Episode 28

**Tio and Megumi's Great Adventure** (ティオと恵の大冒険, *Tio to Megumi no Dai Bōken*) is the 28th episode of the Konjiki no Gash Bell!! Anime. This episode first aired in Japan on October 19, 2003.

## Overview

Tio and Megumi make plans to spend their free day with Kiyomaro and Gash at the amusement park that morning. While waiting for another train to take them to their destination, the two of them decide to look at clothes at a nearby boutique. At the same time, a princess makes an arrival at the same shop. When she sees that she and Megumi wear the same size clothing, she makes a bold request to swap outfits for the day.

## Plot

Early one morning, Tio stands by on a nearby hill watching Megumi do work on her latest promotional music video. Production of this video wraps up just as soon as they get their perfect scene featuring the morning sunrise. Seeing that her work is done, Tio runs down the hill in excitement as she knows this means that the two of them now have the whole day to themselves.

At home, Gash tries to wake Kiyomaro up that same morning only to see that Kiyomaro isn't as eager as him to start his day so soon. The only thing Kiyomaro needed to be reminded of as a way to get him out of bed is the fact that they're going to spend the day with Tio and Megumi at the Amusement Park. As a result, Kiyomaro tries to frantically change clothes and get ready until he checks the time and sees it's only 6AM and they don't have to actually meet them for another 5 hours.

Meanwhile on the train, Megumi expresses how excited she is to visit the amusement park with Gash and Kiyomaro and thanks Tio for making this day possible. In a flashback of some time prior, Tio had come over to Kiyomaro's house to convince Kiyomaro to join her and Megumi at the amusement park next Sunday. While Kiyomaro is at first unsure if he should join, wondering at first if someone as famous as Megumi would want to hang out with someone ordinary like him, Tio reassures him by reminding him that she thinks he's cool and they're already friends. Kiyomaro would finally agree and Tio couldn't be more excited to have him join and ride some roller coasters with him. When Gash mentions that he's just as eager to ride a roller coaster for the first time, both Tio and Kiyomaro would mildly tease him about having him stay home. After joking about this, they would go on to tell Gash that he's more than welcome to come along and they would all meet at the entrance to the park at 11AM.

Back on the train after this flashback, Tio smiles and laughs while thinking about that memory. At the same time Megumi can't help but think to herself how happy Tio has been recently and how different she is now than from when they had first met. As Megumi takes a moment to appreciate how much Tio had been smiling, she sees that they have arrived at their transfer stop and informs Tio it's time to head off. Shifting back to Kiyomaro and Gash's perspectives, as the two of them walk across town, Kiyomaro spots his classmates, Yamanaka, Iwashima, Kaneyama, and Suzume altogether at a burger place outside. When he asks what they're all up to, Yamanaka, Iwashima, and Kaneyama reveal their "I Love Megu" shirts and explain to Kiyomaro that they had gotten them from Megumi's yellowtail burger promotional campaign. Suzume however ended up getting the special Megumi doll prize from the campaign out of sheer luck and her fellow classmates can't help but be envious of this. Gash would then end up bragging to everyone that he and Kiyomaro are actually on their way right now to a date with the real Megumi. This causes Yamanaka, Iwashima, and Kaneyama to become extremely jealous of him and Kiyomaro and confront Kiyomaro about this just as he tries to hurry off with Gash. Kiyomaro would then come up with a lie on the spot saying that Gash is talking about a different Megumi which manages to convince and satisfy Yamanaka, Iwashima, and Kaneyama. While the three of them leave, Suzume approaches Gash and Kiyomaro next and asks Gash about which Megumi does he mean. Gash would end up giving a vague answer about the Megumi they mean but does tell Suzume that this person happens to be a very cute girl. Sensing extreme tension and jealousy from Suzume, Kiyomaro leaves with Gash quickly before anything else happens.

Meanwhile at the train station, Tio asks Megumi what they should do for now as they don't have to meet up with Kiyomaro and Gash just yet. Megumi then suggests that they can explore the town for a bit and the two of them head off to check out some local shops. At the same time, Kiyomaro and Gash arive at their local park and see that Naomi had been waiting for Gash so they can start their "duel" that Gash had apparently made plans with her for that day. While Gash tries to make excuses to not have to play with her that day, Kiyomaro brings up the fact they still have plenty of time on their hands so Gash may as well play with Naomi now.

Outside a small boutique, Princess Meryl arrives just outside the shop with her servant Callum. As she steps out from the car, she reassures Callum that he doesn't need to follow her inside the store. Callum agrees to this and reminds her to not try and run off on her own as she had done so 699 times prior. As Meryl browses the store, she thinks to herself how nice it would be to have some freedom to shop around town on her own and wonders how she can get past Callum this time. When she sees Megumi enter the shop and look at a particularly formal dress, she would soon approach her and show off her own dress to her. Seeing that Megumi is very impressed at how beautiful her dress is, Meryl would then go on to suggest the idea that they could swap clothes for the day. When she hears Meryl's request, Megumi would eventually agree to this. Just after Meryl leaves in Megumi's clothes however, Tio would bring up the fact that Megumi's bag, which had her wallet and spell book, was also taken as well. When Callum sees Megumi run out of the store wearing Meryl's dress, he would chase after her and tackle her to the ground to prevent her from escaping as he still thinks that she's still Meryl. Tio would eventually straggle him at the neck for landing on Megumi which is where he then learns that the person who left the shop just before them was the real Meryl.

Callum would eventually go on to make an urgent request to Tio and Megumi to help him find Meryl as her life is in grave danger. He explains to them that he had received a message some time prior that there are people after Meryl's life in Japan as they are strongly opposed to the idea of a female monarch and are now planning to assassinate her. As Tio and Megumi run throughout town and towards a park while trying to search for Meryl, Tio expresses how upset she is with being involved in this situation. Contrary to Tio however, Megumi tells her that despite everything going on still, she can't bring herself to be personally upset with Meryl as there's something about her she can't help but wonder. Suddenly, Tio realizes just then that with Megumi wearing Meryl's dress, she's going to be easily mistaken as her. Just then, an assassin pops out from some nearby bushes and points his gun directly at Megumi. Both Tio and Megumi manage to get away and find themselves right back in town again. Megumi would then order Tio to find Meryl on her own while she acts as bait to lure the assassin away. As Megumi runs away from the assassin, Callum's limousine would pull up just in front of her to take her inside. But just as she gets in, the assassin would enter the car too and discover that Megumi is not the princess he's after. Back in town, Meryl would suddenly appear before Tio appearing happy and content with her shopping trip. Tio, deeply worried for Megumi's safety, would angrily inform her that Megumi's life is in danger because of the fact she's taking her place as princess.

After hearing this, Meryl joins Tio on a frantic search for Megumi and would then go on to notice her car parked just behind an abandoned building lot. When they sneak around the corner of the building and peak from behind some barrels, they end up seeing Megumi interrogated at gunpoint by the assassin about the whereabouts of the princess. Just as Tio retrieves her spell book from Megumi's bag, Meryl tells Tio to stay put as she walks right out into the open for the assassin. She then calls out to the assassin telling him that she is who he's really after and not Megumi and bluntly orders him to let go of her. Now worried for Meryl's life, Tio steps out from hiding to convince Meryl to get away only to be told by her that she understands what taking over the throne meant for her and refuses to bring shame to her family lineage by using someone's life as a shield to protect own. She then turns back to the assassin and presents him with an ultimatum: to either kill her and see that doing so does nothing to tarnish her family bloodline or show that he's too afraid to take the princess' life after all. The assassin would end up deciding to shoot her and fires several bullets in her direction only to have these bullets stopped just in time by Tio's *Ma Seshirudo* when she tosses her spell book to Megumi. The two would then finish off the assassin by attacking him with *Saisu* which knocks him unconscious.

At a nearby park, now with their outfits returned to each other, Meryl apologizes to Tio and Megumi for what they had to be put through. While the two didn't mind, Tio would end up scolding Meryl for her recklessness in trying to face the assassin alone. Callum would respond to this saying that Meryl had been fighting on her own to protect the throne and had not relied on anyone ever since her mother and father had passed away due to illness. After hearing a bit of Meryl's backstory, Megumi thinks to herself how she finally realized that the reason she couldn't help but wonder about her is because Meryl is just like Tio in many ways. Megumi would then think back to an early memory when they had first met. In this memory, Tio had been resistant to allowing Megumi to help her as she insisted that she had always fought on her own and only bad things would come if she were to involve herself with her.

Back in the present, Megumi tells Tio that they need to get going as it's well past their meeting time with Kiyomaro and Gash at the amusement park. Before Tio and Megumi leave, Tio briefly asks Meryl if she'll be alright from now on to which Meryl reassures her that things will be just fine for her once the news about what happened comes out but also adds that she won't try to handle things alone from now on. Tio, happy to hear this, parts ways with her after saying goodbye and runs off with Megumi to catch their next train. As the pair head off, Callum shares his thoughts with Meryl saying how Tio reminds him so much of her when she was a little girl like her. Meryl would add to this sentiment saying that Tio may just end up becoming a queen as well.

## Features

### Characters by Appearance

* Tio
* Megumi Oumi
* Gash Bell
* Kiyomaro Takamine
* Hiroshi Yamanaka
* Takeshi Kaneyama
* Mamoru Iwashima
* Suzume Mizuno
* Naomi
* Meryl Carnoir
* Callum

### Locations

* Mochinoki City
	+ Takamine Residence
		- Kiyomaro's Room

### Spells by Appearance

* Ma Seshirudo
* Saisu

## Manga & Anime Differences

* In the anime, as Meryl enters the shop, the assassin can be seen trying to aim his gun at her from a nearby rooftop. In the manga, the assassin watches her from a distance on the street.
* All scenes showing Gash and Kiyomaro's perspectives as they head to the amusement park and all characters they interact with while on the way is entirely filler.
* An additional filler scene was seen in the anime showing Megumi fleeing from the assassin and trying to get in with Callum in the limousine to escape.

## Censorship & Other Localization Differences

* During the first time the flashback of Tio and Megumi was shown, it was initially silent in the original airing of the episode. In the VIZ localization, this first flashback would end up being dubbed over.
* Text on the take out bags for the yellowtail burgers were all removed in the VIZ localization.
* In an attempt to "censor" the assassin's gun, all appearances of the gun in the VIZ localization would be edited to have the gun appear glowing green.
* The Japanese text for the sign for the Mochinoki shopping district ended up being removed leaving the sign appear totally blank.
* While it's evident in the original Japanese episode of the assassin's intention to kill Meryl, the English dub of the episode tones this down by claiming he intends to kidnap her instead.
* A wide shot scene showing the assassin hold a gun directly to Megumi's head was removed in the VIZ localization.
	+ A close up of this scene would end up being edited to have part of the frame that shows Megumi being held at gun point partially cut off and have the camera zoom in and remain still on the assassin in an attempt to censor this scene.

## Trivia

* The VIZ title of this episode, "Tia and Megumi's Excellent Adventure", is a possible reference to the 1989 film, "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure".