The anime and manga series Zatch Bell!, known in Japan as for the manga and for the anime, features an extensive cast created and illustrated by Makoto Raiku. The series takes place in Modern day Japan and follows a genius teenager named Kiyo Takamine and his Zatch Bell, a human-like being with supernatural powers. Creation and conception After Raiku's "Newtown Heroes" series in the Shonen Sunday Super ended, Raiku looked at his old drafts he created in the past for an idea for his next series. One of his ideas was about a mercenary who used a giant sword to defeat enemies. After playing with that idea for three months, Raiku decided to abandon it and go with another idea. His next idea was a story where a middle school student, the prototype of Kiyo, finds an old toy that turns into a giant knight that combats evil. After taking this up with his agent, he was advised to use a cuter character to fight and thus, Zatch was created. After Raiku worked on the idea for a month, it was published. The reason Zatch uses lightning spells is because the "rai" in his name is the Japanese word for "lightning". Protagonists Kiyo Takamine and Zatch Bell Kiyo Takamine, known in the original version as and his Mamodo partner Zatch Bell, known in the original version as , are the main protagonists of the series. Kiyo is a genius 14-year-old junior high school student with an IQ of over 180. His classmates eventually shunned him due to his high intelligence causing him to develop an introverted and apathetic demeanor to the point where he skips school on a regular basis. One day, Zatch, an overly cheerful amnesic boy, is sent by Kiyo's father to live with Kiyo. Zatch's personality slowly influences Kiyo causing him to become more outgoing and friendly and allowing him to befriend many people during the course of the series. Zatch's past is slowly unraveled and reveals he is the son of the current Mamodo King and sealed within Zatch is a power known as . Also brought to light is the fact that Zatch's twin brother, Zeno Bell, was the one who erased Zatch's memory in order to make him suffer. In battle, Zatch's spells revolve around lightning. His most powerful spell, Bao, allows him to create a huge electrical dragon. Kiyo is voiced by Takahiro