Zatch Bell - Anime Review

[AnimeSpirit]

Zatch Bell is an E-rated anime that has aired on Cartoon Network in a harshly broken line-up for months. The series is about a young boy named Zatch (middle character in the picture below) and his partner, the much older Kiyo. At first glance, Zatch doesn't appear to be all that abnormal. After seeing Zatch breathe lightning, you may feel otherwise. Zatch Bell is a mamodo (demon child in the Japanese version).

It is revealed in the series that a great tournament has begun to decide who will rule the mamodo world as king. In accordance with tradition, 100 mamodo children, each with his/her own special abilities, were selected to be sent to Earth to battle each other for the rights to be king. Each child is given a spellbook to defend with their lives and told they must find a human who can read the spellbooks. Without a human partner, mamodo cannot do magic in the human world. When their books are burned, they lose all claims to the title and are sent back to the mamodo world.

Zatch is a very happy and playful child with very weak abilities at first. As he progresses through the series with the strong-hearted Kiyo at his side, Zatch discovers incredible strength within that pushes him ever closer his goal to become a kind and benevolent king of the mamodo world. Together, they meet many other mamodo not unlike themselves. Some want to destory their book, while others want to ally with them.

The series has tons of action and even more humor. The storyline is decent for an anime and the art is worthy of being considered anime.