Episode 25

**The Decisive Battle! The Will to Win** (決戦! 勝利への執念, *Kessen! Shōri e no Shūnen*) is the 25th episode of the Konjiki no Gash Bell!! Anime. This episode first aired in Japan on September 28, 2003.

## Overview

Kiyomaro and Gash's battle against Apollo and Ropes continues as they rely on the strength of their teamwork to pull through one of the most difficult battles they've faced thus far. Apollo also finds himself inspired by Ropes' determination to fight and remembers the time they had first met.

## Plot

In an attempt to return Kiyomaro's supplies he had left behind earlier that day, Suzume manages to get lost walking in circles trying to find his house. She would eventually find herself relieved to run into Umagon and plead for him to take her to Kiyomaro's house. Meanwhile at the quarry, Kiyomaro and Gash find themselves in a tricky situation being unable to retrieve their spell book on the ground right in front of Ropes who has them stopped in their tracks. Kiyomaro ends up taking a chance and retrieves the book which causes Ropes to fly back towards Apollo.

Apollo, still showing no sign of holding back, casts *Riguron* to hurl several large boulders towards Kiyomaro and Gash. The pair counter this attack using their second spell, *Rashirudo* which successfully defends them from the boulders. Suspicious of the shield before it even deflects the boulders, Apollo runs off with Ropes just in time to avoid the electrified projectiles. Kiyomaro finds himself in complete disbelief at this wondering how Apollo could have known that would happen. Despite this, Kiyomaro sees that he has to use this opportunity to attack and reads out his fourth spell, *Baou Zakeruga.*

To everyone's surprise, nothing happens and Apollo assumes that that had been nothing more than a feint attack. Kiyomaro tries to figure this mystery out as he recalls that this spell hadn't worked the first time when they teamed up with Yopopo. Although disappointed in Gash and Kiyomaro's battle efforts, Apollo continues to cast *Riguron* to attack the two of them in every possible direction and destroy all the rocks in the surrounding area. While trying to evade these attacks, Kiyomaro struggles to come up with a plan on what to do next as he sees that he's at a clear disadvantage with Apollo as his opponent. He finds himself frozen trying to think of a strategy as a large boulder is flung his way. In the nick of time however, Gash uses his body to knock this boulder away to protect Kiyomaro. Soon after, Gash confronts Kiyomaro about what's been going on with him as he sees that Kiyomaro has been struggling to fight back. Kiyomaro quietly admits some of his ongoing fears to Gash saying that he feels as though they can't win. Gash in response reminds Kiyomaro of the promise they had made to Kolulu. Gash continues and says he cannot lose and is counting on him more than anything to help him win this battle.

Hearing this reinvigorates Kiyomaro as he reminds himself that they are just as strong and experienced as Apollo and Ropes and feels there's no reason they should lose to them. After promising Gash he'll make him king no matter what, Kiyomaro lets off a loud yell before returning his focus to the battle. They soon waste no time casting *Zakeru* towards Apollo and Ropes to cause dust to build up around them. In a defensive measure, Apollo casts *Riguron* to prepare for Kiyomaro's surprise attack in an attempt to grab their book. Ropes uses *Riguron* to grab Kiyomaro's leg and fling him away from them. At the same time, Gash leaps towards Apollo from behind to hit him with another *Zakeru* but barely misses as Apollo jumps out of the way. As Apollo casts *Riguron* once again to hurl another barrage of boulders towards Gash and Kiyomaro, he takes notice of Gash and Kiyomaro's use of teamwork and their will to win. He also notices their red spell book pulsating with a bright light and figures that the more they attack, the more power the book emits.

When Kiyomaro points towards Apollo and Ropes, signaling Gash to look in that direction, the two react by accidentally separating away from each other. Too late to realize who they're really targeting, Apollo watches as Ropes is struck head-on by *Zakeru* and collapses to the ground soon after. He rushes over to Ropes' side only to find himself surprised seeing Ropes force himself to stand back up again despite being in pain. Looking at Ropes and remembering his initial feelings about the battle to decide king, Apollo realizes he's had a change of heart and tells Ropes he's going to help him become king. After hearing this, Gash calls out to Ropes telling him he aims to become a kind ruler then asks what kind of king he wants to be. To try and answer this, Ropes gathers the torn pieces of his yellow scarf scattered on the ground and shows it to Apollo which causes him to recall a very specific memory.

A flashback is then shown to take place some time ago in a rural village within the mountains. Two children, a young boy and his older sister, as well as Ropes, are seen on the outskirts of the village. Some time during the day, Apollo pulls up near the children with his car and asks the two of them for help on getting out of the area. While in the car with Apollo, he learns from them that all the borders in the area have been closed which makes people there unable to cross into neighboring countries. When asked where they're heading, the girl tells Apollo she has always wanted to be able to see the outside world and heard about a secret passage they can use. The group however ends up finding themselves stopped before a large iron gate that's preventing them from traveling any further. Ropes, seeing Apollo frustrated with this, jumps over to him and tries to comfort him by patting him on the head.

Suddenly, Ropes blue spell book begins to glow from inside the girl's bag. When Apollo opens the book, he's greeted with mostly strange writing he cannot read except for one passage that shows Ropes' first spell, *Riguron*. When reading the spell outloud, Apollo finds himself propelled over the gate by Ropes' spell. The girl then tells Apollo that they were never able to read the book and after a brief pause, she requests Apollo to take Ropes with him. While Ropes thinks at first the kids will be able to go with him, the girl explains to him that given the circumstances had the gate not been there and had they been truly free, only then they would be able to come along. As a parting gift, she takes out a yellow scarf from her bag and gives it to Ropes as something for him to remember them by. After a tearful parting, Apollo casts the spell once again and Ropes soon joins him over the wall. Back in the battle, Apollo takes the torn scarf pieces and declares to Kiyomaro and Gash that Ropes aims to become the king of freedom. As Apollo looks towards Gash and Kiyomaro, knowing that they have a goal just like them worth fighting for, he finally decides it's time to use their ultimate spell, *Dino Rigunoon*.

Casting the spell causes Ropes to materialize large chains and even larger anchor hooks to pull an even larger boulder out of the surrounding cliff-side. Despite having saved most of his energy for his final spell, the spell itself is proving to be strenuous for Apollo to maintain. Despite visibly staggering from it, he reassures Ropes by reminding him of the promise he made to him to help him become king. Seeing what they're up against and believing there's no better time for it, Kiyomaro decides he will cast *Baou Zakeruga* once again. The strong desire to win the battle and ultimately make Gash king proves to be enough to successfully cast *Baou Zakeruga* just in time to counter the incoming boulder. The two eventually clash in midair before finally the boulder, and *Baou Zakeruga* itself, destroy each other in the collision. Although blown back a bit as a result of the collision, Kiyomaro forces himself to try and get up, worried that Apollo is going to attack again, but to no avail as he soon collapses on the ground. Luckily, Kiyomaro soon sees that like him, Apollo finds himself unable to get up also. After telling Kiyomaro how he would like to continue this battle again someday, he then goes on to tell him his thoughts. While he didn't win and he's exceeded his own limits, he can't help but feel good still.

The two pairs end up sitting with each other talking as the sun starts to set. Apollo talks to Kiyomaro about the fact he had seen his book continue to emit power the more they fought and how it had reached the peak of its power before the final attack. Kiyomaro questions Apollo about this concept and Apollo theorizes that as the battle creates the feeling of tension, that tension is then transferred to the book where it would then be emitted in a burst of power. After thinking about what Apollo had told him, he then sees that Apollo is able to stand up again and offers for him to stay at his house for the night. Apollo takes him up on this but wants to be able to stroll around before that. Back home, Kiyomaro and Gash see that Suzume and Umagon tried to put back together the broken wall but the wall comes crumbling down just as they were ready to show it off.

Now night time, Apollo and Ropes admire the stars in the sky as they walk. Apollo then sees Ropes choose a path on a forked road that he points out is not the right way to Kiyomaro's house. Despite this, Ropes still shows he's eager to go that way regardless. Seeing there's no changing his mind, Apollo follows behind Ropes as Ropes cheerfully leads the way.

## Features

### Characters by Appearance

* Suzume Mizuno
* Umagon
* Kiyomaro Takamine
* Ropes
* Gash Bell
* Apollo Genesis
* Kikuropu (Flashback)
* English Gentleman (Flashback)
* Jem (Flashback)
* Kolulu (Flashback)
* Shiori (Flashback)

### Locations

* Mochinoki City
	+ Takamine Residence

### Spells by Appearance

* Riguron
* Rashirudo
* Zakeru
* Dino Rigunoon (Debut)
* Baou Zakeruga

## Manga & Anime Differences

* In the anime, Ropes is seen being able to attack with *Riguron* from the ground and soon afterwards uses *Riguron* to destroy the surrounding rocks in the area. In the manga, Ropes isn't seen using this spell in such a way and continues to throw boulders towards Gash and Kiyomaro rather than destroy any hiding spots for them.
* In the manga, Ropes uses *Riguron* to propel Apollo above Gash's *Zakeru* attack in order to dodge it. In the anime, Apollo jumps over the lightning blast on his own.
* Apollo and Ropes' story of how they met in the anime is entirely anime-original.
	+ it is revealed that the kind of king Ropes wants to be is a king of freedom. In the manga, It is never explained what kind of king Ropes aims to be.

## Censorship & Other Localization Differences

* Details such as blood from injuries are cleaned up from characters but details such as scratches and clothing tears are otherwise kept in the VIZ localization of the series. This episode features some minor bleeding seen on Gash's shoulder and Kiyomaro's face that were later edited out.
* A flashback plays of earlier events where Apollo expresses he has no interest in the battle to decide king and Kiyomaro eventually asking Apollo if how things are is truly how he wants it to be. In the VIZ localization of the episode, while Apollo's comment remains, all other dialogue is removed which leaves the rest of the flashback mostly silent.
* In the original Japanese episode, the children featured in the filler story of Ropes and Apollo meeting each other mention very clearly that they are aware they are not truly free and the young girl expresses a desire to be able to see the outside world eventually. In the VIZ localization, these themes are not expressed as clearly as how it was in the Japanese episode.