How come Zatch Bell! was never that popular outside of Japan?

Mar 1, 2019 7:42 PM

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Feb 2019

Zatch Bell (Konjiki no Gash Bell!! in Japan) seems to have only been popular in Japan, and that's it. It wasn't that big of a hit in other countries, and I wonder why that is.

Heck, I'm not even sure if it is even is still popular in Japan since the manga ended over 10 years ago, and not much Zatch bell! merchandise has been made ever since.

So I wonder why Zatch Bell! wasn't a huge hit in other countries, while other animes and mangas like Pokémon, Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Naruto, Bleach, Inuyasha, and Fullmetal Alchemist were.

And also I wonder why Zatch Bell! seems to have been forgotten, while those animes and mangas that I listed are still very much popular even by today's standards.

Zatch Bell! is one of my favorite animes and mangas ever made, and it's not fair that it doesn't get that much attention. Zatch Bell! is such an underrated anime and manga!

Mar 2, 2019 2:42 AM

removed-user

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Jul 2018

564252

I've just seen the show itself, only examples of its... odd art style. Which kind of looked atrocious.

Mar 2, 2019 5:29 AM

Alcoholicide

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Feb 2010

34598

I quite liked it, but I don't think it got a lot of advertising/marketing plus for a battle shounen it has a somewhat young target audience I feel, with the artstyle and the shibi demons and silly characters like the guy with the horse.

Coming out and airing around the same time as Naruto and Bleach, two battle shounen which look more edgy and adult in terms of art style, tone and the age of the characters, it isn't hard to see why licensors were more eager to pick those up. I don't think Gash Bell would have been as successful in the west as either of those, just like it wasn't in Japan. Especially when they probably had much more hype from the source material at the time as well.

I probably regret this post by now.

Mar 2, 2019 5:43 AM

Striker-3649

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Apr 2016

401

Dont know about other countries but it was pretty popular here in India back in the days.

Mar 2, 2019 9:21 AM

MonsterTeeth

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Feb 2019

Striker-3649 said:
Dont know about other countries but it was pretty popular here in India back in the days.

Even if it was popular in India in those days, I'm pretty sure today it's not popular there anymore. It's sad that Zatch Bell! seems to have been forgotten.

Mar 2, 2019 9:31 AM

FMmatron

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Nov 2016

31697

Yeah, it's a pretty nice series, but the style would put most off.

One Piece episode 914 & 915 & 1027 were a mistake and 957 brought the salvation - FMmatron

Mar 3, 2019 8:14 AM

LoveLikeBlood

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Jul 2014

6874

Thread moved from Anime Discussion

Take care of yourself

Mar 25, 2020 9:20 AM

Beguni

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Dec 2014

338

Well it aired for sometime in India and luckily I was able to watch some random episodes.
For India it's mostly because of censorships. Like Parco's ridiculous anthem or that Ms Boing(member of Majestic 12) is enough for it to get cancelled.

Jul 21, 2021 5:26 AM

Anayan_Kashyap

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Oct 2020

1659

Striker-3649 said:
Dont know about other countries but it was pretty popular here in India back in the days.

yup very great anime imo, the manga rating is very good and it deserves that but still the anime rating could've been better

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Jul 11, 2022 5:16 AM

#10

LoneTrain

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Jan 2017

Very childish... That format doesn't work anymore

Jun 28, 2023 11:10 AM

#11

Allwynd

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Jan 2014

187

LoneTrain said:
Very childish... That format doesn't work anymore

I'm watching Konjiki no Gash Bell for the first time in 2023, I never watched it before, only barely knew about it and I'm loving it. I understand it's old, childish and Shounen and I'm enjoying it a lot.

It reminds me of Hunter X Hunter (the 1999 superior version), MAR, Ueki no Housoku, Shaman King, Yu-Gi-Oh! and a few more early 2000s animes and I think they are much better than the animes in the past 10 years.

Now everything is trying to be super serious (more like super serial/cereal), they are trying to have those "badass" characters and plots and take themselves super seriously, I'm talking about overrated POS trash like Shingeki no Kyojin or Sword Art Online and they just come off as forced to look and mature when they really aren't.

I can watch something like Konjiki no Gash Bell even 20 years from now and still enjoy it and appreciate it, because the anime is so simplistic and predictable that it's not trying at all to be taking itself seriously - it just goes on until the end and that's it. I have read somewhere that the anime ends differently from the manga, but that doesn't really matter to me, because such animes should not be taken seriously or anything, they should just be enjoyed as they are and after you watch them, you should move on.

Jul 9, 2023 7:50 AM

#12

LoneTrain

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Jan 2017

You gotta be kidding me dude. This show is pretty childish, only a kid or nostalgifags would appreciate that.

I recommend you read ThatAnimeSnob review about the manga that is on manga page.

Apr 22, 12:39 PM

#13

Towlie-Towl

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Aug 2021

Reply to LoneTrain

You gotta be kidding me dude. This show is pretty childish, only a kid or nostalgifags would appreciate that.

I recommend you read ThatAnimeSnob review about the manga that is on manga page.

@LoneTrain bro really said watch ThatAnimeSnob when snob betrayed every single one of his "what makes a great manga" points to say gash bell was bad. He cannot review anime like gash cause he knows it's way better than hxh and on par with AnJ.

See All Discussions

Poll: » Konjiki no Gash Bell!! Episode 1 Discussion gregory003 - Jul 27, 2011	13	by 51031 »» Aug 25, 8:23 PM
Poll: » Konjiki no Gash Bell!! Episode 18 Discussion roddypii - Jun 14, 2015	8	by GreenPoPo »» Jan 16, 12:23 AM
» Help: Zatch Bell filler episodes? JoNuttanon1994 - Dec 27, 2023	3	by Shinigami_3 »» Dec 28, 2023 6:21 PM
Poll: » Konjiki no Gash Bell!! Episode 2 Discussion xFo0x - Oct 28, 2012	6	by dopeman_oro »» Nov 21, 2023 3:59 PM
» They should make a remake BauaMarega - Jul 2, 2023	14	by phantomfandom »» Aug 25, 2023 12:56 AM

How come Zatch Bell! was never that popular outside of Japan?

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Poll: » Konjiki no Gash Bell!! Episode 1 Discussion

Poll: » Konjiki no Gash Bell!! Episode 18 Discussion

» Help: Zatch Bell filler episodes?

Poll: » Konjiki no Gash Bell!! Episode 2 Discussion

» They should make a remake

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