Yo-Kai Watch anime coming to the Americas
Dentsu Entertainment USA, Inc. plans to bring the Yo-Kai Watch (guess we’ll be using that title from here on out… maybe) anime to the Americas. No word yet on when it will be debuting, but the company is said to be “seeking both broadcast and merchandising partners in these geographic markets.” Hopefully Level-5 will, in turn, bring over its Yo-Kai Watch games.
Check out the official announcement for the Yo-Kai Watch anime below.
SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — The top-rated Japanese comedy-adventure TV show – YO-Kai Watch — will be represented by Dentsu Entertainment USA, Inc. throughout the Americas, it was announced today by Mr. Yuma Sakata, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dentsu Entertainment USA, Inc. The company is currently seeking both broadcast and merchandising partners in these geographic markets.
In January of 2014, YO-Kai Watch debuted on TV Tokyo, appealing to both boys and girls and achieving instant success in the station’s primetime programming, consistently ranked as the top-rated show in its time block. The property, which adds a strong dose of comedy to the adventure theme, had originally been an extremely popular manga comic in the Shogakukan Monthly CoroCoro Comic Magazine (circulation: 1,000,000) as a serial story, and continues to be published there. On the heels of the story’s publishing and subsequent broadcast success, a robust licensing program also emerged.
“YO-Kai Watch is high quality story-telling and animation at its very best,” said Sakata. “YO-Kai Watch is truly kid-focused entertainment at its best. We are excited to bring this universally-themed comedic tale to North, Central and South American broadcasters.”
Marc Harrington, Senior Vice President, Global Strategy and Development for Dentsu Entertainment USA, said, “Several American companies that keep their eye on Japanese content and ratings success have already expressed interest in the title. We look forward to presenting this property, repackaged suitably for the Americas, to broadcasters this Spring.”
The yo-kai are a category of spirit entities in Japanese folklore, ranging from friendly to malevolent. The YO-Kai Watch tale begins as a curious ten-year-old boy frees Whisper, a ghost-butler yo-kai, from 190 years of imprisonment. In gratitude, Whisper pledges to protect the boy from supernatural challenges, and gifts him with a magical tool, which allows the youth to see other yo-kai. The young boy and Whisper, together with another yo-kai spirit, Jibanyan the twin-tailed cat, engage with some of the yo-kai spirits, in this ongoing comedic adventure.
