Episode 22

**The Dancing Green Warrior** (踊りつづける緑の戦士, *Odori Tsuzukeru Midori no Senshi*) is the 22nd episode of the Konjiki no Gash Bell!! Anime. This episode first aired in Japan on September 7, 2003.

## Overview

Beside the white cliffs and seaside shores in England, Gash and Kiyomaro prepare to test out their newest spell, Baou Zakeruga. Their training however is interrupted by the sound of singing coming from the top of the cliffs which is where they meet an energetic dancing demon named Yopopo. As Gash and Suzume join Yopopo in dance, Jem, Yopopo's human partner, ends up attacking Gash when she initially mistakes him for another demon. To make this up, she invites Kiyomaro's group to join her for lunch where she then reveals her and Yopopo's story to them.

## Plot

As Suzume splashes around in the waters of the seaside shore, Kiyomaro and Gash ready themselves to test out their newest spell, Baou Zakeruga. As they face out towards the sea, Kiyomaro tries to speculate what kind of spell *Baou Zakeruga* will turn out to be. Gash also quietly thinks to himself that he's determined to become stronger in order to reclaim his lost memories. As Kiyomaro prepares to read off the fourth spell, he suddenly sees Gash turn around to face him and he immediately stops before he casts the spell. As he scolds Gash for doing this, Gash's attention is averted to some distant singing that's coming from the top of the cliffs.

The source of this singing is revealed to be Yopopo, where he is seen engaging in a rhythmic dance and song. Gash and Suzume, entranced by this, join in with him. From the top of a tree next to them, Yopopo's bookkeeper, Jem, leaps down and begins visciously attacking Gash with a frying pan. Before she removes a green spell book from her bag, Kiyomaro steps in and grabs her. When questioned what she was trying to do, she claims that she has to defeat Gash, who she's convinced is a demon she recognizes. When asked by Kiyomaro if she knows Gash, she suddenly realizes that Gash wasn't someone she recognized at all and acted too hastily. She's eventually let go then announces to Yopopo that it's time for lunch. As Yopopo unwraps his lunch next to Jem, she orders Yopopo to eat somewhere else and reminds him that she hates him. As Yopopo sadly walks off, she apologizes to Kiyomaro and Gash for any trouble she gave them and invites them to join her for tea to make things up.

As she sets up her picnic, Kiyomaro, Gash, and Suzume each introduce themselves to her and Jem does the same. As Kiyomaro enjoys his cup of tea, he notices Yopopo eating his lunch all alone and asks Jem if he should join them. Jem responds saying he's fine on his own since he wouldn't be able to join in with their conversation and claims he's annoying anyways. Gash thinks otherwise as he runs off to join Yopopo for lunch and Suzume does the same. As Jem eats her sandwich, Kiyomaro asks Jem about how she had referred to Gash as a demon when she first saw him. Jem then goes on to explain to Kiyomaro about what demons are but as Kiyomaro listens to this, he realizes that Jem has still yet to figure out how right she was about Gash. At the same time, Gash and Suzume approach Yopopo and introduce themselves to him. They then join Yopopo for lunch where Gash claims that he understands what Yopopo is saying to them. Gash first assumes that Yopopo is trying to say that he wants to be friends with him to which Yopopo shakes his head to signal that's not it. Suzume assumes the same where she thinks Yopopo wants to be friends with her only to see Yopopo respond the same as with Gash.

As Suzume and Gash talk with Yopopo, Jem explains to Kiyomaro about how Yopopo's dance has a mysterious ability to attract other demons. She then starts to talk about when she and her family had first met Yopopo where they initially thought he was unable to find his way home. In a flashback, Jem's mother sees that Yopopo is unable to communicate with them properly and isn't able to tell them his name or about his parents. Jem however understood instantly what Yopopo's name was and since then, Yopopo had stayed with her and her family where he spends his time with Jem and helping her family wherever needed with chores. At one point when staying with her, Jem tries to teach Yopopo to say, "friends". Yopopo, who's unable to say other words and phrases other than minor variants of phrase "yopopoy", tries hard to enunciate the word but fails to say it. Jem laughs and praises Yopopo still for being able to say part of it anyways. As Jem finishes her story on how Yopopo came to live with her, she reminds Kiyomaro about how Yopopo is still one of the one hundred other demons who came to their world and they're looking for one particular demon to get revenge on.

In a different flashback, Yopopo's bag that contains his spell book spills over on the ground. As Yopopo rushes over to his bag, he sees that Jem beat him to it and Jem, curious of the book, picks it up before he could. Despite Yopopo's protests, Jem reassures him that she can read it and discovers a legible passage in the book. As Jem reads off Yopopo's first spell, *Mikeru*, an explosion is heard just behind her. As she turns around, she sees part of her home's garden walls destroyed. Despite how excited Jem appeared to be when she discovered she can cast spells, Yopopo appeared visibly worried learning that Jem is his destined partner. After talking about this, Jem rambles about how she can be contrary and a bit stubborn which often leads to her getting into fights and being teased a lot.

In another flashback, Jem can be seen crying alone just outside in front of her house with part of her dress dirtied by some bullies. Yopopo hears Jem's cries and tries to think of a way he can help cheer her up. He then breaks into his usual song and dance which manages to get Jem's attention. Yopopo then tries to encourage her to join him to which she politely declines at first but ends up watching Yopopo continue with his song and dance. Yopopo then stops and looks back at Jem once again inviting her to join in with him to which Jem finally does so and the two of them can be seen dancing and singing together. Just as Yopopo had hoped, this ended up putting a smile on Jem's face and gave her renewed confidence to confront the bullies who were responsible for getting her dress dirty. As Jem heads off, in the distance, she sees an unusual duo consisting of a dressed up man, English Gentleman, and a bulky towering red demon, Kikuropu. Scared, Jem runs and hides behind a tree. As English Gentleman and Kikuropu stroll by, she overhears the man ask his demon if he had heard singing coming from the direction they were walking in. When all is clear, Jem steps out of hiding wondering who they could be but disregards that thought at the time to continue to where she was originally going.

Just as Jem finishes talking about this, Gash and Suzume arrive back at their original picnic spot talking about how exhausted they are trying to keep up with Yopopo's constant dancing. It is then that Jem reveals Yopopo had been dancing constantly for the past month and goes on to blame him for everything that had happened to her. As seen in yet another flashback, as Jem arrives home excited to tell Yopopo about what had happened when she confronted her bullies, she sees her home in complete ruin and her family injured and sprawled out on the floors. Waiting for her inside is the same strange pair she saw earlier that day. As Jem's mother weakly urges her to run away, English Gentleman kicks her to silence her but Jem steps in front to protect her mother. English Gentleman calmly explains he's looking for the bookkeeper of Yopopo's book and tells Jem she should be angry with Yopopo who refused to tell them where his spell book is. Jem, confused, asks English Gentleman about what does anything have to do with a book. English Gentleman then sees that Yopopo hasn't told Jem a word about anything about himself and this was when Jem had first learned about the great demon battle.

When Jem finishes this part of her story, Gash speaks up to tell Jem that he doesn't feel that Yopopo is at fault for anything that has happened. Jem however knows that she herself wants to take revenge on the two that had caused harm to her family and sees Yopopo's dance as his way of trying to attract them once again. From a distance, English Gentleman and Kikuropu overlook the hill they're standing on and see Yopopo dancing and singing away. Now that they've found him, the two of them decide that they will finish him off for good this time. Meanwhile, Jem tells Kiyomaro and Gash that despite trying to tell Yopopo to stop dancing, afraid of what disaster will happen if the same demon and bookkeeper return, he continues anyway which is the reason why Jem had started to hate him. At the end of everything, Jem thanks Kiyomaro and Gash for listening to her story and not ridiculing her for it despite how ridiculous the talk about demons may seem. Gash then tells Jem that he thinks she actually likes Yopopo to which Jem reacts in denial at hearing this claim. Kiyomaro then decides to ask Jem to tell them some more about how she really feels about Yopopo behind her contradictory feelings to which Jem smiles hearing this. Suddenly, Suzume notices that Yopopo has disappeared from where he was. Jem reacts in a panic asking everyone for their help in finding him since this means that not only had he found that same demon again, but is going to attempt to fight on his own again.

On the beach, Yopopo faces English Gentleman and Kikuropu alone and prepares to fight them without Jem's involvement. At the same time, Jem and everyone else run to search for Yopopo. While calling out for Yopopo, Jem becomes overwhelmed with tears of frustration wondering why Yopopo insists on fighting alone and remembers how badly hurt the last time he had fought by himself. Kiyomaro and Gash tell Jem the answer to this saying that Yopopo fights alone because he cares about her and doesn't want her to be put in harm's way. In the middle of Yopopo's fight, various flashbacks are shown of his memories of Jem such as the first time he saw her when she received a new dress from her mother. In another flashback, he joins Jem and the other kids in a game of hide and seek. While looking for a place to hide, Jem calls him over to hide with her in the fireplace. While there with her, Jem reaches out to hold hands with Yopopo and tells him that they're best friends and to not let go of her hand. As he remembers these moments, he tries to defend himself against Kikuropus repeated punches but is eventually knocked down.

English Gentleman demands Yopopo to tell him where his book is and warns him he'll end up the same as what had happened with Jem's family. Despite hearing this threat, Yopopo rushes at him again which causes English Gentleman to cast *Amuruku*, which attacks Yopopo head on and slams him against the white cliffs. With Jem in his thoughts still, Yopopo forces himself to get right back up to fight for Jem's sake. He then pulls a lighter out and rushes toward Kikuropu. English Gentleman scoffs at this attempt and casts *Amudo Shizarugu*,which transforms Kikuropu's arms into a scissor-like form to attack Yopopo with. Just in time however, Kiyomaro casts *Zakeru* which manages to stop Kikuropu's attack and saves Yopopo at the same time from it. Kiyomaro and Gash then announce their arrival on the scene to lend their help to Yopopo. It is there that Jem discovers that Gash and Kiyomaro are also a demon and bookkeeper pair and she cries tears of relief seeing that they're here to help Yopopo. Kiyomaro calls Yopopo to reassure him that he doesn't need to worry about Jem and encourages him to fight with everything he's got. Gash also joins in to tell Yopopo they'll protect Jem at all costs and also encourages him to fight on.

When Yopopo charges back into the battle, Jem casts their second spell, *Doremikeru*, a musical spell that manages to cause Kikuropu to tumble backwards into the ocean water when hit by this attack. Despite how strong this attack was, Kikuropu rises back up and English Gentleman laughs at their attempt to fight back as he claims their attacks are not strong enough to defeat him. English Gentleman then goes on to cast *Amurusen* which causes Kikuropu to fire sharp projectiles from his elbows. To protect Jem, Kiyomaro casts *Rashirudo* which successfully defends against this attack and even manages to reflect these projectiles back towards English Gentleman. Kikuropu however protects him against their own attack using only his hand and with only minor scratches from it. Seeing as how their first and second spells aren't effective against Kikuropu, Kiyomaro realizes there is only on last spell they have to rely on now.

Determined to destroy their books, English Gentleman unleashes another new spell, *Emuruon*, which causes Kikuropu to gather flames in his first then stretch his arm to attack Kiyomaro's group. Seeing this as now or never to use this spell, Kiyomaro reads off the fourth spell, *Baou Zakeruga*. As seconds pass, he soon sees nothing happened and wonders why it hadn't come out. Before he could think too long, Kikuropu's *Emuruon* stretches past Kiyomaro and Gash and is about to come into contact with Jem. Seeing this, Yopopo rushes in to push against Kikuropu's stretched arm to save Jem. Although it narrowly misses Jem, it does manage to graze Yopopo's book. As his book falls out of Jem's hands and onto the ground, she sees that Yopopo's book had caught on fire and rushes over to it to try and put it out but to no avail. Overcome with tears knowing what this means, she calls out to Yopopo to apologize for this to have happened. In the distance, Yopopo turns back to Jem with a smile on his face. Gash and Kiyomaro notice this as well and realize that Yopopo didn't care for the fact that his book was burning. Although he will soon disappear, all that mattered to him was Jem's safety and he continues to fight to protect her.

Moved by seeing Yopopo's will, Gash swears to Yopopo that they'll keep their promise to him to the very end and calls to Kiyomaro to help make this happen. Kiyomaro, frustrated that the spell had failed on them at such a crucial time, repeatedly hits the book demanding for the fourth spell to finally work. Finally, the spell book begins to glow bright with Gash and Kiyomaro's resolve to bring Yopopo victory in the battle. It is then Kiyomaro casts *Baou Zakeruga* once again and a large electrical dragon emerges. The sheer power of *Baou Zakeruga* instantly destroys Kikuropu's exterior armor leaving him vulnerable to a finishing blow. Jem gathers up her strength to cast one final *Doremikeru* which manages to finally take down Kikuropu. After seeing Kikuropu's spell book disintegrate into ashes, English Gentleman runs away in terror.

Meanwhile, Jem submerges Yopopo's spell book in the ocean water in hopes of putting out the fire but to no avail as his book continues to burn. Yopopo stands off to the side still smiling despite knowing he'll disappear soon. Jem rushes over to him and apologizes for the way she had treated him despite the fact that had never been a true reflection of the way she really felt about him. As Jem cries, Yopopo speaks up and says Jem's name for the first time. Jem becomes even more overwhelmed with emotion hearing this and embraces him in a hug. As they hold each other, Jem blames herself for always being too stubborn to have been honest about her feelings toward him and confesses to Yopopo that she loved him all this time. Yopopo gives a tearful smile hearing this and continues to hug her until he finally vanishes along with his book. Jem is then left standing alone holding nobody in her arms anymore. Kiyomaro, Gash, and Jem then linger on the beach for some time crying in silence for Yopopo.

## Features

### Characters by Appearance

* Suzume Mizuno
* Kiyomaro Takamine
* Gash Bell
* Zeon Bell (Flashback)
* Yopopo
* Jem
* Kikuropu
* English Gentleman

### Spells by Appearance

* Mikeru(Debut)
* Doremikeru(Debut)
* Amuruku(Debut)
* Amudo Shizarugu(Debut)
* Zakeru
* Amurusen(Debut)
* Rashirudo
* Emururon(Debut)
* Baou Zakeruga(Debut)

## Manga & Anime Differences

* All appearances Suzume has in this episode is entirely filler and has no involvement during these events in the manga.
* In the manga, Jem is already wearing her new dress by the time Yopopo had first arrived at her house and when she discovered Yopopo's spell book. In the anime, she's seen wearing her other casual attire for these scenes instead.
* In the anime, Jem talks to Kiyomaro about her stubborn and contrary behavior that gets her into fights with other kids sometimes. Jem does not mention any of this in the manga however.
* The anime introduces an additional flashback of a time when Yopopo helped cheer up Jem and her seeing English Gentleman and Kikuropu for the first time before they destroyed her home.
* In the manga, Yopopo keeps his lighter inside of his cap and takes it out from it when needed. In the anime, he's not shown taking his lighter out from his cap but instead pulls it from his side.

## Censorship & Other Localization Differences

* Jem hitting Gash across the head with a frying pan was censored over in the VIZ localization by having a brief flashing screen play over the moment of impact of each attack.
* In the original Japanese episode, as Jem and Yopopo eat together, she asks Yopopo if she could trade Yopopo her carrots for his potatoes. In the VIZ dub, these food item names are changed and Jem instead asks Yopopo if she could trade her grilled bangers for his figgy pudding.
* In the original Japanese episode, Jem directly states that she wants revenge against Kikuropu and English Gentleman. While this is seen in the Japanese episode, manga, and VIZ localized manga, in the VIZ dub of the episode she mentions how she doesn't want revenge.
* A flashback scene showing Yopopo first seeing Jem when she had received a new dress from her mother was originally intended to be silent but ended up being dubbed over in the VIZ localization.
* An additional but minor scene of Yopopo being repeatedly hit by Kikuropu was removed in the VIZ localization.
* 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 Yopopo that ended up being edited out.
* Scenes that depicted Yopopo with his lighter either ended up being removed altogether or edited over to make it look as if Yopopo is holding nothing in his hands.
* In the VIZ localization, the fire seen on Yopopo's book ended up being re-colored to green.