Zatch Bell!

About a decade ago, when Toonami used to air this anime, I wasn't exactly fond of it. However I just watched the pilot on YouTube and it's better than I gave it credit for. Yeah, the first episode plays like something out of The Karate Kid, but I gets better from there. Zatch is an awesome and adorable kid. I really want to watch more of the series. Too bad Toonami doesn't air it, anymore and would rather show overrated crap like Attack on Titan. I guess there's always the internet.

When I first watched "Zatchbell!" on Cartoon Network, I admit, I was very skeptical, I was expecting another butchered up anime, ie: "Rave Master", "Pokemon", and "Yu-Gi-Oh!" But to my pleasant surprise, "Zatchbell" was original and definitely entertaining, if not humorous with a touch of warmth.

I'm sure the names were altered to suit American viewing audience but the anime itself is excellent. The voice acting is pretty decent, with resident voice actors like Steven Blum ("Cowboy Bebop," "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex," "Wolf's Rain," "the Big O!" ), Crispin Freeman ("Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex," "Wolf's Rain") and Debi Derryberry ("Jimmy Neutron") at the helm.

The characters are all pretty well developed. The main character, Kiyo, is the smart, hothead, taciturn, stubborn head who doesn't have any friends (unless you count empty headed Suzy); but when one day his father drops in his birthday gift, Kiyo gets more than he bargained for: his best friend, Zatch, a Mamodo sent from the Mamodo world to do battle with the rest of the Mamodos, also sent from the Mamodo world to earth, to team up with a human partner and become King of the Mamodos. "Zatchbell" is sort of analogous to "Pokemon" except its the Mamodos that are fighting each other to gain "power," plus they can speak the human language. Each Mamodo is assigned a book from which the human counterparts read spells from that allow the Mamodos to perform amazing capabilities like shoot lightening from their mouths or move at lightening speed.

The show's certainly nothing like the anime greats, "Cowboy Bebop," "Trigun," "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex," and "Fullmetal Alchemist," but it certainly can stand alone by itself with memorable characters and a decent plot.

Overall, "Zatchbell!" is a pretty entertaining anime that shouldn't be missed. I give an 8+/10 B+++

I've always liked these kind of involved animes... at least Shopro got it right this time.

Normally, I'd stay away from shows like these, but because I can't watch Yu Yu Hakusho anymore, this does well enough.

There's much to love about this show: the plot, the action, and you're always wondering what mamodo is next and what powers it has.

character-wise, I'd say that Suzie's my favorite... she's so clueless! For 30 minutes, it's a good watch.

For once, Shopro makes a show that's actually WATCHABLE.

10/10

Reminiscent of shows such as Pokemon, Zatch Bell features a lot of versus battles. The storyline isn't hard to pick up on. While in England, Professor Takamine comes upon a boy in the middle of a forest, dying. The professor saves his life, and the boy, whose name turns out to be Zatch Bell, thereafter feels indebted to him, insisting he repay the favor. The professor sends Zatch to Japan to meet his son, Kiyo-- a fourteen year old genius who's about as arrogant as they get. Zatch's job is to help Kiyo learn to make friends. However, Zatch retains almost nothing of his memory from before he was rescued by Kiyo's father, and thus Kiyo ends up entangled in a bit of a mess upon discovering who and what Zatch really is...

This show is a lot of fun. It's not perfect, but the characters are entertaining, and the plot becomes more engaging the further into the series you go. The author (of the manga series that this show was based on) has sort of a strange sense of humor, and it even shows through in the toned-down English version of the series. The (English) rating is 8+, so you can't expect much in the line of blood or violence, even despite the battles, and the show in itself seems to be a tad bit notorious for the reuse of animation sequences where possible, but all in all, it's entertaining. :)

Zatch Bell! is about a very intelligent and stubborn friend-less 14 year old named Kiyo Takamine (Kiyomaro Takamine). He was bullied at school and had no friends. One day, a Mamodo (Demon) child named Zatch Bell (Gash Bell) is sent by Kiyo's father in order to fight to be king of the Mamodo World. There are 100 mamodo Zatch and other of his kind have to defeat. In order to this, the Human Partner (Kiyo) and the Mamodo (Zatch) have a red spell book to use spells in order to burn other Mamodo's spell books.

This series airs Saturdays at 8:00 (8:30) PM on Toonami on CartoonNetwork. Zatch Bell! (Konjiki no Gash Bell!!) is one of my favorite anime I ever seen! It's a mix of hilarious moments (Folgore) and seriousness. It's really an anime you must watch a few episodes before you can get "Into it". But that's not always the case. For example, if there's a Part 2 or something, try watching after it or before that episode to fully understand it. But Zatch Bell! is fantastic. The art is great and the dub voices are well decent. This is a must watch for anime-lovers or people who like shounen (Boy Targeted Shows or Manga), or fight shows!