained 36 tracks. The second movie Original Sountrack titled Gekijôban Konjiki no Gash Bell!! Mecha-Vulcan Strikes Back Original Sound Track was released on August 3, 2009 and contained 27 tracks.
Konjiki no Gash Bell-Collection of Golden Songs was released on March 24, 2004. It contained the most popular character songs from the first season of the anime. Collection of Golden Songs 2 was released on February 23, 2005 which contained character songs from the second season of the anime. Collection of Golden Songs 3 was released on February 22, 2006 and contained character songs from the third season of the anime. Other CDs including character singles, character song series and character song duet series were released during the period the anime ran.[13]
The english soundtracks composed by Thorsten Laewe and Greg Prestopino were never released in CD's or any other format.
Video games
Other Merchandise
References
- ^ "Zatch Bell - Profile". Viz Media. http://www.viz.com/products/products.php?&series_id=205§ion=profiles. Retrieved on June 11, 2009.
- ^ Zatch Bell information
- ^ Top 100 anime of 2005
- ^ "小学館漫画賞：歴代受賞者" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. http://comics.shogakukan.co.jp/mangasho/rist.html. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
- ^ "Origins, Creator Q & A". Shogakukan, Toei Animation. http://www.zatch-bell.com/index3_skip.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-01.
- ^ Zatch Bell (manga)Zatch Bell at animenewsnetwork. Retrieved on June 28, 2009
- ^ Zatch Bell on Hiatus
- ^ Gash Bell Movie 1 at amazon (Japanese)
- ^ Gash Bell Movie 2 at Amazon (Japanese)
- ^ Konjiki no Gash Bell movie 1
- ^ Konjiki no Gash Bell Movie 2
- ^ Gash Bell Discography
- ^ Gash Bell CDs
External links
- English
- Official English Zatch Bell! website
- Zatch Bell page at VIZ.com
- Zatch Bell! at TV.com
- GASH!! Fan Site
- Japanese
- Shonen Sunday Konjiki no Gash Bell!! website
- Toei Konjiki no Gash Bell!! website
- Fuji TV “Konjiki no Gash Bell!! website
|
||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
