Episode 1

**The Lightning Boy From The Demon World** (魔界から来た電撃少年, *Makai Kara Kita Dengeki Shōnen*) is the 1st episode of the Konjiki no Gash Bell!! Anime. This episode first aired in Japan on April 6, 2003.

## Overview

For his 14th birthday, Kiyomaro Takamine receives a strange present from his father—a strange little boy named Gash Bell. Gash's mission is to reform Kiyomaro's attitude and help him make friends, but soon Kiyomaro realizes that there's more to Gash than his dad ever realized. In a letter addressed to him by his dad, Kiyomaro learns that not only does Gash not seem to have any memory of where he came from, but the only clue that may be able to help Gash potentially return home is the mysterious red book that Gash was found with.

## Plot

On a moonlit night, Gash Bell is seen holding onto the talons of an eagle soaring in the sky. He picks up a scent in the air and tells this eagle, Owashi, that they're getting close. A large yellowtail fish suddenly leaps from the water and in an instant, Gash lets go of Owashi in order to claim the fish.

The next morning, Kiyomaro Takamine lounges in his bedroom surrounded by numerous scholarly textbooks. His mother, Hana Takamine, pleads for Kiyomaro to go to school that day only to be met with Kiyomaro's burst of anger telling her that he's not interested in being surrounded by those who he deems as intellectually inferior to him. Kiyomaro then finds himself suddenly reprimanded by Gash who appears right outside his window both naked and clinging onto Owashi. Gash then bursts into Kiyomaro's bedroom and hands Kiyomaro a letter from Seitaro Takamine, Kiyomaro's father and a college professor in England.

In Seitaro's letter, Seitaro wishes Kiyomaro a belated happy 14th birthday. The letter continues and explains the circumstances in which Seitaro had met Gash. The letter reveals that Gash had been found by Seitaro in a forest both unconscious and injured. Gash, grateful having been saved, expresses to him that he wishes to return the favor in some way. Seitaro explains Kiyomaro's current situation with him being uninterested in attending school and asks for Gash's help in getting him back on track. Seitaro also mentions the mysterious red book that Gash had with him and explains that although he was personally unable to decipher it, he entrusts Kiyomaro with the task of being able to figure out the mystery behind the book in order to aid Gash, who appears to have had lost his memories, in returning home.

Kiyomaro, irritated with Gash's insistence that he'll be in charge of helping him turn his life around, yells at Gash while holding Gash's red book. Suddenly, a large bolt of lightning shoots out of Gash's mouth destroying Kiyomaro's bedroom. Kiyomaro finds himself in utter disbelief as to what had just occurred while Gash remains entirely clueless. Downstairs, Hana tells Kiyomaro that if he's not going to be attending school that morning then he will be watching after Gash instead. Kiyomaro tries to tell his mother about Gash's ability to shoot lightning out of his mouth but fails to convince both Hana and Gash who both deny such a claim. Annoyed, Kiyomaro then declares that he'll be going to school instead and snags Gash's book before he leaves the house. Hana apologizes to Gash for Kiyomaro’s behavior, to which Gash assures her he’ll help her son make a friend if that will cheer her up.

Kiyomaro spends most of his time in class attempting to decipher the language of the red book then soon discovers a small section of lines that appear in a different color. Kiyomaro is able to read these lines which say, "The first spell, *Zakeru*." While he looks at this, Gash remains right beside Kiyomaro’s desk on the floor, disguised as a duffel bag and unnoticed by everybody. Kiyomaro is then called on by his teacher to solve the problem on the board. After Kiyomaro answers the question correctly, he sits back down and discovers that he's the main topic of discussion by his fellow classmates who whisper amongst themselves negative comments about him.

After his morning class ends, Kiyomaro promptly packs his stuff and decides to leave. Gash chases after him and soon sees that Kiyomaro has already been stopped by one of his fellow classmates, Suzume Mizuno,who begs for Kiyomaro to stay. Kiyomaro, in a burst of anger, tells Suzume to be quiet and leave him alone only to then be scolded by Gash who also blows his own cover. Kiyomaro then chases Gash around the school and the two of them end up outside alone. Gash comes up with a plan, to which he calls the "Ally of Justice Plan", to help with Kiyomaro's friend situation explaining that by defending his fellow classmates from the various bullies in his school, it would be a sure way for him to make lots of friends. Kiyomaro decides to humor Gash and tells him about a notorious bully in his school, Kaneyama, who hangs out on the school rooftop after school, that they can defeat by beating him up. Gash is led to believe this and heads to the rooftop immediately while Kiyomaro heads his separate way.

Gash arrives at the school rooftop seeing nobody there except Suzume who he converses with until Kaneyama finally shows up. From a distance, Hyde and Eita be seen spying on the current situation on the rooftop. Eita decides then that he'll be the one to rescue Suzume in order to claim her as his girlfriend. The two of them head off in the direction of the school with Hyde using his spel**l**, *Jikiru*, to allow Eita to ride his skateboard through the wind. Eita eventually finds himself distracted by a female model on a large advertisement billboard and crashes into a water tower thus delaying their pursuit.

Meanwhile, as Kiyomaro prepares to leave school, he overhears a background conversation from some of his classmates who mention that they had their money taken from them by Kaneyama. Kiyomaro originally dismisses the idea that Kaneyama is on the rooftop claiming that he doesn't care what happens to Gash and that if worse comes to worse, he'll be able to shoot lightning if needed. Kiyomaro's book bag then spills over revealing the red book that belonged to Gash causing Kiyomaro to start thinking about him again.

Back at the school rooftop, Gash continues to claim that Kiyomaro will soon show up and defeat Kaneyama. Kiyomaro soon makes it to the rooftop and see how injured Gash is and wonders why he hasn't shot lightning at Kaneyama yet. Kaneyama continues to beat up Gash telling him that he had been tricked by Kiyomaro and how Kiyomaro considers anyone else other than him worthless. Kiyomaro stands still behind the door to the rooftop overhearing this telling himself that Kaneyama is right and continues to hope that Gash will soon realize he had been lied to. Despite everything, Gash persists and begins to defend Kiyomaro explaining how it was never Kiyomaro's fault that he happened to be a genius and that all of his classmates began to treat him so poorly out of jealousy. Gash then scolds Kaneyama claiming that he is the one who shouldn't come to school and vows to defend Kiyomaro if he continues to talk about Kiyomaro in such a way.

Kaneyama then questions Gash and Suzume about Kiyomaro's whereabouts to which Gash responds that he's late because he had to use the bathroom. Kiyomaro, who was originally moved by Gash's speech about him, finds himself embarrassed at the excuse that Gash had come up for him and finally joins both Gash and Suzume on the rooftop. Kaneyama then proceeds to effortlessly beat up Kiyomaro. Gash and Suzume try to root for Kiyomaro but Kiyomaro tells them instead that he's ready to give up on the plan. Gash then tells Kiyomaro that their plan was already successful since Kiyomaro had finally shown up and never looked more alive until then. Suzume also thanks Kiyomaro for coming to save her. Kaneyama becomes more upset believing that the trio are now trying to make fun of him due to their sudden excitement. Gash then claims he had another plan ready called "Praying to the Heavens" and explains that they should now hope for a miracle to happen that will help save them.

Just then, Eita drops from the sky on his skateboard landing on Kaneyama and breezes past Suzume and comments on her which causes Suzume to become embarrassed. Kaneyama then attempts to attack Eita who then blows Kaneyama away using *Jikiru* while making it seem that it was him who has wind powers. Eita then skates over to Suzume, grabs her wrist, and claims that she will be his new girlfriend. Suzume tries to escape but Eita holds her wrist with great force preventing her from getting away. Kiyomaro and Gash attempt to come to her rescue only to then also be blown away by *Jikiru.* Gash tries again to attack Eita on his own with Kiyomaro also running in to protect Gash from *Jikiru*. While leaping in to grab Gash, Kiyomaro then notices Hyde who appears in a blink of an eye using his spell right behind Eita. Kiyomaro also begins to realize that Eita also carries a book similar to Gash's and that Hyde himself also has similar eyes like Gash. Kiyomaro then figures out that the book is what allows Hyde to be able to use his powers. With this in mind, Kiyomaro holds Gash's red book in his hands and the book begins to glow bright as he casts Gash's first spell at the duo.

A large bolt of lightning shoots out of Gash's mouth, blowing up the rooftop building and forcing Hyde and Eita to retreat as a result of being overpowered by such an attack. Kiyomaro, Suzume, and Gash are bewildered as to what had just happened but despite this, Gash is shown to still be unaware that he was the one who had done that. Soon after, Hyde and Eita are shown to be riding on top of a moving truck driving down the highway. Eita is both irritated and confused with what had just occurred and surprised that both Gash and Kiyomaro had the same book as them. Hyde then responds saying it's best for them to retreat for now then thinks to himself how unbelievable it was for Gash to have been so powerful despite only remembering him as a weakling. At the same time, from the inside of a building nearby overlooking the city, Brago notices smoke in the distance and comments that the explosion was the result of a demon's spell. Sherie, the woman accompanying him who had been enjoying a cup of tea, calmly comments on how the battle has finally begun.

At home that evening, Kiyomaro gives Gash a bath and is amazed at how quickly Gash had healed from his injuries. Gash then tells Kiyomaro that tomorrow he plans on continuing to help Kiyomaro make friends at school. The night ends with Kiyomaro writing a letter back to his father thanking him for the unusual birthday gift and notes that it seems he'll have some unbelievable times ahead of him now thanks to Gash Bell.

## Features

### Characters by Appearance

* Owashi
* Gash Bell
* Kiyomaro Takamine
* Hana Takamine
* Seitarou Takamine (Flashback)
* Hidetoshi Nakata
* Suzume Mizuno
* Kaneyama Takeshi
* Eita Kubozuka
* Hyde
* Brago
* Sherie Belmondo

### Locations

* Mochinoki City (Debut)
	+ Takamine Residence (Debut)
		- Kiyomaro's Room (Debut)
	+ Mochinoki Middle School (Debut)
* England (Flashback)

### Spells by Appearance

* Zakeru (Debut)
* Jikiru (Debut)

## Manga & Anime Differences

* In the manga, Kiyomaro originally monologues to himself how bored he has been with life recently. The anime does not feature this moment.
* In the manga, when being confronted by Suzume, Kiyomaro tells her that she shouldn't be hanging around him because this would cause her to be shunned by other fellow classmates. This was never mentioned in the anime.
* Suzume does not formally introduce herself to Gash until chapter 4 of the manga.
* In the manga, Kiyomaro overhears two students having a conversation as he prepares to leave school. The two students wonder where Suzume had gone to since she originally had left to collect money for choir concert tickets and had been missing ever since. This makes Kiyomaro come to the conclusion that Suzume must have been another target for Kaneyama but figures Gash would be able to protect her. In the anime, the background conversation between the two students was simply about them losing their money to Kaneyama with no mention of Suzume at all.
* After Gash heads to the rooftop of the school, he immediately finds Kaneyama holding Suzume in the air by her shirt threatening her to hand over any money she had. In the anime, Suzume was never handled in such a way and Gash instead initially finds Suzume alone on the rooftop.
* Eita and Hyde were anime exclusive characters that were never involved or introduced in the original manga chapters that this particular episode was based on. Kiyomaro manages to figure out the red book's function on his own in the manga.
* A 'Praying to the Heavens' plan was never introduced in the manga and is an anime exclusive backup plan Gash had made in the event that Kaneyama had not been defeated yet by Kiyomaro.
* The anime introduces Sherie and Brago much earlier than in the original manga.
* In Kiyomaro's letter to his father in the manga, Kiyomaro mentions that truthfully, although Gash is a nice boy, he's afraid of whatever may happen next with him around and wonders just who he really is. This was never mentioned in Kiyomaro's letter in the anime.

## Censorship & Other Localization Differences

* In the original Japanese episode Gash is fully naked when he first appears in Kiyomaro's bedroom. In the VIZ localization, all scenes that originally have Gash naked have been edited over to have a crude pair of white boxer shorts drawn onto Gash. This is a very prominent censorship that can be seen many times throughout the airing of the anime.
* In the original Japanese airing, Kiyomaro says the phrase, "ふざけるな?! (*Fuzakeruna*)" as an expression —essentially meaning 'you're kidding me'— that causes Gash's first spell, *Zakeru*, to be cast on accident. In the VIZ dub, Kiyomaro casts the first spell by uttering Gash's dub name, Zatch, incorrectly in the phrase, "Zack-er, whatever your name is!"
* Any banners and surfaces Gash wrote on originally had his Japanese writing appear to be a naturally messy writing style. In the VIZ localization, Gash's Japanese writing is replaced by English text in a Comic Sans font.
* When Eita first skateboards past Suzume, the original Japanese airing showed Suzume's skirt be flipped upward showing her underwear. In the VIZ localization, this scene was edited to make Suzume's skirt remain still.
* In the original Japanese episode as Suzume struggles to escape Eita's grip, Suzume exclaims that the choir club is meeting soon whereas in the VIZ localization, she claims that it is the fruit lovers club that's meeting soon.

## Trivia

* This episode is the first and only one in which the dub intro theme is entirely instrumental.
* The homeroom teacher introduced in this episode, presumably Hidetoshi Nakata, undergoes a notable character design change when they are seen again in episode 3.