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Growing up, I watched countless anime on Toonami, but none resonated with me likeZatch Bell!did. The series might not have had the polish of some of Toonami’s other anime, something I’ve especially noticed on a rewatch, but something about the story and the characters always made it feel like it had far more life than its contemporaries, especially when I started reading the manga.
Zatch Bell!remains my favorite Toonami anime, which makes the way things ultimately played out so unfortunate. Despite becoming a mainstay of Toonami in the mid-2000s, the series was plagued by one unfortunate circumstance after another completely out of its control, especially in America, and by the end of it all,Zatch Bell!’s anime quickly lost any popularity it had, and the franchise faded into relative obscurity soon after. As someone who loved the anime and loved the manga even more, that was hard to watch, and it continues to be disappointing almost 20 years after the fact.
What Makes Zatch Bell! Such A Tragic Anime Franchise
The Tragedy Of Zatch Bell! Explained
There are few anime franchises I consider to be more tragic thanZatch Bell!, and for good reason. For starters, despite being a success in Japan,Zatch Bell!was unceremoniously canceled after three seasons, which not only left the final arc unadapted, but forced the penultimate Faudo arc to change its story halfway through into a far inferior version of the manga’s. That’s nothing new for anime, but withZatch Bell!, specifically,the incredible quality ofZatch Bell!’s final two arcs makes it feel especially bad that the anime ended without giving them a proper adaptation.
The anime’s cancellation was even worse for American fans like me. Not only did the anime abruptly stop running on Toonami during season 2 to air exclusively in Canada, but when Shogakukan, Viz Media’s parent company, lost the rights toZatch Bell!after series creator Makoto Raiku filed a lawsuit over lost illustrations, season 3’s dub was canceled after just four episodes. The manga also never finished in English because of that same lawsuit, soEnglish fans ofZatch Bell!have no legal means of finishing the series, making it even harder for people to experience such a standout series.
Zatch Bell!’s Manga Shows Why The Anime’s Failure Is Such A Tragedy
Why The Zatch Bell! Manga Is So Good
Zatch Bell!’s cancellation still haunts me almost 20 years later, and a big part of that is because of how great the manga is. The anime’s cancellation meant that the Faudo arc had to be cut short, so it never adapted things like the biggest fights, the amazing character work for the supporting cast, and Kiyo’s tearjerking death and revival that led to a massive power-up for him and Zatch.Zatch Bell!’s cancellation meant the best moments of the Faudo arc were never properly adapted into animation, and that gets more unfortunate every time I reread the manga.
The biggest victims of the butchering of the Faudo arc, of course, are its main villains, Zeno and Dufort. In the manga, Zeno and Dufort were both great villains with a healthy balance of sadism and tragedy and were the subjects of incredible character development, but because the anime was canceled, there wasn’t time for that, and they were boiled to largely one-note villains with far less convincing motivations.Zatch Bell!’s cancellation meant the anime couldn’t properly adapt two of the manga’s best villains, and their poor writing was a big part of the anime’s all-around lackluster finale.
Naturally, the anime never got to adapt the manga’s final arc, and that’s probably the biggest shame of it all. Not only was the fight with Clear Note filled with great action and artwork, but the final arc did a great job of closing out every character arc in a satisfying way, especially when it came to Zatch and Kiyo’s arc.Zatch Bell!is a rare example ofa manga that ended its story perfectly, and the fact that the anime never got to cover it is probably the biggest reason why its cancellation is so tragic.
Why Zatch Bell!’s Current Success Gives Me Hope For Its Future
Zatch Bell! Is An Anime That Deserves A Comeback
Zatch Bell!has been off the air and out of print in America for decades, but the current success of the manga leaves me hopeful about its future. The recent rerelease of the manga by Kraken Comics, in addition to the recent sequel series,Zatch Bell! 2, has been a major success worldwide, withZatch Bell! 2selling over 900 thousand copies worldwide at the time of writing.The most recent success of theZatch Bell!manga could lead to a new English publisher licensing it for rerelease, and while that’s purely hypothetical, it would still be great to see.
There’s also a chance for the anime to come back, as well. Birgdin Board Corp., Makoto Raiku’s publishing company, has opened it up to be licensed by a new studio, meaningZatch Bell!’s anime could be rebooted by a new anime studio and gain a foothold in modern anime culturethrough streaming and a hopefully more consistent adaptation. As someone who’s hadZatch Bell!as one of their personal favorites since childhood, that would be great to see, and with every new milestone the manga reaches, it gives me more hope of it becoming a reality.
Zatch Bell! Is An Anime That Deserves To Be On Everyone’s Watch List
I Will Never Not Love Zatch Bell!
There’s a lot that I can say aboutZatch Bell!, but at the end of the day, the most important thing is why I love it so much. As simple asZatch Bell!’s story is, the genuine sincerity of its writing does a lot to make it work, especially when combined with the great characterization and comedy of the cast. Add in the creativity of the fights and how good they look when the anime puts its all into a scene, andZatch Bell!’s writing has always given it a level of charm unlike any othershonenanime.
There are plenty of anime that do things better thanZatch Bell!, whether that’s with their writing or with their visuals, butZatch Bell!’s execution of classic anime tropes remains some of the best in the entire medium, and no matter how much time goes by, it will always hold a special place in my heart. IfZatch Bell!had gotten a chance to finish its story, I know it would have become the big series it deserved to be, and hopefully, there’s still a chance for that to happen in the future.
Zatch Bell!
Cast
Zatch Bell! is an anime series that follows Kiyo Takamine, a high school student, who becomes the caretaker of Zatch Bell, an amnesiac but powerful Mamodo. Partnered by a spellbook that endows Zatch with special abilities, Kiyo must compete against other Mamodos vying to become the Mamodo King. The series intricately blends themes of friendship, responsibility, and battle-driven strategy within a fantastical narrative framework.
