Youkai Watch

Youkai Watch
Promotional imagery for the anime
妖怪ウォッチ (Yōkai Wotchi)
Manga
Written by	Noriyuki Konishi
Published by	Shogakukan
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	CoroCoro Comic
Original run	2012 – ongoing
Volumes	1
Game
Developer	Level-5
Publisher	Level-5
Genre	RPG
Platform	Nintendo 3DS
Released	JP July 11, 2013 NA TBA
Manga
Published by	Shogakukan
Demographic	Shōjo
Magazine	Ciao
Original run	December 27, 2013 – ongoing
Anime television series
Directed by	Shinji Ushiro
Written by	Yoichi Kato
Music by	Ken'ichirō Saigō
Studio	OLM
Network	TXN (TV Tokyo), BS Japan, AT-X
Original run	January 8, 2014 (2014-01-08) – ongoing
Episodes	Ongoing

Youkai Watch (妖怪ウォッチ, Yōkai Wotchi) is a media franchise created by the Japanese video game developer Level-5 that was first announced in 2011. It consists of a Nintendo 3DS game, released on July 11, 2013; a shōnen manga series that began serialization in Shogakukan's CoroCoro Comic from 2012; a shōjo manga series that began serialization in Shogakukan's Ciao magazine from December 27, 2013; and an anime television series produced by OLM, Inc. which began airing on January 8, 2014.^[1]

The premise of the series is that Keita (or Fumi-chan in the video games) acquires an item known as the Youkai Watch that allows him to observe the Youkai, spirits that otherwise disrupt human life. After befriending some Youkai, he acquires Youkai Medals that he can use to summon a Youkai up for assistance in the future, particularly in battling the more ill-intentioned Youkai that happen to live in his town, haunting the residents and causing terrible trouble.

Characters

Humans

Keita (ケータ, Kēta)

Voiced by: Haruka Tomatsu

Keita Amano (天野 景太, Amano Keita) is an 11-year-old boy living in Sakura New Town (さくらニュータウン, Sakura Nyū Taun), who is extremely average in all manners, a fact that bothers him. While out in the forest, he happens upon a derelict sacred tree and a Gashapon machine. After he buys one of the Gashapon capsules, it opens up to reveal Whisper tho introduces him to the Youkai and gives him the Youkai Watch.

Fumi-chan (フミちゃん)

Voiced by: Aya Endō

Fumika Kodama (木霊 文花, Kodama Fumika) is a girl in Keita's class at school. She is highly intelligent, but is worried that she does not meet her mother's standards. She is an alternate choice for the main character in the video game version and possesses a Youkai Watch that hangs around her neck rather than one worn on her wrist.

Kuma (クマ)

Voiced by: Tōru Nara

Gorōta Kumashima (熊島 五郎太, Kumashima Gorōta) is boy in Keita and Fumi-chan's class who looks like a bully but is actually one of Keita and Kanchi's friends.

Kanchi (カンチ)

Voiced by: Chie Satō

Kanchi Imada (今田 干治, Imada Kanchi) is also in Keita and Fumi-chan's class. He does not believe in ghosts or monsters, and is very intelligent.

Youkai

Whisper (ウィスパー, Wisupā)

Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki

Whisper is the self-appointed ghostly butler to Keita after Keita frees him from the Gashapon. He helps Keita understand the Youkai World and its interactions with the human world. Whisper appears to be very knowledgable about the Youkai, but he in fact uses a tablet computer called the YoukaiPad to read Youkai Ukiukipedia which has all of the information he states. He always ends his statements with "Whis" (ウィス, Wisu).

Donyorinne (ドンヨリーヌ, Don'yorīnu)

Voiced by: Ryōko Nagata

Donyorinne is a large blobby Youkai whose presence causes people to fight. If near married couples, she could even cause a divorce. She meets Keita when she leaves her house after a fight with her husband Honobōno and causes Keita's parents to fight. She and Honobōno make up later.

Honobōno (ホノボーノ)

Voiced by: Masahito Yabe

Honobōno is a gaseous Youkai who makes people happy and carefree. His presence negates the abilities of his wife Donyorinne.

Jibanyan (ジバニャン)

Voiced by: Etsuko Kozakura

Jibanyan is the ghost of a cat who died being hit by a car when crossing an intersection in Sakura New Town. He has since become a residual haunting and possesses people to make them cross the street without waiting for the signal, all so he can attempt to fight the cars in revenge for his death. He reveals to Keita that he was once owned by a girl he only knows as Emi-chan, but when she discovered he had died, she simply muttered "Loser" (ダサい, Dasai), causing Jibanyan great distress. When Keita believes that Jibanyan is brave for his actions, Jibanyan is surprised and overwhelmed with joy, forming a contract with Keita. When under Bakuro-baa's spell, Jibanyan reveals he is secretly a fan of the musical group NyaKB (a parody of AKB48), owning several magazines and CDs going to the band's many handshaking events. Under the influence of Gurerurin, Jibanyan transforms into the bōsōzoku-inspired Warunyan (ワルニャン) who thinks he is doing bad things, but is not that effective in scaring Keita.

Nogappa (ノガッパ)

Voiced by: Masahito Yabe

A kappa that lives in Sakura New Town's river. He is a standard kappa, a fact that plays into his favor when Keita tries to win over the friendship of Bakuro-baa, as none of his secrets are truly traumatic secrets.

Bakurobaa (バクロ婆)

Voiced by: Chie Satō

A Youkai that makes people tell their deepest, darkest secrets without their realizing.

Tsuchinoko (ツチノコ)

A tsuchinoko Youkai who is supposed to be very rare, and as such brings good luck to those who find him.

Jinmenken (じんめん犬)

Voiced by: Naoki Bandō

A human-faced dog Youkai who due to the circumstances of his death can be seen by people without a Youkai Watch. He was once a human salaryman until he got drunk one night and died being crushed by several boards, alongside a toy poodle, transforming him into a salaryman-faced toy poodle. His resemblance to a human gets him in trouble with the police after he is found urinating in public, and then claims to be a dog. He then begins to get part-time jobs to pay for his expenses, opening up a high class hair salon called "Gin Men Ken", only for his clientelle to be just dogs based on bad advertising. After Whisper reads a want ad for a cameraman, Jinmenken decides on his next line of work.

Gurerurin (グレるりん)

Voiced by: Naoki Bandō

A mischievious gremlin Youkai with a large pompadour. He has the ability to bring out rudeness in people he possesses, turning Kanchi into a delinquent and even Jibanyan into the rude Youkai Warunyan. He is ultimately impressed by Jinmenken's fighting skills, ending his rein of terror in the town and befriending Keita.

Himojii (ひも爺)

Voiced by: Tadashi Miyazawa

An old man Youkai that makes people feel hungry all the time. He was once a human who many years ago brought his granddaughter to a convenience store and bought her a little toy charm. However, as his granddaughter grew up, she began to see him less and less, and when he died, Himojii began haunting the convenience store. Keita and Whisper convince him that rather than haunt the store, he should try to find his granddaughter, and just as he leaves, his granddaughter, now a high school student, walks by, reminiscing on how her late grandfather bought her a toy from the store, and she still has it as a little strap on her bookbag, making Himojii happy again.

Wasurenbō (わすれん帽)

Voiced by: Naoki Bandō

A Youkai that steals memories and makes people forget things. He used to be a simple hat, and was the favorite of his owner. One day, she stopped wearing the hat and forgot she owned it, and now in revenge Wasurenbō makes people forget things important to them. It is his fault that everyone in Keita's class, including the teacher, forgets to bring something with them, but after Keita begins using Wasurenbō selfishly, he realizes he must stop Wasurenbō from causing any more trouble, befriending him after.

Media

Video game

The Youkai Watch video game was announced by Level-5 at the 2011 Tokyo Game Show. It was released in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS on July 11, 2013.^[2] By September 2013, the game had sold 164,230 copies.^[3]

Youkai Watch is a role-playing video game where the player searches around Sakura New Town for Youkai using the 3DS' touchscreen. Players befriend Youkai by giving them a food that they like before beginning battle, and after defeating the Youkai it approaches the player character and gives him or her its Youkai Medal, allowing it to be summoned at will. Certain Youkai are necessary for completing the game, and special rare Youkai are acquired through the various quests. Youkai have the capability to evolve into more powerful versions of themselves if they reach a certain level. Youkai can also be merged with items or other Youkai to evolve them, as well. Youkai can also be acquired through an in game Gasha Machine by collecting in-game coins or using the 3DS Game Coins. Youkai are divided amongst eight different tribes:

• Isamashi Tribe (イサマシ族, Isamashi-zoku): A group of brave (勇ましい, isamashii) and physically strong Youkai.
• Gōketsu Tribe (ゴーケツ族, Gōketsu-zoku): A group of heroic (豪傑, gōketsu) Youkai strong in body and mind.
• Fushigi Tribe (フシギ族, Fushigi-zoku): A group of strange (不思議, fushigi) Youkai who use ghostly magic powers.
• Purichī Tribe (プリチー族, Purichī-zoku): A group of cute (プリチー, purichī) and cuddly Youkai who are fast fighters.
• Pokapoka Tribe (ポカポカ族, Pokapoka-zoku): A group of warm and inviting (ぽかぽか, pokapoka) Youkai who excel at healing.
• Bukimī Tribe (ブキミー族, Bukimī-zoku): A group of spooky (不気味, bukimi) Youkai that often induce status conditions.
• Usurakage Tribe (ウスラカゲ族, Usurakage-zoku): A group of hazy and shadowy (薄ら影, usurakage) Youkai who always have mean thoughts, and can bring down the stats of their opponents.
• Nyororon Tribe (ニョロロン族, Nyororon-zoku): A group of wiggly (ニョロロン, nyororon) Youkai who are always obsessed with one particular emotion.

Using multiple Youkai of the same tribe at the same time in battle provides a stat boost. If a player fills a page in the Youkai Dictionary, a compendium of the different Youkai the player has encountered or befriended, with one Youkai from each of the eight tribes, Legendary Youkai (レジェンド妖怪, Rejendo Yōkai) can be acquired.

When the player encounters a Youkai, he enters into battle with it using six Youkai that the player has befriended previously. The touchscreen is used during battles to rotate amongst the player's Youkai in battle at will. It is also used either clear up status effects on the player's Youkai or charge up the Youkai's special abilities.^[4]

A common in-game event is "Oni Time", where the player character enters a nightmare realm where he or she is chased by a powerful Oni Youkai that can easily wipe out the player's party unless he or she can escape. It is possible to defeat the Oni, but only if the player's Youkai are particularly powerufl.^[5] The player can also encounter similarly powerful Namahage Youkai if the player crosses the street on a red light, but the encounter may be beneficial if the player follows the rules.^[6]

Players can also participate in several side quests for experience and bug-catching and fishing minigames to obtain special items.

A follow-up game to the original is currently in planning.^[7] CoroCoro Comic began running a contest for readers to design a new form for the game's mascot Jibanyan that would appear in the new game as well as in the manga in CoroCoro.^[8]

In January 2014, Level-5 filed for a trademark in the United States for "Yo-Kai Watch".^[9][10]

Anime

The anime premiered on TX Network on January 8, 2014. Episodes are split into multiple parts. Its opening theme is "Geragerapō no Uta" (ゲラゲラポーのうた, "The Hahaha Song") performed by King Creamsoda (キング・クリームソーダ, Kimgu Kurīmusōda), with lyrics written by m.o.v.e's vocalist motsu. The ending theme is "Yōkai Taisō Dai-Ichi" (ようかい体操第一, "Youkai Exercise Number One") performed by Dream5.

References

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Anime website (Japanese)