Zatch Bell! ''Zatch Bell!'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Makoto Raiku. It was serialized in Shogakukan's Shōnen manga, manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' between January 2001 and December 2007, ...

'', known formally by the Japanese title , is an

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

based on the

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series by

Makoto Raiku , known by the pen name , is a mangaka, manga artist known for creating the ''Zatch Bell!'' franchise. Starting off an assistant manga artist, assistant for Kazuhiro Fujita on his manga ''Ushio & Tora'', he began creating several one-shots for th ...

. The television series revolves around the eponymous character Zatch Bell, a Mamodo who, along with his human partner Kiyo Takamine, partakes in a tournament that will decide the ruler of his realm, the Mamodo world. Unlike the

, the anime ends in a

cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious situation, facing a difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction or bef ...

with only

two 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and the only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many ...

Mamodo remaining. The series was directed by Tetsuji Nakamura and Yukio Kaizawa, and produced by

Toei Animation is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including '' Sally the Witch'', '' GeGeGe no Kitarō'', '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...

. The 150-episode series premiered on Japan's

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

from April 6, 2003, to March 26, 2006, for three seasons. The English dub of the series was released in North America by

Viz Media Viz Media, LLC is an American entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California, focused on publishing manga, and distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. The company was founded in 1986 as Viz, ...

. It began airing on March 5, 2005, on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late-night television programming block that broadcasts Japanese anime and American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and currently produced by Williams Street, a subsidiary of W ...

in the United States, and was rerun on the network's daytime scheduling block

Miguzi This is a list of television programs currently or formerly broadcast by Cartoon Network in the United States. The network was launched on October 1, 1992, and airs mainly animated programming, ranging from action to animated comedy. In its ea ...

between May 15, 2006, and August 4, 2006. The series also aired on YTV's Bionix in Canada starting September 9, 2005. Cartoon Network dropped the series after episode 77 on January 20, 2007, while YTV continued airing it until December 6, 2008, after two seasons. Except for the first four episodes (101-104), the third season was not dubbed in English as Viz's parent company

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...

, the publisher of the source manga, revoked its broadcasting rights. A total of ten

theme music Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

pieces are used for the episodes: three opening themes and seven closing themes in the original Japanese version; two opening and one ending theme in the English release. Several CDs containing the theme music and other tracks have been released by King Records. The series was released in fifty-one DVD compilations by Shogakukan between November 19, 2003, and March 7, 2007. As of July 2009, thirteen DVD compilations of the English adaption of the anime have been released by Viz Media between November 8, 2005, and December 4, 2007.

Series overview

Episode list

Season 1 (2003–2004)

Season 2 (2004–2005)

Season 3 (2005–2006)

Specials

Releases

Japan

United States

References

Notes

External links