Episode 48

**Wicked Thief! The Mystery of the Stone Tablets**(忍びよる邪悪! 石版の謎, *Shinobi yoru Jaaku! Sekiban no Nazo*) is the 48th episode of the Konjiki no Gash Bell!! Anime. This episode first aired in Japan on March 14, 2004.

## Overview

Kiyomaro discovers an ancient stone tablet at a local antique shop and decides to bring it home to do some research. While Kiyomaro spends his time doing this, Gash, Tio, and Umagon decide to train together in order to make themselves stronger for their future battles. At the same time, a new team travels to Japan in the hopes of challenging Kiyomaro and Gash to an eventual battle.

## Plot

While out accompanying Suzume on a shopping trip downtown, Kiyomaro ends up finding an an ancient stone tablet on display at an antique shop. Upon examining it, he realizes it bears a similar resemblance to the stone tablet his father had shown him in England. Simultaneously, Seitaro meets with Dartagnan in the university's research lab and asks him about any new developments in the research they have been conducting on the stone tablet they have in their possession. Dartagnan reveals that while the examination of the stone tablet has not been finished, he discovered that the stone tablet itself is not made up of any substance that's found on Earth and is entirely foreign to the planet. Seitraro reflects on this information and comes to the conclusion that the stone tablet is most likely connected to the Demon World and has some significance to the previous battle to decide king that took place 1,000 years prior.

At home, Gash and Tio spend time playing together with their Vulcans before Tio finds herself bored from playing their game. She then decides to ask Gash about his battles and the number of demons he faced so far and he takes the time to describe many of his encounters to her. Gash then adds that he ended up facing as many as he did because of his reputation for being weak in the Demon World but managed to overcome many hardships thanks to Kiyomaro's strength. Just then, Kiyomaro comes home and shows the two of them the stone tablet he had acquired earlier that day. It is there he tells Gash and Tio about a similar one his father has but with a different demon sculpted into it and speculates that it may have something to do with the Demon World based on that and the inscription on it that looks similar to what's printed in the spell books. When Gash and Tio are asked if the tablet seems familiar to them, Tio tells Kiyomaro that she does remember that there were demons similar to the one on the tablet but nothing else. Gash however tells him that he does recall seeing the tablet somewhere before but struggles to remember where or which world exactly. Despite this, Kiyomaro decides that they'll try and figure out the mystery behind the tablets on their own using their own creative methods while they leave the scientific approach to his father.

Each one of them take turns trying their own method of research but to no avail. The lack of progress reaches a boiling point for Tio who would try and smash the stone tablet out of frustration. Kiyomaro stops her just in time but would soon kick her and Gash out of the room. Gash, Tio, and Umagon would all sit outside for some time to think on how they should spend the rest of their day before Tio eventually decides that they should use this time to train in order to better prepare themselves for their future battles. Meanwhile, a new team, Dr. Riddles and Kid, are on their way to Japan for a big job ahead of them and Dr. Riddles himself shows he's already familiar with demons such as Gash, Tio, and Canchome.

Gash, Tio, and Umagon all head out together to a remote area where they can begin their training and Tio starts everyone off with running as fast as they can as a test of endurance. She then moves on to hurling clumps of dirt towards Gash to help prepare him with defending against sudden attacks. Gash struggles at first but as he sets his mind to it and remembers similar attacks he had endured from previous demons, his movements and concentration become better and he's able to avoid all of Tio's incoming attacks. Next, the three of them go on to practice running through rough terrain over a flowing river. As Gash follows just behind Tio, he remembers how fast and agile other demons were when they moved. He soon picks up the pace and manages to pass by Tio. Although they all tire themselves out after this test, Tio announces that the last thing they need to work on is one on one combat. She wastes no time pursuing after Gash and unleashing a barrage of physical attacks in which Gash tries his best to defend against. Although she manages to hit him once, Gash thinks back to similar attacks he had to defend himself against when he had fought Barry and vows to never lose again. Tio does her best to narrowly avoid Gash's incoming attacks and defends herself using aikido techniques she had learned from Megumi. Their sparring session ends in a draw when the two of them each deliver a strong punch to the other at the same time. At the end of the day, all three of them sit together and reflect on how strong they've become but understand they need to continue working hard. While they sit together, Tio asks Gash about the reason behind his desire to become a kind king. Gash then tells her about the promise he had made to Kolulu, how much it pained him to see her forced to participate in the battle to decide king, and his resolve to ensure tragedies such as that are to never happen again by becoming a benevolent ruler.

As the day comes to an end, Kiyomaro gives up on his research after seeing that he had made no progress in finding anything that the stone tablet would react to. While Gash, Tio, and Umagon would enjoy dinner that evening, Kiyomaro manages to get a call back from his father and asks him about his research findings in England. It's then that Seitaro relays to him his findings and confirms Kiyomaro's suspicion that the tablets may have something to do with the Demon World and promises to contact him again if he has any new information. While they speak, they are unaware of the fact the university had just been broken into and the stone tablet secured there had been stolen. The stone tablet left in Kiyomaro's room would end up being stolen by a demon who quickly disappears into the night with it. Somewhere deep inside a cave, Zofis, who is now wearing a disguise, stands before a large collection of stone tablets that he and Byonko had collected and he smiles knowing his plans involving them will soon come to fruition.

## Features

### Characters by Appearance

* Suzume Mizuno
* Kiyomaro Takamine
* Seitaro Takamine
* Dartagnan
* Gash Bell
* Tio
* Umagon
* Reycom (Flashback)
* Hosokawa (Flashback)
* Sugina (Flashback)
* Haruhiko (Flashback)
* Kolulu (Flashback)
* Shiori (Flashback)
* Eshros (Flashback)
* Fein (Flashback)
* Baltro (Flashback)
* Steng (Flashback)
* Brago
* Apollo Genesis (Flashback)
* Ropes (Flashback)
* Danny (Flashback)
* Gordo (Flashback)
* Gustav (Flashback)
* Vincent Barry (Flashback)
* The Majestic 12
* Kid
* Dr.Riddles
* Naomi
* Zabas (Flashback)
* Wonrei
* Canchome
* Parco Folgore
* Lien
* Sherie Belmondo
* Hana Takamine
* Byonko
* Zofis

### Locations

* Japan
	+ Mochinoki City
		- Takamine Residence
			* Kiyomaro's Room
* Europe
	+ England
* South Pole

## Spells by Appearance

* Gikoru (Flashback)
* Juron (Flashback)
* Zeruku (Flashback)
* Gurangarugo (Flashback)
* Kureido (Flashback)
* Rashirudo (Flashback)
* Zakeru (Flashback)
* Reisu (Flashback)
* Gurabirei (Flashback)
* Garuuruku (Flashback)
* Gou Bauren (Flashback)

## Manga & Anime Differences

* All appearances Suzume, Dr. Riddles, Kid,the Majestic Twelve, and Zofis have in this episode is entirely filler and they have no involvement during these events in the manga.
* While most of the events in the chapters this episode was based on remain the same, the order of some of these events greatly differ with how it was originally portrayed in the manga. There are other minor details such as topics of conversation and other minor moments that were not seen in the anime adaptation of these chapters.
* In the anime, Gash and Tio assist Kiyomaro in doing research with the stone tablet he had brought in for some time before eventually being kicked out. In the manga, he does his research by himself while Gash, Tio, and Umagon leave for the day to go train.
* The order of events between the anime and manga can greatly differ from time to time and while this usually has minimal impact on storyline differences, this sometimes results in some events that were originally to happen sooner end up occurring much later than intended and vice versa. For example, in the manga, Gash tells Tio his most recent battle was with Baransha. In the anime, it was Barry instead.
* In the manga, after spending a lot of time trying to study the stone tablet, Kiyomaro thinks to himself about what it takes to become king and him realizing that he needs to teach Gash something. In the anime, he does not ask himself this question.
* In the anime, Gash, Tio, and Umagon's training session was shown in more detail than how it was portrayed in the manga simply in the form as flashbacks.
* In the manga, the spell books announce that at this point there are only 40 demons remaining in the battle. In the anime, this announcement does not happen.

## Censorship & Other Localization Differences

* A scene showing Gash dropping his Vulcan 300 onto the ground was removed.
* Hosokawa's rifle seen in a flashback was edited to appear as a large water gun instead.
* Scenes that show a closeup of Big Boing's breasts were removed.
* A scene that shows Gash and Tio punching each other in the face was removed.

## Trivia

* In the background of a scene early in the episode, Makoto Raiku can be seen walking in the background.