Episode 19

**Cursed Castle of the Evil Blooming Flowers** (悪の花咲く呪いの城, *Aku no Hanasaku Noroi no Shiro*) is the 19th episode of the Konjiki no Gash Bell!! Anime. This episode first aired in Japan on August 17, 2003.

## Overview

Just as soon as Kiyomaro and Gash were off to meet with Kiyomaro's father, their belongings are stolen by a young boy. When they finally chase down this thief, Kiyomaro sees that the boy had developed an infection on his arm due to an untreated injury. Concerned for him, Kiyomaro decides to bring the boy with him to meet with his dad who could help redirect them to a doctor. When they step inside his office however, they discover the whole place is in disarray with his father nowhere to be found. The only clues left behind are a demon's footprints as well as a mysterious flower that acts as a clue in figuring out his father's disappearance.

## Plot

Seccoro runs off with Kiyomaro and Gash's belongings in a hurry and with no time to waste, Kiyomaro and Gash chase after the boy. With his attention soley focused on Seccoro, Kiyomaro soon notices that part of his arm is covered by some old and dirty bandages. Running as fast as he can, Gash matches with Seccoro in terms of speed and the two of them end up running throughout the countryside until they finally stop underneath some trees to recover from their race.As Gash and Seccoro rest underneath the trees, Gash praises Seccoro on his running speed. They then introduce themselves to each other and soon after Seccoro asks Gash if he wants to be his friend.

Just then however, Kiyomaro finally appears behind Seccoro clearly upset with him having stolen his belongings. Despite Seccoro's attempt to bail, Kiyomaro maintains a grip on him to prevent him from running off. While Seccoro still struggles to free himself, Kiyomaro orders him to remain still as he takes a look at Seccoro's wounds. Removing the bandages on his arm reveals a severely infected wound that has yet to properly heal. Kiyomaro helps clean this wound by pouring fresh water over it then tears up one of his shirts to wrap over it as a new bandage. As he finishes wrapping up this wound, Kiyomaro asks Seccoro about why his parents hadn't taken him to see a doctor which causes Seccoro to react negatively at hearing the mention of his parents. Still determined to help him, Kiyomaro decides that he'll be the one that will take him to see a doctor.

The three of them soon head off to the university to meet with Kiyomaro's father, Seitaro Takamine, who could also help recommend a doctor to take Seccoro to. As they all stop in front of one of the office doors, Kiyomaro barges right on in to ask his father why he had not met with them sooner when they arrived in England. Unexpectedly however, Kiyomaro soon realizes he walked right into the wrong office as he sees a man, Professor Dartagnan, standing in the middle of the room wearing a tuna costume. Kiyomaro and Seccoro stand in complete awe as they try and process the ridiculousness of what they're seeing. Kiyomaro, embarrassed, quickly apologizes for having walked in on him and tries to leave. Dartagnan stops them from leaving so soon to clarify the situation by emphasizing that him dressing up in costume isn't his hobby. Kiyomaro accepts this without question and is soon allowed to leave as Dartagnan is convinced that Kiyomaro understands.

Now certain they've found the right room, Kiyomaro, Seccoro, and Gash enter the office only to soon be greeted by the sight of books and furniture scattered and thrown all over the office. Although initially confused at the sight of everything, Kiyomaro starts to fear for the worst as he thinks someone may have broken in. As he tries to call out for his dad, he catches a glimpse of something among the books scattered around him. Kiyomaro goes over to investigate this and sees that it's his father's pendant lying on top of one of the books on the floor. When lifting up the book, Kiyomaro discovers an unusual set of footprints that look as though they belong to a demon. Putting the pieces together, Kiyomaro concludes that his father had been kidnapped by a demon.

Processing what Kiyomaro had just said, Gash begins to panic and wonder who could have kidnapped Kiyomaro's father. Seeing Gash in a panic, Seccoro offers Gash a small toy he had found. This only distracts Gash briefly before he resumes his panic once more. Kiyomaro goes back to wandering around the office looking for any more clues until he stumbles upon some flowers that were scattered among some books which strikes Kiyomaro as odd considering the fact his father doesn't keep any flowers in his office. When Kiyomaro looks over his shoulder, he notices the look of terror on Seccoro's face and sees that Seccoro is particularly focused on the flower Kiyomaro has in his hand. Kiyomaro calls Seccoro out on this to ask if he knew anything about those flowers to which Seccoro denies knowing anything about them. As the three of them leave the university, Seccoro decides that he'll bring Gash and Kiyomaro to his hideout to talk more.

In Seccoro's hideout, Kiyomaro pleads with Seccoro for him to tell him what he knows about the flowers they found in the office. Seccoro, visibly nervous and shaking, quietly replies that it'd be best for Kiyomaro and Gash to just head back home and that the flowers are demonic flowers. Seccoro continues to explain that about half a year ago, a demon had begun haunting an abandoned castle and soon after demon-controlled cursed knights started appearing in his town demanding money and food. Failure to comply with these knights resulted in the person being taken away, but each time this had happened, they had left flowers behind in their home. Seccoro goes on to confess that even his parents had met the same fate when they one day left to go negotiate with this demon on behalf of the town and never came back. After hearing this story, Kiyomaro, still determined as ever, asks Seccoro to show him the way to the castle. Seccoro becomes hesitant at first as he expresses his concern for their safety but this doesn't deter neither Gash nor Kiyomaro who are adamant on going. Seccoro finally gives in and tells the two of them that this castle, Hobark Castle, is located fifty kilometers from the hideout and is surrounded by the same demonic flowers.

Outside, Kiyomaro gives Seccoro his thanks before he and Gash start heading off to the castle. Before they go, Seccoro stops them and tells them that, although he wants to rescue his parents, he knows he's too afraid to do anything and is too scared to go with them regardless of how much he wants to. Seccoro then starts to cry and apologizes for not having their courage. Kiyomaro replies that it's not courage at all that they have but it's just a matter of him really wanting to confront his dad after all this time. As Kiyomaro and Gash finally leave for Hobark Castle, Seccoro wishes them luck and has them promise him that they'll come back safely.

As Kiyomaro and Gash walk, they suddenly hear noise from behind them. As they turn around expecting it to be some sort of danger, it becomes apparent that the source of the commotion is Folgore and Canchome who have arrived out of the blue to join Kiyomaro and Gash despite neither of them asking them for help. The group eventually make it to the castle only to find everything appearing empty at first. Suddenly, armored knights start lowering from the ceiling with their weapons drawn ready to attack. Wasting no time, Kiyomaro and Gash unleash their first spell, *Zakeru*, onto the hoard of knights multiple times. The spell doesn't appear to have affected the knights that much as they keep getting back on their feet to keep attacking. Nonetheless, Kiyomaro and Gash persist on striking them down using *Zakeru*. Meanwhile, deeper inside the castle, a towering armored demon, Baltro, reports on the castle's intruders to his bookkeeper, Steng. Showing no sign of worry, Steng continues to sit back and enjoy his wine as he's confident that the castle's intruders will meet the same fate as anyone else who had tried to come into the castle.

Seeing as they're starting to become more and more surrounded by the knights, Kiyomaro tries to quickly figure out what his next move will be seeing as how *Zakeru* doesn't seem to affect the knights. He then spots a weapon lying on the ground and decides to use that to attack the knights with. Using all of his strength, he swings the weapon with all his might which causes the upper body of one of the knights to be torn off. In the now exposed torso of the knight, the same flower Kiyomaro had seen earlier was inside of it. Gash then interrupts his thoughts to ask Kiyomaro what their plan is now to which Kiyomaro ends up figuring out that if they can't defeat them by attacking them head on then they can imbolize them using the third spell, *Jikerudo*.

Baltro updates the situation to Steng stating that the intruders have managed to pass the castle's first room. This surprises Steng at first but he still remains confident that they won't be able to pass the next room. The second room of the castle is shown to be full of various swords that suddenly begin to move and fly towards Kiyomaro's group as soon as they come in. Kiyomaro and Gash spring into action by using their second spell, *Rashirudo*, to successfully protect themselves from the swords. Baltro once again reports on this informing Steng that the intruders have now passed the second room. Steng, while at first in disbelief at hearing this, once again insists that the intruders will not pass the next room. The next room of the castle appears empty at first but as Kiyomaro's group walks through it, the floors pull back to reveal a bottomless pit that both Folgore and Canchome fall into. Kiyomaro and Gash narrowly avoid this same fate and Baltro once again reports that while two intruders fell in, the other two managed to survive. Once again, Steng shows he's still confident that the next room will stop the two intruders. In the next room, the ceiling begins to fall at fast speeds but thanks to Gash's quick thinking and strength, he orders Kiyomaro to get down as he holds the ceiling back from crushing them both. Kiyomaro then orders Gash to aim directly at the ceiling for him to blow it up using *Zakeru*. Baltro then informs Steng that the final room ended up destroyed and that the intruders are on their way to meet them. While the hostages around Steng rejoice in hearing the news seeing that they'll soon be free, Steng gets up and decides that he'll take matters into his own hands to put an end to these intruders.

As soon as Kiyomaro and Gash pass through the last door in the castle, they're just as quickly greeted by Steng who had been waiting for them. Behind Steng is his towering armored demon partner Baltro whose large appearance intimidates both Gash and Kiyomaro. But seeing as there's no other option but to fight, Kiyomaro quickly casts *Zakeru* at Baltro which doesn't appear to have affected him at all. Steng takes notice of the fact that Kiyomaro has a spell book just like him and realizes that that's the reason why Kiyomaro and Gash had managed to get through the various traps. But seeing as how Kiyomaro and Gash are at a disadvantage against Baltro, Steng unleashes their first spell, *Zeberuon*, which causes Baltro to start moving his large mechanical limbs and lift up his leg to crush Kiyomaro and Gash. Although they had just narrowly missed being crushed by this attack, Gash and Kiyomaro continue to evade numerous more attempts by Baltro to crush them using his large limbs. Steng then casts *Zeberusen* which causes Baltro to launch several large projectiles towards Gash and Kiyomaro. They then quickly cast *Rashirudo* to defend against this attack which also successfully launches these projectiles back towards Baltro who manages to block his own attack with barely any scratches.

Seeing how useless their attacks have been, Steng goes on to talk about how with Baltro's power he's able to get just about anything he wants and anyone that tries to protest that will only end up getting crushed by him. Hearing this angers both Kiyomaro and Gash who then attempt to directly attack Steng using *Zakeru* only to have their attack be blocked by Baltro's hand. Steng, who clearly shows no concern for the harm he caused to others, explains that him being able to get what he wants and to have fun with his power in the process is all that matters to him. Baltro then begins to strike at Kiyomaro and Gash who continue to run away from each attack. As they run, Kiyomaro tries to think carefully about a plan to defeat Baltro. Kiyomaro then remembers about the knights he had faced downstairs which causes him to run behind Baltro and discovers a loose flower attached to Baltro. He then points Gash in the direction of the flower and they soon destroy it using *Zakeru* which then causes the armored limb that the flower was on to fall apart.

Steng becomes taken aback when he sees part of Baltro's armor fall apart. Kiyomaro then explains to him that he figured out that his demon's ability is to use those flowers to control anything he wants which explains how the knights were able to move on their own. Just like the knights, the "demon" before them is also being controlled just like a puppet. With renewed confidence, Gash and Kiyomaro prepare themselves to unleash another attack to take apart Baltro. Steng, while initially shocked at how the two of them figured things out, still has one more trick up his sleeve as he brings out Canchome and Folgore from out of the corner as his captives.

## Features

### Characters by Appearance

* Kiyomaro Takamine
* Gash Bell
* Seccoro
* Suzume Mizuno
* Umagon
* Dartagnan
* Parco Folgore
* Canchome
* Baltro
* Steng
* Cook
* Seitarou Takamine (flashback)

### Locations

* England
	+ London
	+ Hobark Castle (Debut)

### Spells by Appearance

* Zakeru
* Jikerudo
* Rashirudo
* Zeberuon (Debut)
* Zeberusen (Debut)

## Manga & Anime Differences

* All appearances Suzume, Umagon, Folgore, and Canchome have in this episode is entirely filler as neither of them have any involvement during these events in the manga.
* In the manga, when Gash and Seccoro sit together after having run a long distance, Seccoro offers Gash some chocolate before they introduce themselves to each other. The anime does not show Seccoro offering Gash any chocolate in this scene.
* The anime takes out the part where Kiyomaro slaps Seccoro's banged arm.
* After Gash realizes Seitarou had been kidnapped, he begins to panic but is then taken outside by Seccoro when Kiyomaro asks him to do so. Gash can later be seen outside crying and running off but eventually comes back. In the anime, Gash and Seccoro stay put in the office and Seccoro offers Gash a toy as a way to help calm him down but to no avail.
	+ The toy offered differs in appearance between the manga and anime. While the toy in both adaptations have the same general resemblance to Naomi, the toy has the appearance of a knight on a horse in the anime and in the manga the toy takes the appearance of a royal guard. In the anime, the toy was given to Gash in Seccoro's office and in the manga, the toy was given to Gash in Seccoro's hideout.
* In the manga, after they had discovered one of Baltro's flowers in Seitarou's office, Kiyomaro tells Seccoro that it'll take a bit before they can take him to the infirmary for his arm as he wants to take a good look around the office first. Seccoro then offers for Kiyomaro and Gash to spend the night at his hideout if they have nowhere else to go which they then accept. In the anime, after having discovered the flowers, the group then leaves the university where Seccoro suggests that they should head back to his hideout.
	+ While in his hideout, in the manga, they're all seen eating fish and chips together. They are not seen eating anything in the anime however.
* The anime does not mention in Seccoro's story that police have attempted to retrieve the hostages kept in Hoback Castle and that the military is unable to do anything without putting hostage lives in danger.
* As soon as Kiyomaro and Gash enter the castle, the entrance behind them becomes sealed shut to trap them in. This was never seen in the anime.
* In the manga, just after Kiyomaro reveals to Steng he had figured out that destroying the flowers can cause Baltro's mechanical armor to fall apart, the Cook suddenly appears standing on Baltro's foot to loudly point out that there's another flower attached to the corresponding leg. In the anime, because of the inclusion of Folgore and Canchome in this episode, the episode ends with Steng showing Kiyomaro and Gash that Folgore and Canchome are his captives. The cook does not appear during this ordeal.

## Censorship & Other Localization Differences

* All instances of Kiyomaro hitting either Seccoro or Gash in the head were removed in the VIZ localization. All scenes that would have originally depicted the very moment of impact are censored over by a brief flashing screen sequence.
* All smoke coming from Dartagnan's cigar was removed in the VIZ localization. He still can be seen with a cigar in his mouth regardless.
* In the original Japanese episode, Dartagnan states that his costume is of an Indian tuna fish. In the VIZ localization of the episode, he states that it's a sea bass.
* The name of the castle that Baltro and Steng took over is never revealed in the VIZ dub of the episode but it is mentioned in both the Japanese manga and episode as well as the VIZ manga.
* After Seccoro had fallen as he ran away from being seen by one of the knights, his arm was shown bleeding after having taken the fall. In the VIZ localization, this bleeding was removed.
* The label on Steng’s wine was edited over to indicate that it is apple cider.