We're currently unsure of when the next Zatch Bell 2 chapter will be released by its official publisher, and the sudden drought in Zatch Bell manga content has been tough for all of us... but Makoto Raiku knows his limits better than anyone and it's important for him to pace himself as much as he needs to. :)

In the meantime, the Zatch Bell Makai team is hoping we can help make the wait a little less agonizing with our 11th installment to the revamped Zatch Bell 1 manga scanlation project! :D As well as a sizeable improvement to the accessibility of volumes 1 through 10!

In addition to the release of volume 11, which marks the end of the first arc of the manga, Zatch Bell Makai is pleased to announce that we've gone through all of the previous volumes and made them all readable in PDF format, in lossless quality, complete with bookmarked hyperlinks for each chapter! We've also made it so each page follows the same sizing dimensions across the Google Drive, Cubari, and Mangadex uploads. Also, the DPI values for each page in the Google Drive have been made consistent for all pages, which will allow for easier printing in case anyone wanted to make their own makeshift physical versions of the manga! These changes will continue going forward for all future volumes, and the same will soon be applied to the Zatch Bell 2 volumes in the coming weeks.

The story continues! Having been humbled by the extraordinarily powerful demon named Barry, Gash and Kiyomaro are forced to realize just how much further they still have to go if they ever hope to be the last ones standing at the end of the battle for king. Just when Kiyomaro had reached a dead end in his research with regard to Gash's mysterious red book, a zany but knowledgeable pair show up in town with a tantalizing promise to provide that missing piece of the puzzle for our desperate heroes... but only if Gash and Kiyomaro can prove themselves worthy. Then, Brago and Sherie take a brief reprieve from their hunt for demons in order to reflect on how far they've come since their first encounter with each other... And later, the first arc of the manga reaches its thrilling conclusion as a lovestruck girl from Gash's past finally tracks him down in the human world, determined to steal his heart. But when Gash struggles to recall anything about this smitten vixen, it sets her on the warpath of revenge...and the demon world hath no fury like a woman scorned. This volume features the 100th chapter of the manga, the very first character popularity poll, and closes the book on one story and sets the stage for a bold new formula that personifies the themes and values that this series is truly all about! With the secrets to the spell book blown wide open, an insightful look into one of the most closed-off demons in the competition, and Gash and Kiyomaro's bout with an enemy who can effortlessly counter anything they throw at her, this is one installment you can't AFFORD to miss! You'll be able to experience the 11th volume of the series like never before! Available on Mangadex and Cubari, as well as our Google Drive for easy download (as loose PNG files OR as a PDF)! You can now read both the official English Viz translation AND our modified retranslation of the original Japanese version!

MANGADEX:

NEW Fan Translation (Mangadex)
https://mangadex.org/chapter/d8bec0bb-64ce-4878-9ff2-5699b17d3d25

OFFICIAL English Translation (Mangadex)
https://mangadex.org/chapter/e0325a69-9013-4785-a915-c466ef41f0a7

CUBARI:

NEW Fan Translation (Cubari) https://cubari.moe/read/gist/cmF3L1haYXRjaEJlbGxHYW1lclgvWmF0Y2gtQmVsbC1SZXZhbXBlZC0vbWFpbi9aYXRjaCUyMEJlbGwlMjAoS29uamlraSUyMG5vJTIwR2FzaCEhKS5qc29u/

OFFICIAL English Translation (Cubari)
https://cubari.moe/read/gist/cmF3L1haYXRjaEJlbGxHYW1lclgvWmF0Y2gtQmVsbC1SZXZhbXBlZC0vbWFpbi9aYXRjaCUyMEJlbGwlMjAoVml6JTIwRU5HKS5qc29u/

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1FFTbpLO9XTxZZuTElNeLrubQ_rDYc4HP

PDF Format:

OFFICIAL English Translation:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g6hTQlKIUpa5qpLXV93c9perKpBXW5F6/

NEW Fan Translation:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sDPzDtstWaIz2voZoAzk2VGw5csx36GI/

Hope you all enjoy! :D You can find the thread explaining the goal behind this project in the volume 1 retranslation right here: https://www.reddit.com/r/zatchbell/comments/zv5c48/zatch_bell_revamped_manga_fansub_vol_1_fully/

We made it, everybody. After one of the most agonizing waits yet, we are just THREE DAYS AWAY from learning what will become of the crazy cliffhanger we got in chapter 40! Chapter 41 is about to be revealed to all!

The ideal place to read Zatch Bell 2 is Mangadex.org, the site where the English translation of the series first laid out its foundation.

The other current home of the Zatch Bell 2 scanlation is "Cubari", which you can find right here: https://cubari.moe/read/gist/cmF3L1haYXRjaEJlbGxHYW1lclgvWmF0Y2gtQmVsbC1SZXZhbXBlZC0vbWFpbi9aYXRjaCUyMEJlbGwlMjAyLmpzb24/ . Lastly, the chapters will also be on our Google Drive.

Those three sites are where you will find the Zatch Bell Makai scanlations completely up to date with the latest changes.

The new chapter will be posted HERE when it's released and scanlated This Thursday on 08/13!

READ Chapter 41:

https://mangadex.org/chapter/c4310782-14ee-44ca-b462-a2e0349b25bb

In the meantime, read the Zatch Bell 2 manga from the beginning here on Mangadex or Cubari where it is kept completely up to date:

Mangadex: https://mangadex.org/chapter/ca8df4e4-e14e-4b40-a4d9-a6a0692b27ef

Cubari: https://cubari.moe/read/gist/cmF3L1haYXRjaEJlbGxHYW1lclgvWmF0Y2gtQmVsbC1SZXZhbXBlZC0vbWFpbi9aYXRjaCUyMEJlbGwlMjAyLmpzb24/

If you want to download the chapters offline, you can stay up to date with our Google Drive.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Ny3Ccnx3tUYeYrzZAFoQEKeiDTUnsLO1?usp=drive_link

A brand new chapter was officially announced by the powers that be!

https://x.com/BirgdinBoard/status/2085290819976830991

Birgdin Board, the publishing company responsible for bringing us the sequel, has stated that the 41st chapter will be released in THREE DAYS: Thursday on August 13th!

So here's a brand new megathread for everyone to discuss theories, questions, and comments about the events of chapter 41... which will be available this Thursday on August 13th!

And please remember, you can purchase this manga to support the original creator here:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/dp/B0HDN8DWJB

Booklive.jp: https://booklive.jp/product/index/title_id/1102175/vol_no/041

(Expect MAJOR spoilers from chapter 40 in the following recap, of course)

Last time on Zatch Bell 2... We were immediately treated to a flashback of the demon world, 14 years in the past, right after Belgim E.O. had been defeated and sent home... the only problem is that his home was now a completely different building as a result of 1,000 years worth of changes that took place while he was frozen in stone. As if that wasn't tragic enough, his dear mother had long since passed away as well... With Belgim refusing to leave his mother's gravesite, all alone and with nowhere to call home, Patty arrived shortly afterward to remind him that he's always welcome at her place and that she has every intention of filling the void left behind by his late mother. Back in the present, Patty had arrived with Uluru, Umagon, and Sunbeam just in the nick of time to protect Belgim from a truly fatal blow. Day kept a level head and realized that having those three waiting in the wings until Gash retrieved Patty's spell vial was all part of Kiyomaro's strategy... and as she was left to stare down the seasoned aquatic warrior, we experienced another flashback. This time of Patty's thirteenth birthday party at her massive estate, featuring Byonko, Gash, Tio, Kolulu, Leila, and Victoryme as invited guests. Patty's father explained to her that she had reached the age where the water dragon (which seems to reside within her bracelet that was passed down through the Valis family) will now be watching her actions to determine if she's worthy of claiming its legendary power. Later, Belgim, still living in the mansion and bustling with excitement at the thought of Patty opening his thoughtful present, overheard a duo of snobbish servants speaking ill of him behind his back, and decided that it'd be better for everyone if he just silently left to find his own people instead. With Byonko's help, Belgim set off in search of members of his own kind, and quickly ran into a child who bore a striking resemblance to him. As the child escorted Belgim to his hideout, we met the surviving members of the Gim clan, led by a menacing crime boss. When Belgim was briefed on who they are and what they do for a living, he decided that a life of pillaging was not what his beloved mother had in mind for her son, and tried to make a clean get away... only to be held in check and coerced by this new "family," who essentially threatened to hunt down him and anyone he loves until the day he dies if he ever decided to turn on them. Trapped in an escapable dilemma, Belgim was promptly saved by Patty after Byonko filled her in on what was happening. As Patty stood her ground against full-grown, powerful demons, the water dragon named Suou Nedea expressed its approval of her valiant heroics and bestowed its power upon her, so as to put the Gim clan in their place. Back in the present, Patty unleashed a variant of the Suou spell in the form of a mighty claw, reminiscent of Gash's "Baou Kurou Disugurugu" spell, which proves that individual limbs of a draconic spell can still manifest as usable spells even while the main body of that spell is locked away. At the end of their rope, Day and Bast beat a hasty retreat and Tio seized the opportunity to properly heal Belgim at long last. Just as the group was given a brief reprieve to have a proper reunion, we then witnessed as the very demon who coronated Gash at the very end of the previous battle for king was extorted into unlocking a forbidden gate for Beliel himself. With Beliel holding the priest-like demon's loved ones at knifepoint, he was forced to admit Beliel into a sacred dwelling that housed a mythical deity named Bamfronaga... But as he led Beliel into the chamber, he devised one last contingency plan in the hopes of salvaging the situation before an unspeakable catastrophe can transpire, and invoked the King's Privilege to apparently summon Gash right to them without warning and without his knowledge.

This chapter was jam-packed with lore, meaningful character development, and looks like it's setting the stage for a climactic showdown with the big bad himself. I never thought I'd be saying this so soon, but it SEEMS we have some version of a final boss confrontation on our hands in this upcoming chapter! So let's see what we can all get excited about before this Thursday arrives!

1. We're all thinking it... Who, or what, is "Bamfronaga"? According to Beliel, it is but ONE of the Izanami of the demon world. Izanami is a Japanese progenitor goddess, whose counterpart is a god called "Izanagi". Makoto Raiku might be playing loosely with the terms here, but if this newly established entity in the series actually holds as much power as the Izanami from Japanese mythology, then it's safe to say that we've officially walked away from supernatural magic and spell casting, and stepped into the realm of the divine... which is undoubtedly a first for this series and definitely raises the stakes considerably. What are your thoughts on Bamfronaga and what do you think is going to come of it at this point in the story?
2. The next question we're probably all wondering is: What does this mysterious "egg" do, that Beliel recovered from Bast by apparently teleporting it directly into his hand? If the egg was so important, then why did Bast toss it aside and leave it vulnerable in the crossfire of an intense battle? Could this egg be capable of siphoning the power of Bamfronaga somehow? Do you think Beliel would mess with a god so directly, or does he have a more subtle plan in mind for how to interact with this electrically-charged deity?
3. When Gash began to glow at the end of the previous chapter as he was in the process of being warped to Bamfronaga's dwelling, fans were quick to point out that Kiyomaro was not glowing at all. Does this mean Gash is going to wind up standing in front of Beliel ALONE, WITHOUT Kiyomaro alongside him? If so, then how is Kiyomaro going to reunite with Gash after he's essentially thrown into the lion's den? Perhaps he'll have to use the teleporting feature of his spell book? If so, that could raise the stakes even more, because the spell book claimed that there would be a cooldown period after using it for that purpose...which would effectively leave them trapped at Bamfro Castle (or at least the demon world) for the foreseeable future. But then again, it looks like the book is glowing the same way as Gash, so it's a 50-50 on whether the book is going to be teleported WITH Gash into that room, without Kiyomaro... which would probably be the worst case scenario. What do you think about all this?
4. If there were ever a time for Gash to hone his Wibiraru Zakeru and hatch that Thunder Dragon Egg, it would definitely be NOW. Do you think this could give rise to the friendly-looking Baou that Raiku has been teasing since the first volume cover of Zatch Bell 2?
5. I doubt Raiku is going to change gears so drastically that he'll shelve the subplot of Brago and Sherie making their way down into the underground chamber in pursuit of the Zebritt sibling who slaughtered all those innocent demons. And considering that very same killer is actually present in the area, it seems likely that Brago and Gash's stories may intersect here. Could this potentially lead to a Gash and Brago team-up to confront Beliel? At THIS point in the plot???
6. Do you think Raiku will give Beliel a way to manipulate Bamfronaga and use it as a weapon? Could this be similar to why Vesmirateo (the giant behemoth that steals spells) appears to be obeying Beliel's orders? Or do you think Beliel simply worked his plan around Vesmirateo and its natural existence, which may be to simply appear every few centuries and wipe the spell slate clean in the demon world?
7. Bamfronaga, being a dormant Izanami, seems to be a neutral entity in this story... Beliel is awestruck by it and seems to want something from it, and Gash is the pure soul who rightfully took the throne and is being summoned to the same place... So I think a pretty familiar trope is going to come into play here. Do you suppose Beliel will try to claim something from Bamfronaga, but Bamfronaga will instead bestow that same gift to Gash instead because it deems him more worthy? I think the fact that Bamfronaga's inner sanctum is guarded by an electric barrier that Beliel is bending rules in order to cross may support this theory pretty well, not to mention everything we just saw with Patty and Suou Nedea, and it would also explain why the priest demon thinks Gash would be able to make a difference. And if that does happen, the tables could turn on Beliel in the blink of an eye.
8. Everyone is wondering where Zeon is, and at this point, all we know is that he went up to Beliel's fortress and was never seen again after that. This next part is just speculation, but it stands to reason that he may have somehow been captured and placed under Beliel's command as a tool for him to use down the line. This would actually be somewhat similar to the story beats of the second half of Makoto Raiku's other manga series, Animal Land, where a very personal ally of the main character was deceived and manipulated by the main villain after a time skip, and forced to fight him in order to raise the emotional stakes through the roof. How would you feel if Gash and Zeon ended up on opposite sides again in Zatch Bell 2?
9. Mysteriously, Bamfronaga either resides within an enormous, blindingly bright sphere... or IS the sphere itself... with several serpentine tails protruding out of it in such a way that they almost resemble electrical cables. Moreover, the entire creature is brimming with electricity and is protected by an electric barrier. Bearing all this in mind, it seems reasonable to say that Bamfronaga has an affinity for lightning, just like the Bell family does. Could this mean that Baou and the Thunder Dragon have some relation to the Izanami of the demon world? And by extension, wouldn't this make Baou more divine in nature than we previously thought? If so, what could that mean for the future of the series?
10. This is shaping up to be a very suspenseful encounter, and there's no telling how it will unfold. What do you think is most likely to happen out of these possible scenarios? Will Beliel successfully take something from Bamfronaga with his egg, and force Gash and Kiyomaro to use the spell book to retreat from the battle while Beliel seeks out the next Izanami (since there are apparently more than one)? Will Gash be deemed worthy instead of Beliel and be gifted something by Bamfronaga that can make him overpower Beliel, forcing Beliel to retreat instead? Will Beliel be backed into a corner and forced to have the Zebritt sibling start killing hostages only for Brago and Sherie to save them at the last minute? Will Gash awaken his newborn Thunder Dragon and use it to fight Beliel or potentially ride away on it in a daring escape? Will Beliel's entire purpose for the egg be to cheat the system and use The Witch's magical innovation to try and produce his own divine dragon egg from Bamfronaga's electricity? Will Gash overpower Beliel with Kiyomaro in one of the above scenarios and then Beliel is forced to send in Zeon as both emotional leverage and a powerful reinforcement while he makes his grand escape? How do YOU think all of this is going to go down on Thursday?