Yo-Kai Watch ♪

Alternate Title

妖怪ウォッチ♪

Background

Yo-Kai Watch is a mixed media franchise created and produced by Level 5. The first release in the franchise was the 2012 manga written by Noriyuki Konishi that began serialization in Shogakukan’s CoroCoro Comic in December and for which 18 tankobon volumes have been published. Five other manga adaptations followed including Yo-kai Watch: Exciting Nyanderful Days by Chikako Mori which has been serialized since February 2014 first in Pucchigumi and then in Ciao; 4-Panel Yo-kai Watch: Geragera Manga Theater by Coconas Rumba which has been serialized in CoroCoro Comic SPECIAL since October 2014; Yo-kai Watch: 4-Panel Pun-Club by Santa Harukaze which began serialization in CoroCoro Ichiban! in April 2015; Komasan 〜A Time for Fireworks and Miracles〜 by Sho Shibamoto which was serialized in Hibana from April to September 2015; and Yo-kai Watch Busters by Atsushi Ohba which was serialized in CoroCoro Comic from June to October 2015.

The franchise is also well-known for its video game series which began with Yo-kai Watch released in 2013 on the Nintendo 3DS. Since then it has spawned a variety of main sequels and spin-offs including console games Yo-kai Watch 2 (2014) Yo-kai Watch Blasters (2015), Yo-kai Watch Dance: Just Dance Special Version (2015), Yo-kai Sangokushi (2016), Yo-kai Watch 3 (2016), Yo-kai Watch Busters 2 (2017), Yo-kai Watch 4 (2019), and Yo-kai Watch Jam: Yo-kai Academy Y - Waiwai Gakuen Seikatsu (2020), and smartphone games Yo-kai Taiso Dai-Ichi Puzzle da Nyan (2013), Yo-kai Land (2015), Yo-kai Watch: Puni Puni (2015), Yo-kai Watch: Wibble Wobble (2016), Yo-kai Watch: Gerapo Rhythm (2018), Yo-kai Daijiten (2018), Yo-kai Sangokushi: Kunitori Wars (2018), Yo-kai Watch World (2018), and Yo-kai Watch: Medal Wars (2019). Along with the console and smartphone games, a Data Carddass trading card game titled Yo-kai Watch: Tomodachi UkiUkipedia was also released in 2014.

A series of animated films have been created for the franchise beginning with Yo-kai Watch: The Movie in 2014. Other titles released to date include Yo-kai Watch: Enma Daio to Itsutsu no Monogatari da Nyan! (2015), Yo-kai Watch: Soratobu Kujira to Double no Sekai no Daiboken da Nyan! (2016), Yo-kai Watch Shadowside: Oni-o no Fukkatsu (2017), Yo-kai Watch: Forever Friends (2018), and Yo-Kai Watch: Yo-Kai Gakuen Y - Neko wa Hero ni Nareru ka (2019).

The franchise has also found success in its various anime adaptations which includes Yo-Kai Watch which was directed by Shinji Ushiro and produced by OLM and ran from January 2014 to March 2018, spanning 214 episodes total. This was followed up by Yo-kai Watch Shadowside directed by Fumiya Hojo which ran from April 2018 to March 2019 and spanned 49 episodes; Yo-kai Watch! which was directed by Ryousuke Senbo and ran from April to December 2019 and spanned 36 episodes; and Yo-kai Watch Jam - Yo-kai Academy Y: Close Encounters of the N Kind which was directed by Fumiya Hojo, began airing in December 2019, and is scheduled to conclude in April 2021 after its 64th episode.

The newest anime adaptation, titled Yo-kai Watch ♪, is being produced by OLM Team Inoue and features series composition by Yoichi Kato, character designs by Takuzo Nagano, Miho Tanaka, and Toshiya Yamada, and music by Kenichiro Saigo. The anime’s opening theme song is "Gera Gera Po no Uta" by King Cream Soda, and the ending theme song is "Yo-kai Taiso Dai-ichi" by Jibanyan Koma-san Yoshiki Risa ♪. The anime will premiere in Japan on April 9, 2021 on TV Tokyo.

Characters

Keita Amano (Voiced by: Haruka Tomatsu)
The protagonist of the series. He obtains a Yo-kai Watch after freeing Whisper from a capsule toy and is able to befriend Yo-Kai and summon them into battle.

Whisper (Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki)
A Slippery tribe Yo-kai who befriends Keita and acts as his guide to the Yo-kai World.

Jibanyan (Voiced by: Etsuko Kozakura)
A Charming Tribe cat Yo-kai who becomes friends with Keita.

Fumika Kodama (Voiced by: Aya Endo)
A classmate of Keita’s. She is highly intelligent and is admired by Keita.

Komasan (Voiced by: Aya Endo)
Charming Tribe lion dog Yo-kai whom Keita and Whisper meet on their travels.

Komajiro (Voiced by: Aya Endo)
Komasan's younger brother. He is more outgoing than Komasan.

Gorota Kumashima (Voiced by: Toru Nara)
Keita’s classmate and close friend. His nickname is Bear.

Kanchi Imada (Voiced by: Chie Sato)
Keita’s friend and classmate who often hangs out with Gorota.

Komami (Voiced by: Yukari Tamura)

Inaho (Voiced by: Aoi Yuuki)

USApyon (Voiced by: Hana Sato)

Music

Opening Theme Song: "Gera Gera Po no Uta" by King Cream Soda
Ending Theme Song: "Yo-kai Taiso Dai-ichi" by Jibanyan Koma-san Yoshiki Risa♪

• Website (Japanese)

• Series Composition: Yoichi Kato
• Character Design: Takuzo Nagano, Miho Tanaka, Toshiya Yamada
• Music: Kenichiro Saigo
• Animation Production: OLM Team Inoue