Yo-kai Watch (series)
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| Yo-kai Watch | |
 English logo | |
| Original Name | 妖怪ウオッチ |
| Translation Name | Yo-kai Watch |
| Developed by | LEVEL-5 |
| Published by | Nintendo |
| First game | Yo-Kai Watch (2012) |
| Latest game | Yo-kai Watch Jam: Yokai Academy Y: Wai Wai Gakuen Seikatsu |
Yo-kai Watch (妖怪ウォッチ (Japanese: Yōkai Wotchi)) is a multimedia franchise by LEVEL-5, consisting of a series of role-playing games, animated adaptations and a manga series. The series officially debuted in late 2012, with the manga coming first before the video game was released in 2013.
Contents
Creation and development
With the success of Professor Layton, Inazuma Eleven, and Little Battlers Experience, Level-5 decided to create a new IP that would last for a very long time. The keyword that one day came to Akihiro Hino's mind was "Youkai", and said to have already imagined the setting inside of him. He thought about mixing classic mythology with modern-day themes, which was when the title of the franchise "Yo-kai Watch" came in; evoking a combination of both. Level-5 art director Takuzo Nagano was ordered by Hino to design the characters and setting which were written down from what was inside his head.
Planning and development started in 2010[1], where the franchise was originally intended for "men and women" due to their other IPs such as Inazuma Eleven already fulfilling the younger audience[2]. The Yo-kai were designed to come from "an old-fashioned setting", which were what Nagano imagined in his head when it came to "youkai". Some of the first drafts were described by Nagano as a "Showa-period atmosphere", rivalling that of Gegege no Kitaro, while evoking the vibe of The Laughing Salesman.
Eventually, the direction of the franchise were changed to be more child-friendly, where they ended up using Doraemon as their inspiration[3] for further character experimentation. The main characters were designed to be modern-day representations of the characters from Doraemon, such as Nate lacking confidence unlike Nobita and Whisper not having any knowledge unlike Doraemon. This was because Akihiro Hino wanted the characters to be more relatable to go with a modern-day setting.
The franchise was announced at the Level-5 Vision Event in October 2011, where the game was shown running on an unspecified system. The game ended up being re-purposed for the Nintendo 3DS. The manga adaption of Yo-kai Watch was first released in Japan on December 15, 2012, seven months before the game's release.
Derivative works
Anime
| Yo-kai Watch | |
 Anime poster | |
| Original Name | 妖怪ウォッチ |
| Translation Name | |
| Created by | LEVEL-5 |
| Region | Japan |
| First broadcast | January 8, 2014 |
| Episodes | 214 |
| Studio | TV Tokyo MediaNet, Dentsu, OLM |
| Supervisor | Shinji Ushiro |
| Written by | Emi Onodera |
| Produced by | Yoshikazu Kuraya (TV Tokyo), Kyofumi Kajiwara, Haruka Tomatsu, Etsuko Sakura |
| Original network | TV Tokyo |
| State | Finished |
Plot
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This section may contain major spoilers!
Consider skipping these contents if you are not yet familiar with all the latest media releases. |
There are many things in the world that cannot be explained, but they are actually the work of Yo-kai. There is a kind of watch that allows humans to see these monsters with their own eyes, which is the Yo-kai Watch. As for the good or bad luck of encountering Yo-kai, only the person involved knows.
When our protagonist, Nate, went up the mountain to catch insects one summer vacation, he chased a glowing beetle through the dense forest and came to an open area in the forest. In the center of this open space is a big tree. Under the tree was an old machine, called a Crank-a-kai, and a voice said "throw it down". When he took out the only 100 coins he had left and twisted out the Crank-a-kai, a ghost named Whisper, who called himself a "Yo-kai Butler", flew out of the machine. Whisper pesters Nate to let him become his personal butler. As soon as he got home and saw Nate's parents arguing, Whisper took out the Yo-kai Watch and gave it to Nate, allowing him to see the Yo-kai possessing his parents and successfully solving the problem. From then on, the protagonist can see all kinds of incredible Yo-kai appearing around him.
Main characters
Humans
{{Main Characters Infolist
|Name1 = Nathan "Nate" Adams (
|Name4 = Barnaby "Bear" Bernstein (
