Zatch Bell!

"One seed gives birth to one million melons." Did you know that? What could be more amazing than one million melons!? Just thinking on it I feel like singing... Dun Dun Dun... Dun Dun Dun... Catch my heart! Berry Melon! Berry Melon... Catch my heart! Berry Melon! Berry Melon... sorry. There's only one thing more amazing than the deliciousness of a melon and that's Konjiki no Gash! Konjiki no Gash appears to be just an ordinary shounen, which isn't false to say, but it doesn't have to be anything else. The manga serves the genre justice by emphasizing the merits of shounen: action, friendship, difficult challenges,character growth—all are handled excellently to where they shine. By focusing on what makes the genre so popular: dramatic battles, important friends, teamwork, it doesn't waste time with unnecessary crap trying to be unique or extraordinary. As a result the quality of it never wavers. With fan service and complex plot omitted there's less to distract or confuse the reader, making for a more enthralling adventure for those who seek and enjoy grade A shounen material. Focusing on the life of Kiyomaro Takamine and Gash Bell, two strangers thrust together and forced on a quest of epic proportion, the tale revolves around their hardships and joy along with the other characters. Similar to siblings, Gash is the young, energetic and naive little brother while Kiyomaro is the old, calm and rational big brother. Side by side they face the challenges that await them as a team, unlike some shounen which paint the MC as the lone wolf who holds the world on his shoulders. In Konjiki no Gash, they lean on each other to build an unbreakable resolve, their friends' desires become their own and as one they strive ahead, emphasizing the power of friendship and teamwork. Crucial to the enjoyment, the character interaction will make you laugh, cry, facepalm, cheer, and smile as it encompasses the entire manga. The pacing, while arguably a snail's pace, shows thought put into development of the story with each encounter leaving a memory and impression on Kiyomaro, Gash, and the reader. The art, while being silly, does a great job at expressing emotions and thoughts. In its exaggerated nature, it becomes easier to get a feel for the absolute terror, determination, joy, and sadness the characters display. It can cause you to laugh at its ridiculousness while feeling despair when tears begin to flow. Konjiki no Gash will always hold a place in my memory due to its unadulterated presentation by being hilarious in its childish nature and dramatic with its story, the way it emphasizes the importance of friendship and determination while making me cough up a lung, and the silly art style and how it complements the overall theme of the manga. I highly suggest it to anyone who likes shounen, comedy or what those genre have to offer. Oh and melon, especially if you enjoy melon... Bwraaaaa! Bwraaaaa! Berry Melon! Berry Melon!

One word sums up this manga for me. Perfect. I could find no real flaws in this manga. The characters were likable, had excellent synergy, were well fleshed out, fun, made sense, were intelligent, wacky in a funny way, they had FOLLOWUP(this is important), proper closure(even a lot of the villains), and had amazing growth. They were everything I could want in manga characters. I'd also like to make a special note on the villains. To me, the villains in this show actually felt like children(except the final one). Even if they didn't look it they had this way about them. It felt to melike they didn't really understand the gravity of what they were doing and were just acting like a bunch of brats a lot of time. Brats with incredibly dangerous powers but brats nonetheless. It showed in their actions, their reasoning and their conversations. It was truly masterfully done. The story is just GENIUS. At first glance it just seems like a everyday generic setup to push large numbers of battles between the demons, but the particular way it's set up and executed leaves so much room to maneuver without creating plot holes that it's just a work of art in and of itself. Gash has no main plot asides from the battle of 100 demons so the story takes an arc based approach where they switch goals throughout. These range from giant arcs of over 80 chapters to short arcs of just 2-4 chapters, but the key is that these short arcs never feel like filler because of the way the story is designed. The true genius of this plot is the fact that it was made so that no matter what is done, the main plot, the battle of 100 demons, is always moving along and never gets derailed even if it isn't directly focused on. Even when Gash is not fighting personally, you can safely bet your ass someone is in a battle for their life somewhere in the world. By having 100 people scattered across the world the story leaves a lot of room for exploration, and since the rules of the battles are no more specific than "burn the book", it leaves room for a lot of character interactions that go beyond just straightforward battling upon meeting each other. And since the goal of these battles isn't just to win but to become king you get to see these demon kids thinking of there own image of king and trying to develop their own kingly path, making even more fun character interactions since the people gash fights aren't always particularly bad. All of these are used to the fullest degree and makes it so that nothing ever feeling like filler because something is always gained from it. A book is burned or a new spell is learned or a new friend is made or a new mystery is solved or found. The art style is also quite great. It played to the strengths of the manga's more silly and hilarious style while always managing to bring the intensity and weight needed for the battlefield when necessary. It played the manga's strengths perfectly and I personally can't imagine gash being drawn any other way. My final opinion. It's perfect. No real plot hole, great characters, incredible story, amazing ending and most of all it's fun. This story just takes you and a joyride that's entertaining and lasting with a satisfying end that leaves you somewhat sad at the same time. It has high re-read value despite being so long and I end up re-reading this manga about twice a year. My only complaint is that once you're finished it's hard to fill the void left behind, so prepare yourself for that when you start getting near the end.

The power of friendship... This is what the manga is all about. And the development of the characters through harsh battles and the bonds they have with one another. 100 demons and 100 human partners with complementing personalities, all of them in the fight to become king, all of them with their own reasons for fighting. The characters, even that who appear in only one chapter, are greatly developed, fun and deep. The story keeps you wanting to see the next chapter, with a plot that starts low, and then gow up to a complex storyline. The fights should be enough even for the mosthardcore battle fan. With mighty battles that leave you wanting to read non-stop. The art functions very well, from the comedic sequences, to the tear-jerker scenes, especially the emotions in the faces of the characters. Above everything else, it's fun. This is a manga everyone can read, and become bonded to the characters and story, at least it will not be a time wasted.

This was one hell of a fun manga; I never got bored once while reading it. Gash Bell is by far the best tournament manga I have ever read. The story is simple, but that's how it ought to be in this genre, because what really matters are the characters, and they are all well-developed and full of personality. The art is authentic—rather odd in the beginning—but it gets better and better. I'm not sure if it’s a 10 out of 10, but it’s definitely close to it. If I were to summarize what Konjiki No Gash Bell is, it would be: the best exampleof how a children's manga should be.