Apollo, The Free Traveler: Part 2

Article

Transcript

Apollo, The Free Traveler: Part 2
Titles
Kanji	決戦! 勝利への執念
Rōmaji	Kessen! Shōri e no Shūnen
Translation	The Decisive Battle! The Will to Win
VIZ Title	Apollo, The Free Traveler: Part 2
Information
Season	1
Episode #	25
Arc	Encounter Arc
Chapter(s)	61, 62
Releases
Japan	September 28, 2003
English	August 27, 2005
EPISODE GUIDE
PREVIOUSApollo, The Free Traveler NEXTA Day With Zatch

The Decisive Battle! The Will to Win (決戦! 勝利への執念, Kessen! Shōri e no Shūnen), also known as Apollo, The Free Traveler: Part 2 in the English localization, is the 25^th episode of the Konjiki no Gash Bell!!/Zatch Bell! Anime. This episode first aired in Japan on September 28, 2003, and in America on August 27, 2005.

Synopsis

Zatch and Kiyo are locked in a fierce Mamodo battle with Rops and Apollo, but Apollo seems to know how Kiyo thinks. This make Kiyo panic for a bit. Thankfully Zatch gets him back to his senses and they get in a shot. Zatch then asks what kind of king he wants to be. Rops simply holds up his scarf. Apollo explains how he and Rops met. One day Apollo went into a country that was impossible to leave. Apollo gets directions out of the country with some kids. Rops was among those kids and when they were close, a gate blocked their way out. Apollo refused to give up though and that caused Rops' book to glow. Using his spell, Rops is able to get Apollo over the gate. The kids let Rops go with them and give him a scarf. After the story, Apollo realized that Rops wanted to be a king of freedom. They use their strongest spell against Kiyo who countered with Baou Zakeruga. There's a massive explosion but Zatch and Kiyo are unable to move due to exhaustion. That evening Apollo and Rops leave to continue exploring the world.

Full Summary

In an attempt to return Kiyo’s supplies he had left behind earlier that day, Suzy manages to get lost walking in circles trying to find his house. She would eventually find herself relieved to run into Ponygon and plead for him to take her to Kiyo’s house. Meanwhile at the quarry, Kiyo and Zatch find themselves in a tricky situation being unable to retrieve their spell book on the ground right in front of Rops who has them stopped in their tracks. Kiyo ends up taking a chance and retrieves the book which causes Rops to fly back towards Apollo.

Apollo, still showing no sign of holding back, casts Riguron to hurl several large boulders towards Kiyo and Zatch. The pair counter this attack using their second spell, Rashield, which successfully defends them from the boulders. Suspicious of the shield before it even deflects the boulders, Apollo runs off with Rops just in time to avoid the electrified projectiles. Kiyo finds himself in complete disbelief at this wondering how Apollo could have known that would happen. Despite this, Kiyo sees that he has to use this opportunity to attack and reads out his fourth spell, Bao Zakeruga.

To everyone’s surprise, nothing happens and Apollo assumes that that had been nothing more than a feint attack. Kiyo tries to figure this mystery out as he recalls that this spell hadn’t worked the first time when they teamed up with Yopopo. Although disappointed in Zatch and Kiyo’s battle efforts, Apollo continues to cast Riguron to attack the two of them in every possible direction and destroy all the rocks in the surrounding area. While trying to evade these attacks, Kiyo struggles to come up with a plan on what to do next as he sees that he’s at a clear disadvantage with Apollo as his opponent. He finds himself frozen trying to think of a strategy as a large boulder is flung his way. In the nick of time however, Zatch uses his body to knock this boulder away to protect Kiyo. Soon after, Zatch confronts Kiyo about what’s been going on with him as he sees that Kiyo has been struggling to fight back. Kiyo quietly admits some of his ongoing fears to Zatch, saying that he feels as though they can’t win. Zatch in response reminds Kiyo of the promise they had made to Kolulu. Zatch continues and says he cannot lose and is counting on him more than anything to help him win this battle.

Hearing this reinvigorates Kiyo as he reminds himself that they are just as strong and experienced as Apollo and Rops and feels there’s no reason they should lose to them. After promising Zatch he’ll make him king no matter what, Kiyo lets off a loud yell before returning his focus to the battle. They soon waste no time casting Zaker towards Apollo and Rops to cause dust to build up around them. In a defensive measure, Apollo casts Riguron to prepare for Kiyo’s surprise attack in an attempt to grab their book. Rops uses Riguron to grab Kiyo’s leg and fling him away from them. At the same time, Zatch leaps towards Apollo from behind to hit him with another Zaker but barely misses as Apollo jumps out of the way. As Apollo casts Riguron once again to hurl another barrage of boulders towards Zatch and Kiyo, he takes notice of Zatch and Kiyo’s use of teamwork and their will to win. He also notices their red spell book pulsating with a bright light and figures that the more they attack, the more power the book emits.

When Kiyo points towards Apollo and Rops, signaling Zatch to look in that direction, the two react by accidentally separating away from each other. Too late to realize who they’re really targeting, Apollo watches as Rops is struck head-on by Zaker and collapses to the ground soon after. He rushes over to Rops’ side only to find himself surprised seeing Rops force himself to stand back up again despite being in pain. Looking at Rops and remembering his initial feelings about the battle to decide king, Apollo realizes he’s had a change of heart and tells Rops he’s going to help him become king. After hearing this, Zatch calls out to Rops telling him he aims to become a kind ruler then asks what kind of king he wants to be. To try and answer this, Rops gathers the torn pieces of his yellow scarf scattered on the ground and shows it to Apollo which causes him to recall a very specific memory.

A flashback is then shown to take place some time ago in a rural village within the mountains. Two children, a young boy and his older sister, as well as Rops, are seen on the outskirts of the village. Some time during the day, Apollo pulls up near the children with his car and asks the two of them for help on getting out of the area. While in the car with Apollo, he learns from them that all the borders in the area have been closed which makes people there unable to cross into neighboring countries. When asked where they’re heading, the girl tells Apollo she has always wanted to be able to see the outside world and heard about a secret passage they can use. The group however ends up finding themselves stopped before a large iron gate that’s preventing them from traveling any further. Rops, seeing Apollo frustrated with this, jumps over to him and tries to comfort him by patting him on the head.

Suddenly, Rops’ blue spell book begins to glow from inside the girl’s bag. When Apollo opens the book, he’s greeted with mostly strange writing he cannot read except for one passage that shows Rops’ first spell, Riguron. When reading the spell out loud, Apollo finds himself propelled over the gate by Rops’ spell. The girl then tells Apollo that they were never able to read the book and after a brief pause, she requests Apollo to take Rops with him. While Rops thinks at first the kids will be able to go with him, the girl explains to him that given the circumstances had the gate not been there and had they been truly free, only then they would be able to come along. As a parting gift, she takes out a yellow scarf from her bag and gives it to Rops as something for him to remember them by. After a tearful parting, Apollo casts the spell once again and Rops soon joins him over the wall. Back in the battle, Apollo takes the torn scarf pieces and declares to Kiyo and Zatch that Rops aims to become the king of freedom. As Apollo looks towards Zatch and Kiyo, knowing that they have a goal just like them worth fighting for, he finally decides it’s time to use their ultimate spell, Dino Riguron.

Casting the spell causes Rops to materialize large chains and even larger anchor hooks to pull an even larger boulder out of the surrounding cliff-side. Despite having saved most of his energy for his final spell, the spell itself is proving to be strenuous for Apollo to maintain. Despite visibly staggering from it, he reassures Rops by reminding him of the promise he made to him to help him become king. Seeing what they’re up against and believing there’s no better time for it, Kiyo decides he will cast Bao Zakeruga once again. The strong desire to win the battle and ultimately make Zatch king proves to be enough to successfully cast Bao Zakeruga just in time to counter the incoming boulder. The two eventually clash in midair before finally the boulder, and Bao Zakeruga itself, destroy each other in the collision. Although blown back a bit as a result of the collision, Kiyo forces himself to try and get up, worried that Apollo is going to attack again, but to no avail as he soon collapses on the ground. Luckily, Kiyo soon sees that like him, Apollo finds himself unable to get up also. After telling Kiyo how he would like to continue this battle again someday, he then goes on to tell him his thoughts. While he didn’t win and he’s exceeded his own limits, he can’t help but feel good still.

The two pairs end up sitting with each other talking as the sun starts to set. Apollo talks to Kiyo about the fact he had seen his book continue to emit power the more they fought and how it had reached the peak of its power before the final attack. Kiyo questions Apollo about this concept and Apollo theorizes that as the battle creates the feeling of tension, that tension is then transferred to the book where it would then be emitted in a burst of power. After thinking about what Apollo had told him, he then sees that Apollo is able to stand up again and offers for him to stay at his house for the night. Apollo takes him up on this but wants to be able to stroll around before that. Back home, Kiyo and Zatch see that Suzy and Ponygon tried to put back together the broken wall but the wall comes crumbling down just as they were ready to show it off.

Now night time, Apollo and Rops admire the stars in the sky as they walk. Apollo then sees Rops choose a path on a forked road that he points out is not the right way to Kiyo’s house. Despite this, Rops still shows he’s eager to go that way regardless. Seeing there’s no changing his mind, Apollo follows behind Rops as Rops cheerfully leads the way.

New content shown

Spells

• Dino Rignon

Manga & Anime Differences

• In the anime, Rops is seen being able to attack with Riguron from the ground and soon afterwards uses Riguron to destroy the surrounding rocks in the area. In the manga, Rops isn't seen using this spell in such a way and continues to throw boulders towards Zatch and Kiyo rather than destroy any hiding spots for them.
• In the manga, Rops uses Riguron to propel Apollo above Zatch's Zakeru attack in order to dodge it. In the anime, Apollo jumps over the lightning blast on his own.
• Apollo and Rops' story of how they met in the anime is entirely anime-original.
• it is revealed that the kind of king Rops wants to be is a king of freedom. In the manga, It is never explained what kind of king Rops aims to be.

Localization Differences

• 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 Zatch's shoulder and Kiyo's face that were later edited out.
• A flashback plays of earlier events where Apollo expresses he has no interest in the battle to decide king and Kiyo eventually asking Apollo if how things are is truly how he wants it to be. In the VIZ localization of the episode, while Apollo's comment remains, all other dialogue is removed which leaves the rest of the flashback mostly silent.
• In the original Japanese episode, the children featured in the filler story of Ropes and Apollo meeting each other mention very clearly that they are aware they are not truly free and the young girl expresses a desire to be able to see the outside world eventually. In the VIZ localization, these themes are not expressed as clearly as how it was in the Japanese episode.

Trivia

• N/A

Episode Guide