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Zatch Bell!, known in Japan as Konjiki no Gash!! (金色のガッシュ!!), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Makoto Raiku. The series follows the title character Zatch Bell, a mystical being called a Mamodo, who is partnered with a 14-year-old schoolboy Kiyo Takamine for a millennial tournament on Earth that determines the right to rule the Mamodo world as king. During their adventure, Zatch and Kiyo battle various Mamodo and their human partners, and meet allies who aid Zatch in his successful campaign to become a "kind king." Zatch Bell! was serialized in Shogakukan's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday between January 2001 and December 2007, with its chapters collected in thirty-three tankōbon volumes. It would be Raiku's final manga series published by Shogakukan. Its theme is camaraderie amid adversarial and dire prospects.

Zatch Bell! was adapted into a 150-episode anime television series produced by Toei Animation. It aired on Fuji TV from April 2003 to March 2006. The anime does not show Zatch winning the Mamodo tournament. Viz Media licensed both the manga and anime series for English-language localization in North America in 2005; only twenty-five volumes of the manga were published until 2009. 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 dubs were streamed on Starz and Crunchyroll, while the unedited Japanese versions were streamed on YouTube by Toei.

In addition to an array of licensed merchandise, the franchise also spawned a series of video games and two animated theatrical films.

By March 2017, the Zatch Bell! manga had over 23.8 million copies in circulation, including digital versions, making it one of the best-selling manga series. In 2003, the series won the 48th Shogakukan Manga Award for the shōnen category. The manga was generally well-received by readers and critics, who praised its unique characters, humor, and overall concept, though some felt that it bore similarities to other manga titles of its time. Reviews of the anime adaptation were more mixed, with criticism largely focused on the visuals, graphical violence, and voice acting.

The series would be followed by a manga sequel, ''Konjiki no Gash!! 2'', which began digital distribution in March 2022.

Setting
Mamodo are a species of mystical creatures with supernatural powers inhabiting the fantastical Mamodo world that exists in a parallel plane and is ruled by a king. Every 1,000 years, one hundred young Mamodo are selected to succeed the monarchy by engaging in an elimination tournament in which the winner would be eligible for the throne. These tournaments are held on Earth; the manga series chronicles the interim during the early 2000s. Although the competition is free-for-all, the Mamodo may collaborate with other combatants. As the Mamodo descend to Earth, they are each given a spellbook that has sealed away their powers and requires a human companion to read the words aloud in order to cast them in the form of spells. To participate in the action, the Mamodo does not simply choose a human to help cast their spells; rather, they must first search for the matching human who can read from the book, whereupon he or she is that Mamodo's bookowner and partner.

The Mamodo tournament involves eliminating opponents by burning their spellbook. This is achieved by striking the book with a spell or subjecting it to open flame, as when Kanchomé torches several spellbooks with a matchstick. Once the spellbook ignites, it cannot be extinguished, and when it has fully incinerated, the Mamodo that possessed it loses all claim to the position as king and immediately returns to the Mamodo world. The sole Mamodo to survive without their book destroyed becomes the new Mamodo king, and all collateral damages are remedied.

Spells given off by the Mamodo produce a variety of effects. These range from direct attacks to defenses, but other spells trigger a Mamodo's special ability that can temporarily enhance their strength; as with Zatch Bell's Rauzaruk; or render enemies immobile; such as Purio's Poreido; among other effects. Spells in each book are typically different for each Mamodo, but there are others that produce identical spells—an example of this is Zatch and his brother Zeno Bell for their lightning-based powers. The human and their Mamodo usually start out with one spell, but may during the tournament unlock more spells as the emotional and relational bond between each other flourishes. The spellbook responds to the reader's Heart Power, a form of stamina attained from such bond. Because sending out a spell expends Heart Power, it must thus be replenished for spells to work properly. Additionally, a spell may be generated with greater fervor, the magnitude of which is governed by Heart Energy. A demonstration of this is when Zatch's strongest attack, Bao Zakeruga, dwarfs Faudo.

Manga
The Mamodo of focus is Zatch Bell, who was discovered unconscious at a forest in England by Professor Seitaro Takamine. Seitaro sends Zatch over to his son Kiyo Takamine, an intelligent 14-year-old living with his mother in the fictional city of Mochinoki, Japan, in hopes of uncovering Zatch's past that he has no memory of. Kiyo becomes Zatch's preordained partner for the tournament. Over time, Zatch and Kiyo come across other Mamodo, especially Brago and his partner Sherry Belmont, who explain the ongoing Mamodo tournament. Zatch and Kiyo also discover that some Mamodo do not wish to fight or do so for the wrong reasons; namely Kolulu, who was forced to fight due to the nature of her spells. Seeing this, Zatch pledges to become a "kind king" and stop the battle from ever happening again. Zatch and Kiyo also find friendlier Mamodo and build up alliances with them and their human partners. Chief among them are Kanchomé with Italian movie star Parco Folgore, Tia with pop idol Megumi Oumi, Ponygon with German engineer Kafk Sunbeam (although the two do not find each other until later in the series), and Wonrei with teen Hong Kong girl Li-en.

Throughout the course of the tournament, Zatch, Kiyo, and their allies work together to combat several potent Mamodo with hostile intent. The first major adversary they face is Zofis, who commands a cadre of reanimated Mamodo that were sealed in stone tablets during the previous tournament one thousand years ago. Zofis has also bent the will of his own partner, Sherry's childhood friend Koko, into committing heinous acts such as burning down a whole village. Another enemy to emerge is Rioh, who wields a Mamodo warfare titan named Faudo that imperils the globe. Kiyo is nearly killed in a harrowing mission to thwart Rioh and avert Faudo. However, Rioh is then overpowered by Zeno Bell, Zatch's twin brother. Zeno is deeply envious of his sibling for procuring the sacred power of Bao from their father King Dauwan Bell, and had removed Zatch's memories out of spite, but he soon comes around and apologizes upon seeing the error of his own ways. The last and perhaps most powerful Mamodo encountered is Clear Note, who intends to commit omnicide against the Mamodo race. Zatch and Kiyo call upon the spells of all the Mamodo they previously met to quash Clear Note and return him to the Mamodo world.

In the aftermath, Zatch manages to pull through the tournament unscathed even though all of his allies fall and are brought back to the Mamodo world, leaving himself and Brago as the only remaining candidates on Earth. After Kiyo's graduation, the two ilk engage in a final showdown. Zatch ultimately prevails over Brago, thereby ending the tournament as the victor. As Zatch departs for the Mamodo world, Kiyo is rewarded a wish in exchange for his memories of everything that had transpired, but he rejects the gift not wanting to forget Zatch. Three weeks after the tournament, the Mamodo send a letter to their human counterparts, with Zatch's letter stating that all is well in the Mamodo world.

Anime
The anime adaptation of Zatch Bell! is spread over three seasons, referred to as "levels", with distinct arcs. The first season takes place in the early stage of the Mamodo tournament and centers primarily on Zatch and Kiyo's character development. The second season sees Zatch and his allies battling Zofis and emphasizes Sherry's quest to rescue Koko from Zofis' throes. The third and final season revolves around Faudo which leads Zatch up to a climatic open conflict with Zeno. The anime observes changes from much of the manga. These include additional subplots and characters not featured in the original story. Certain scenes and key events are also altered or chronologically rearranged. For instance, Zatch and Kiyo first learn about Zeno from another Mamodo they encounter rather than directly from Tia as in the manga, although she and Megumi corroborate the sighting later on. Ponygon also appears earlier in the anime's timeline than in the manga's. Discrepancies in the plot are more pronounced during the third season. In particular, Kiyo's death does not occur, and Zeno never repents even when he returns to the Mamodo world. Because of the changes, some Mamodo who lose out in the manga survive up to this point. The anime skips the events involving Clear Note and leaves the demise of Zatch's main allies and any remaining Mamodo unresolved. Instead, the series closes with an epilogue showing Zatch and Brago preparing to battle each other as the last two Mamodo on Earth, with the winner not revealed.

Early seed
Creation of Zatch Bell! began shortly after Shogakukan serialized the final issue of Makoto Raiku's manga series Newtown Heroes on its anthology comic magazine Shōnen Sunday Super. For his next series, Raiku revisited drafts from his previous works for fresh concepts. He experimented with several new ideas: one was centered on a mercenary who would use a giant sword to defeat enemies; another was that a middle school student would find an antique toy knight that would come to life and help combat evil. Raiku favored the latter idea.

Development
Raiku spent months drawing out a story structure before publishing chapter 1 on January 10, 2001, for the serial on Shōnen Sunday Super. He released subsequent chapters of Zatch Bell! on a monthly basis, but accelerated it to once a week as he felt that the story was proliferating too slowly; it would thus be the first weekly serialization of his material. Volume 1 debuted with the first eight chapters on May 18, 2001. Volumes 5 and 6 are based on Raiku's research trip at the University of Cambridge in England. Production of Zatch Bell! was halted in 2005 when Raiku severely injured his writing hand, resulting in a surgery that took two months to heal and led to the delayed publication of volume 23.

Characters
Many characters of Zatch Bell! were conceived from Raiku's exposure with novels, social conversations, and some of his favorite video games such as Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, and Animal Crossing. Zatch evolved from the heroic knight as Raiku deferred to a "cuter" design that editors of Shogakukan wanted. The vertical lines below Zatch's eyes were intended to help the reader distinguish him from human children—this had led Nintendo Power to mistake Zatch for a doll. Zatch's current model was the first of many abstract revisions made over a few months, and some of the physical features on those models were passed along to other Mamodo characters. Raiku also drafted different styles of the middle school student who would become Kiyo Takamine, aiming for an impressionable genius figure. Another early draft showed the side-character Suzy Mizuno with her long hair, but Raiku shortened it to "reinforce energy." He also composed the punch line "Invincible Italian Man" for which Parco Folgore was eventually created. His fondness of horses was the source of Ponygon.

During the run of Zatch Bell!, Raiku periodically held drawing contests for readers to submit design concepts of Mamodo to be highlighted on the manga. These contests often enticed an overwhelming amount of responses. One winning entry was flagged over evidence of plagiarism.

Facilities
Raiku authored Zatch Bell! at his Nerima residence which he repurposed as a makeshift studio named R・Studio, which featured Zatch on the logo. The studio's interior was adorned with an extensive collection of memorabilia. On one part were papers related to Zatch Bell!, including Raiku's sketches, postcards for the design contests and fan art. On another were miniature figurines of the series' characters stored in glass cabinets, as well as replicates of a toy robot that Kiyo makes for Zatch called "Vulcan 300" (バルカン300). Artwork and autographs by various manga artists were also placed at the foyer. Raiku chose a part of the studio with a high ceiling to avoid getting claustrophobic and spent whole days there catching up on deadlines that Shogakukan frequently imposed. He mentored several aspirant manga artists, occasionally summoning four or five of them to assist with Zatch Bell! at the studio. Raiku would sell the property in 2016.

Work on Zatch Bell! also took place at a nearby restaurant, which Raiku admitted to have visited regularly as he wanted to be surrounded by people and stay away from video games and the internet. There, he would brainstorm on storyboards, each of which took about two days to make for a single chapter.

Lawsuit and transferral
In June 2008, Raiku filed a lawsuit against Shogakukan after several Zatch Bell! manuscripts went missing. The case stemmed from the company returning the original manga artwork to him at the end of the series' run in 2007, a common practice for Japanese publishers. Raiku named five colored pages that failed to turn up: two from volume 1, one from volume 9, one from volume 11, and one from volume 15. The suit accused Shogakukan of negligence for mishandling the artwork and demanded in damages and legal fees; Shogakukan denied the allegations. In November 2008, the two parties reached a settlement for ; despite publicly acknowledging the lost art pieces, Shogakukan refused to recognize their artistic value. In a press conference, Raiku called the settlement "one giant step" for the manga community, invoking Neil Armstrong's quote. Regarding the scale of the lawsuit, Johnathon Greenall of CBR argued that Zatch Bell! ultimately brought attention to the strifes of manga authors with the publishing industry.

Indeed, leading up to the lawsuit, Raiku wrote his grievances about Shogakukan's editors in some volumes which grew sharper as the series progressed. Not long after the settlement, Raiku severed from Shogakukan, making Zatch Bell! his last manga series by the publisher. The decision caused media outlets and international markets to lose access to the franchise. In 2011, Raiku transferred Zatch Bell! to the publisher Kodansha for reissue in a shorter sixteen-volume format. By 2018, however, he left Kodansha to found his own publishing company, Birgdin Board Corp, through which he would also re-release Zatch Bell! in a digital format, as well as the sequel ''Konjiki no Gash!! 2''.

Manga
Written and illustrated by Makoto Raiku, Zatch Bell! began its serialization in Shogakukan's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday on January 10, 2001, and ended on December 26, 2007. The manga ran for a total of 323 chapters, collected in 33 tankōbon volumes, from May 18, 2001, to June 18, 2008.

Viz Media picked up the license for the English release of Zatch Bell! in North America. Chuang Yi also provided the English distribution of the manga in Singapore. Viz gave the series title and eponymic character an alternate name in the English release due to contextual problems in the Japanese lines. The first two volumes of the series were released on August 2, 2005. Raiku's termination with Shogakukan forced Viz to end the adaptation of Zatch Bell! on June 9, 2009, after 25 volumes.

Later releases
On March 9, 2011, a one-shot gaiden written by Raiku, titled ''Konjiki no Gash!! Gaiden "Tomo" (金色のガッシュ!! 外伝「友」, lit. Golden Gash!! Side Story "Friend"), was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine as part of the 10th anniversary of Zatch Bell!''. This story is about the interregnum of Zatch after the tournament. The gaiden also promoted the revival of the series, which Kodansha repackaged into 16 bunkoban volumes published from March 8, 2011, to June 7, 2012. A digital 16-volume kanzenban edition of Zatch Bell! was released in July 2018 by Birgdin Board Corp, Raiku's self-publishing company. Each re-release featured newly drawn cover art, full-colored pages from the original Weekly Shōnen Sunday serialization, and an omake in each volume called Zatch Café, which stars characters from that volume's cover. The kanzenban edition was released in physical format in 2019, after successful sales and demand from fans.

A sequel manga series, titled Konjiki no Gash!! 2 (金色のガッシュ!! 2), was announced on February 2022, ending a 15-year lacuna. This series is set roughly eight years after the events of the original story. Volume 1 was released digitally on March 14, 2022, by Birgdin Board Corp., and in print on September 16, 2022, by Kraken. As of August 23, 2024, four volumes have been published. Copies of the sequel's first volume were made available at the Tsutaya Books Daikanyama.

Anime
Raiku teased an anime adaptation by pointing to a 30-second commercial with a moving depiction of Zatch. The 150-episode TV series, known in Japan as Konjiki no Gash Bell!! (金色のガッシュベル!!) to distinguish it from the manga's title, was produced by Toei Animation and directed by Tetsuharu Nakamura and Yukio Kaizawa. Akatsuki Yamatoya and Hiroshi Hashimoto served as the lead scriptwriters. The anime began airing on Fuji TV on April 6, 2003, and ran for three seasons, each with 50 episodes, through March 26, 2006. When Zatch Bell! went on hiatus over Raiku's injury, the anime's production outpaced the manga's. Toei therefore resorted to using rough drafts of the manga to fill in events for successive episodes, resulting in significant alterations to the arc with Zatch and his friends within the bowels of Faudo and converging to where Zatch barely prevents Faudo from hitting Mochinoki. The anime abruptly concluded on an ambiguous note before the manga could be completed. Pony Canyon collected the episodes into three DVD series, labeled as "levels", consisting of seventeen DVDs each, totaling 51 sets: the first level was released from November 19, 2003, to April 20, 2005; the second level was released from May 18, 2005, to June 21, 2006; the third level was released from July 5, 2006, to March 7, 2007. Starting December 6, 2023, Toei progressively streamed the entirety of the series on YouTube, the 150th episode uploaded on May 3, 2024.

In 2004, ShoPro Entertainment licensed the anime for broadcast and distribution in the Region 1 market with the title "Zatch Bell!". That license was carried over to Viz following the merger in 2005. The series' English dub premiered in the United States on Cartoon Network's Saturday nighttime programming block Toonami on March 5, 2005, as well as on the network's daily programming block Miguzi starting April 3, 2006. The series also premiered on YTV's programming block Bionix in Canada from September 9, 2005, to December 6, 2008. Studiopolis provided the voice cast for the English dub. Cartoon Network cancelled the series on January 20, 2007, after 77 episodes due to declining viewership. YTV continued airing Zatch Bell! until episode 104, by which Viz aborted the English adaptation after giving up its broadcasting rights with Shogakukan. In August 2005, Viz announced that the series would be released for home video. Thirteen DVDs, collected into the first 52 episodes, were released by Viz from November 8, 2005, to December 4, 2007. New Video Group released a DVD box set, Zatch Bell!: The Complete Seasons 1 & 2, on December 3, 2013, which included the first 100 dubbed episodes. The North American broadcast and home distribution of Zatch Bell! saw adjustments to the episodes to make the series suitable for young audiences. For example, as part of filtering out sexual innuendo, Folgore's signature song which seemingly gratifies groping on women was substituted with a less obtrusive number Hey Hey Let's Dance All Day. Scenes with Japanese cultural and religious references were edited as well. All 104 episodes of the English dub were streamed on Crunchyroll in 2015 and on the video on demand service Starz on July 1, 2017.

Films
Toei produced two animated spin-off films based on the manga which expand upon the Zatch Bell! mythos. In the first film, Zatch Bell!: 101st Devil, an overzealous Mamodo named Wiseman seeks to illicitly enter the tournament by stealing a coveted white spellbook, then baiting Zatch into the Mamodo world as a means of expelling him from the battle for king. The film also delves into Zatch's homeworld in finer detail and how a human partner is selected for each Mamodo, with Wiseman deemed unfit for one. 101st Devil premiered in Japanese theaters on August 7, 2004, and released to DVD on December 15, 2004. The second film, Zatch Bell! Movie 2: Attack of Mechavulcan, tells of a conceited Mamodo scientist named Dr. M2, who travels from the future to Earth with an army of oversized robots resembling the Vulcan 300 from the main series. Attack of Mechavulcan premiered in Japanese theaters on August 6, 2005, and came out on DVD on January 2, 2006.

Discotek Media licensed both films for distribution in North America. They were released on Blu-ray and DVD with the original Japanese audio and English subtitles on March 27 and May 21, 2018, respectively.

Toys and apparel
During his excursion in England, Raiku came across a figurine of Folgore on a skateboard at a shoppe. A toy line made by Mattel

Video games
A number of Zatch Bell! video games have been released on various consoles by Nintendo and Sony. Most of these are fighting games in which the player controls one of the characters from Zatch Bell!. Banpresto developed a majority of the games, and Bandai distributed the titles in North America. Since the merging of Bandai and Namco in 2004, GameCube versions are published by Namco Bandai Games.

Zatch Bell! Electric Arena is the first Zatch Bell! video game, released on December 12, 2003, for the Game Boy Advance. Its successor, ''Zatch Bell! Electric Arena 2'', was released one year later to the day. Zatch Bell! Mamodo Battles, which debuted on March 25, 2004, for PlayStation 2 and GameCube, was the first console game installment for the franchise. Zatch Bell! Mamodo Fury was released on December 2, 2004, for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube, and is the only Zatch Bell! video game ported for the GameCube in North America. ''Konjiki no Gash Bell!! Yūjō Tag Battle'' was developed by Eighting and released on March 25, 2004; it is the first in the franchise to utilize 3D mechanics. A digital collectible card game titled ''Konjiki no Gash Bell!! The Card Battle for GBA'' was released for the Game Boy Advance on July 28, 2005, and is the only video game to not employ in-combat form of gameplay.

Mobile game
A smartphone RPG game titled Konjiki no Gash Bell!! Towa no Kizuna no Nakama-tachi (金色のガッシュベル!! 永遠の絆の仲間たち) was developed by Neowiz and released on March 27, 2019. with a closed beta test taking place in mid-September.

Collectible card game
A collectible card game, titled Zatch Bell!: The Card Battle, were released by Bandai in the United States and Japan.

Themes and analysis
The prominent buddy trope in Zatch Bell! fits the "passionate story about a heartwarming friendship" which Makoto Raiku intended to convey. Quinn Morris of Sequential Planet observed that "good guys have good and healthy partnerships, and the bad guys have unhealthy relationships in one way or another." The crux of the narrative therefore lies on this "power of friendship," which bolsters both the relationship and firmness among Zatch, Kiyo and their closest allies in trying times. By a similar token, Kiyo takes expedited steps to protect innocent strangers, a trait which proves especially invaluable against spillovers of the Mamodo tournament that threaten harm on humanity.

Several writers of CBR presented analytical commentary of Zatch Bell!. Lee Russo called the action scenarios in the manga the "most creative." The varying locations provide each backdrop a specific flair, such as a Mamodo with plant-based spells at a botanical garden, and Baltro controlling suits of armor inside an English castle. The protagonists learn to adapt to each scenario; in any case, Kiyo adheres to a basic strategy of pointing in the direction for Zatch to launch his attacks. From this, Russo wrote, "Often, the duo will be minding their own business when they get trapped by enemy demons and book masters from out of nowhere. This set up really gives the fights an intense sense of urgency, but also a tinge of paranoia as you're not quite sure when or where the next set of enemies will appear." Russo also noted the art quality that changes with the atmosphere of the story. The "outlandish expressions and goofy designs" capture comically mundane events, which contrast with the "tension" and darker shadings that render Zatch and Kiyo more "genuinely intimidating" during the fights.

Underpinning the manga's action sequences are the Mamodo spells and their spellbook, instruments of the tournament. While the front cover of every spellbook is identical, different book colors lend unique sets of spells they generate. Raiku cited the influence for Zatch's red spellbook from a Western fairy tale that he had read. The particulars of a spell may be defined by its semantic. For example, the morpheme ruk signifies transformation, jio implies healing, and guno evokes incarnations of snakes. Brandon Beckford enumerated the spells by their intensity: "The most destructive and highest level of spell is categorized as a Shin class spell, with Dioga, Teo, Raja, Gigano and Ma class spells following. Aside from Shin, Dioga and Gigano which classify raw destructive power, the other prefixes and suffixes can apply to spells that add a new effect to a lower class spell. For instance Teo class spells increase the root spell's blast radius, while Ma class spells often amplify the strength of defensive and or augmentation spells." The root word zaker across Zatch's repertoire produces streams of lightning. This propensity was derived from Raiku's own pen name indirectly translating to "lightning" in Japanese.

Zatch Bell! also largely eschews killing off characters, an unusual motif for any shōnen works. In that regard, Morris wrote; "It’s not death makes any plot armor significantly less noticeable – instead of our heroes narrowly escaping death, it feels more like they’re legitimately winning a battle. It also does away with the question of mercy, since it would feel a little strange for Zatch and Kiyo to just go around killing children." Morris contended that "burning books is a great way to engage the viewer, keep the stakes high, and sidestep squick [sic]," also noting the emotional object, "but the other wonderful thing about book-burning is that it allows us to see characters reckon with loss and grief even though their partners aren’t technically dead." These combined aspects essentially euphemize the Mamodo's removal from the tournament to their deaths. A drastic departure from this theme, however, occurs when Kiyo has a near-death experience that endows him with a clairvoyant ability after Rioh lethally attacks him. Jason Thompson of Anime News Network wrote that "Kiyo sacrifices himself to save Zatch, and has dying flashbacks to the opportunities he missed in life."

Manga
Zatch Bell! won the Shogakukan Manga Award for best shōnen title of the year in 2003. It ranked 33rd of the top 100 manga series on TV Asahi's Manga Sōsenkyo poll in 2021, in which 150,000 people responded.

By June 2008, the manga had over 22 million copies in circulation; by March 2017, it had 23.8 million copies in circulation, including digital versions.

Jason Thompson wrote: "Zatch Bell! was one of hundreds of manga competing to be Number Two in the newly established genre of 'heroes who fight using cute-but-violent monster/animal/pet companions.' But Zatch is an extreme case because it's SO cute and SO violent, both at the same time, mixing squash-and-stretch body distortions, heta-uma ugliness, smiling faces and gushing blood." Jarred Pine of Mania.com stated, "The characters can look lopsided and out of proportions at times, with Kiyo experiencing Popeye arms on occasion. When the artwork gets more serious, it looks quite good, even though the added effect lines tend to make some panels feel a bit overdramatic, especially when Zatch is crying. The action work can feel quite explosive, with all the lightning bolts and flying icicles and all, which makes the Mamodo battle scenes a lot of fun." He added, "The book really started off on the wrong foot with me with the introduction of Kiyo, one of the most irritating and arrogant lead characters in a shōnen manga. His attitude is not a result of any sort of disposition or a hard life, he’s just a know-it-all that looks down on others. Luckily, Zatch’s quirky and upbeat personality helps balance the scales and quickly goes to work on fixing Kiyo’s bad attitude." Some reviewers saw Zatch Bell! as an offshoot to Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! given its fighting elements.

Anime
In 2005, the series ranked 20th on Animage's anime popularity poll, and 64th in the top 100 anime shows in a web poll conducted by TV Asahi. The anime's English dub became notable for its voiceovers. Debi Derryberry, the voice for Zatch, was nominated twice for "Best Actress in a Comedy" at the American Anime Awards for her role as the titular character, while Jason Spisak placed fifth in the category "best English voice actor" in the SPJA Industry Award for his role as Kiyo. Dave Wittenberg was also nominated "Best Male Actor in a Comedy" for his portrayal of Parco Folgore. Philece Sampler was also accredited for her performance as the minor character Lori.

The anime has received relatively mixed responses from critics. On the positive side, Anime News Network's Zac Bertschy described the anime as "...mind-numbingly over-the-top, so enthusiastically bizarre, that it's difficult to not get sucked into its strange little world" but saw its moral of "battle your way to the top while learning important lessons about teamwork and courage" as too generic. Still, he enjoyed the show's "sheer exuberance and energy" that saves it from being a "bland" anime and recommended it for kids. Timothy Blake Donohoo of CBR praised the battle dynamics that tie into the development of Zatch and Kiyo. Donohoo called the TV series an "underrated gem" and thought that it "wasn't appreciated enough [...] to step outside the shadow of Naruto and One Piece."

On the negative side, Jason Van Horn of IGN criticized the visual effects, voice acting in the English dub, and the plot, concluding that the protagonist goes "up against mamodo [sic] who are anything but good, and then succeeding and typically turning the mamodo  [sic] they just battled against from bad to good by understanding. Yawn. Pass." Horn gave the anime an "Avoid It" assessment rating and recommended the manga instead. Pam Gelman gave an evaluation of the anime on Common Sense Media: "The show's focus on relationships and the ability to trust a partner distinguishes it from many other anime adaptations. The series isn't just about violence -- although there's plenty of that, with constant battles involving spells and weapons -- but also about the relatable challenges and questions of identity that the characters face. Characters often think aloud about painful experiences in their past, and related flashbacks and evocative music add to the drama. Each character has his or her unique problems -- problems that aren't too unlike what kids face today." Gelman concluded that, overall, the series' "graphic violence and the internal struggles that the different characters face" throughout are such that "some parents may not find Zatch Bell! appropriate for their children under ten years old." Writing about the manga, Jason Thompson also lamented the "countless" censorship in the anime's English release, noting that he was personally involved in editing the episodes under Viz's direction.

Critics suggested a remake of the anime owing to the manga sequel.

Other media
The Card Battle had sold over 300 million units by May 2004.