Zatch Bell! creator Makoto Raiku announced that Konjiki no Gash!! 2, AKA Zatch Bell! 2, will be coming to digital shelves in mid-March. While there is little other information currently available about this new manga, Raiku has promised to give an exact release date when it is decided.
The series' creator took to Twitter today to announce the new series with a special video featuring "heroic music" that shows off its logo. Check out the video below.
With over thirty-three volumes and one-hundred-fifty episodes to its name, there's no denying the impact that Zatch Bell! had on the world of anime and manga. While it's a rare shonen anime not currently fully available on streaming services, fans haven't forgotten how much the series has to offer. With two movies, Zatch Bell!: 101st Devil and Zatch Bell!: Attack of Mechavulcan, ten video games, and even a trading card game that sold over 300 million units, there's no denying that fans are still hungry for content from the Zatch Bell! franchise.
It is quite possible that this sequel series is being published only in digital form due to previous issues with the original run's publisher, Shogakukan and its Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine. Raiku opted to no longer work with them after suing them and winning 2.55 million yen (about $26,000 USD) over lost colored artwork that was never returned to him after Zatch Bell! ended.
As for if the series will get a release in English for western audiences, that too is extremely up in the air. Viz Media only published twenty-five volumes of the original series in English and only one-hundred episodes of the anime before dropping the series. The dub of the anime was originally poorly received, though several voice actors involved — including Debi Derryberry, Jason Spisak, Dave Wittenberg, and Philence Sampler — all eventually were nominated for awards for their various roles. While it's not impossible that the manga and its sequel could finally get a proper release, fans shouldn't hold their breaths.
Zatch Bell!originally aired on Toonami from 2005 to 2007 in the United States. Currently, the episodes that were fully dubbed by Viz Media are available on Crunchyroll with the other fifty episodes still unavailable to legally stream.