Youkai Watch (2014) — Story, Release Date, Rating

Synopsis:

In a world subtly interwoven with the supernatural, the quiet life of young Keita Amano is irrevocably altered by the emergence of Whisper, a being freed from a long slumber within a mysterious capsule. This ethereal entity chooses to become Keita’s guardian, granting him access to a hidden realm populated by Youkai – spirits inhabiting the natural world. Equipped with a special watch, Keita can now perceive and interact with these creatures, embarking on journeys alongside Whisper and the spirited feline companion, Jibanyan.

The series chronicles their interactions as they navigate the complexities of Youkai society, often mediating conflicts stemming from the creatures' playful nature or forgotten grievances. Through these encounters, Keita gains understanding of responsibility, empathy, and the delicate balance between the human and spirit worlds. The narrative blends moments of lighthearted camaraderie with explorations of deeper themes surrounding acceptance and the consequences of unchecked power.

Trailer:

Streaming Platforms:

Episodes:

Episode 1: Yo-kai Are Real! / The Spooky Intersection (Aired: 01/08/2014)
Episode 2: The One in the Water / Why Did You Say That? / Katie's Secret (Aired: 01/15/2014)
Episode 3: The Rare One / Yo-kai Manjimutt / Here Comes Roughraff / Manjimutt Part 2 (Aired: 01/22/2014)
Episode 4: Yo-kai Medallium / Yo-kai Hungramps / Yo-kai Wazzat / Manjimutt: Part 3 (Aired: 01/29/2014)
Episode 5: Manjimutt: Part 4 / Yo-kai Illoo / Let's Exorcise! (Aired: 02/05/2014)
... and 95 more episodes

Characters:

Amano, Keita (Main) - Voice Actors: Bosch, Johnny Yong, Tomatsu, Haruka, Navarro, Jordi, Chemin, Pascale, Alcântara, Pedro, Mottola, Patrizia, Hilbert, Tabea, Burns, Griffin, Graue, Alejandro, Szilvási, Dániel
Jibanyan (Main) - Voice Actors: Kozakura, Etsuko, Almeida, Rita, Bloc, Fanny, Reinbold, Marco, Novara, Renato, Packard, Alicyn, Pomar, Maribel, Bálint, Sugárka, Buckland, Kira, Falcón, Luciana
Komasan (Main) - Voice Actors: Endou, Aya, Ambrós, Carmen, Reinbold, Marco, Hutchison, Melissa, Capella, Monalisa, Farkasházi, Réka, Bloc, Fanny, Valenti, Federica
Misora, Inaho (Main) - Voice Actors: Yuuki, Aoi, Harlacher, Erika, de Brito, Giulia, Marot, Sarah, Alfonso, Nerea
USApyon (Main) - Voice Actors: Shigemoto, Kotori, Diniz, Danilo, Soares, Clara
Whisper (Main) - Voice Actors: Seki, Tomokazu, D'Auria, Joey, Le Minoux, Martial, Bressan, Mattia, Raj, Wallace, Bross, Martin, Hamvas, Dániel, Sorich, Michael
Bushinyan (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Kozakura, Etsuko, Valença, Carol, Combes, Caroline, Falcón, Luciana
Donyoriinu (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Combes, Caroline, Campanile, Selma, Nagata, Ryoko
Edison (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Bretonnière, Marc, Satou, Kensuke
Gin (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Forest, Nayéli, Kanai, Mika, Packard, Alicyn
Hanahojin (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Pichon, Yann, Nara, Tooru
Himojii (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Miyazawa, Tadashi, Pichon, Yann, Guerra, José Carlos
Homeroom Teacher (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Laisné, Grégory, Fusegawa, Kazuhiro, Pizzuto, Michael, Dalla, Charles, Lladó, Carlos
Honoboono (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Bienaimé, Nathalie, Santos, Vagner
Imada, Kanchi (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Satou, Chie, Figueira, Daniel, Saemann, Dennis, Estrada, Marta, Pendergrass, Brent, Papenbrook, Bryce, Cavalcanti, Renato, Forest, Nayéli
Inchikin (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Murakami, Yuya, Hoareau, Maxime
Ittan-gomen (Supporting)
Jimenken (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Alonso, Tasio, Lourenço, Gilmar, Méyère, Bruno
Karikari Bacon (Supporting)
Keita's Father (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Pichon, Yann, Nara, Tooru, Pendergrass, Brent, Smith, Christopher Corey, Pizzuto, Michael, Marques, Guilherme, Kreutinger, Nils
Keita's Mother (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Nagata, Ryoko, Packard, Alicyn, Lambotte, Jessie, Buhr, Reba, Fu, Catherine, Ricci, Kate Kelly
Kin (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Bienaimé, Nathalie, Yamazaki, Vanilla, Hutchison, Melissa, Jaime, Ivete
Kodama, Fumika (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Endou, Aya, Hutchison, Melissa, Werner, Rieke, Pitty, Nathalia, Camps, Ana María, Buhr, Reba, Combes, Caroline
Komajirou (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Endou, Aya, Reinbold, Marco, Celini, Letícia, Bonetto, Monica, Packard, Alicyn, Bloc, Fanny, Fabrés, Lourdes
Kumashima, Gorouta (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Nara, Tooru, Guarnieri, Caio, Schulze, David, Berkes, Bence, Bienaimé, Nathalie
Kyuubi (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Gómez, Marc, Nagata, Ryoko, Marçal, Bruno, Hutchison, Melissa, Bloc, Fanny, Stolz, Benjamin
Merameralion (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Sasamoto, Yuuko, Solis, Adrien, Bourlé, Bastien, Kunitake, Cristiano
MitoMen (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Fusegawa, Kazuhiro, Furushima, Kiyotaka, Karasuma, Yuichi, Minei, Alex, Pichon, Yann
Mudazukai (Supporting)
Nogappa (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Yabe, Masahito, Valença, Carol
Orochi (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Almeida, Lucas, Sasamoto, Yuuko, Bosch, Johnny Yong, Le Minoux, Martial, Lin, Chris
Robonyan (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Bando, Naoki, Lee, Victor, D'Auria, Joey, Azzolino, Tony, Souterelle, Frédéric, Nanal, Rodrigo, Falcón, Luciana, Sagastume, René
Sasaki, Megumi (Supporting)
Taikomochi (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Niverd, Victor, Numakura, Manami
Tsuchinoko (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Sasamoto, Yuuko
Unchikuma (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Sasamoto, Yuuko, Bosch, Johnny Yong, Beacock, Brian, Gradi, Emmanuel, Cister, Ariel

Staff:

Beniya, Yoshikazu (Producer)
Inoue, Takashi (Producer)
Lee, Sang-jun (Producer)
Ushiro, Shinji (Director, Episode Director, Storyboard)
Mima, Masafumi (Sound Director)
Hamana, Takayuki (Episode Director, Storyboard, Key Animation)
Hiramuki, Tomoko (Episode Director)
Iwata, Yoshihiko (Episode Director, Storyboard)
Komaya, Kenichirou (Episode Director, Storyboard)
Kuji, Gorou (Episode Director, Storyboard)
Matsuyama, Youko (Episode Director)
Senbo, Ryousuke (Episode Director)
Shigino, Akira (Episode Director, Storyboard)
Terasawa, Shinsuke (Episode Director, Animation Director)
Yanase, Yuuji (Episode Director, Storyboard)
Oochi, Keiichirou (Script)
Yamada, Yuka (Script)
Enomoto, Akihiro (Storyboard)
Fukazawa, Kouji (Storyboard)
Miyazaki, Nagisa (Storyboard)
Moriyama, Yuuji (Storyboard)
Shimizu, Satoshi (Storyboard)
Sonoda, Masahiro (Storyboard)
Sudou, Norihiko (Storyboard)
Tomita, Hiroaki (Storyboard, Key Animation)
Yano, Hiroyuki (Storyboard)
Yoshida, Risako (Storyboard)
Yoshimoto, Tsuyoshi (Storyboard)
Cotori with Stitchbird (Theme Song Performance)
Dream5 (Theme Song Performance)
Fábio, Ricardo (Theme Song Performance, Inserted Song Performance)
Graue, Alejandro (Theme Song Performance)
King Cream Soda. (Theme Song Performance)
Werner, Rieke (Theme Song Performance)
Abe, Chiaki (Animation Director)
Abe, Hideaki (In-Between Animation)
Abe, Rumi (Key Animation)
Alcântara, Pedro (ADR Director)
De Bortoli, Julien (Recording Engineer)
Fujimaki, Ren (Key Animation)
Fujimoto, Kouki (Key Animation)
Fujita, Masayuki (Animation Director)
Hidaka, Mayumi (Animation Director)
Hino, Akihiro (Original Creator)
Iida, Hiroyoshi (Key Animation)
Ishii, Akiharu (Key Animation)
Kaneko, Masakuni (Animation Director)
Katou, Youichi (Series Composition)
Katou, Masato (Animation Director)
Kohama, Toshihiro (Art Director)
... and 21 more staff

Reviews:

User Ryntaia (Score: 8/10):
In the slushy sea of content aimed at an audience of elementary schoolers, it can be difficult to fish up something that is actually genuinely enjoyable. There's a lot of fluff titles, a lot of preachy titles, and a lot of titles that are just dorky action. Nothing is actually wrong with being any of those things but such traits don't mark a show as noticeable in a sea of content. Especially with the competitive nature of appealing to such a young age group with a low attention span. Among this lot, Yo-Kai Watch has become another one of those successful accounts that has grabbedthe attention of kids and adults alike. nnYo-Kai Watch (NOT 'Youkai' Watch, I'm not sure why its listed as that here) has similar origins to Pokemon in that respect: a video game about catching creatures that became a hit and started producing more games and ultimately a popular anime. One could argue that this is less because of the quality of the show and more due to the popularity of the games boosting success. And while it is likely that the games helped in the success of the show, I do think its more than just that. After all, being an adaptation can only help so much: at some point these shows must stand on their own two feet and prove they can perform. So....can Yo-Kai Watch? nnThe short answer is yes, it can. I actually saw the anime before I even knew there was a game so I can assure you that it can. This anime has a lot of things going in its favor. While it has a fairly boring setting fueled by something of a gimmick (yokai exist and cause trouble with their unique powers), it is held up by multiple factors. Probably the strongest among these is the characters. The personalities present in this show are very one note, but the show is also very aware that the personalities are one note and often use that to their advantage. It knows when to expand on them and when to keep them as they are. Even one of the running gags is that the protagonist is an archetype of a protagonist and therefore inherently a 'boring guy', which he protests. nnSpeaking of, there are three characters who appear in almost every episode (up until Inaho is introduced as an alternative): Nate (Keita), Jibanyan, and Whisper (Whissu). They're set up in a 'boke and tsukkomi' type of comedy rountine: Nate is typically our straight man with Jibanyan and Whisper being our wise guys, though the roles do get shuffled about occasionally. They're over the top, likable, funny, and even sympathetic at times. Later introduced is the erratic and more over the top Inaho, matched up with the more straight man character USApyon, to completely flip the formula. Both sides work really well. nnAs far as art goes, for a show geared at kids, the animation in Yo-Kai Watch is typically surprisingly high quality. At…

News:

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External Links:

Related Anime/Manga:

Youkai Watch! (anime - Sequel)
Youkai Watch (manga - Adaptation)
Youkai Watch Movie 1: Tanjou no Himitsu da Nyan! (anime - Side Story)
Youkai Watch Movie 2: Enma Daiou to Itsutsu no Monogatari da Nyan! (anime - Side Story)
Youkai Watch: Planetarium wa Hoshi to Youkai ga Ippai! (anime - Side Story)
Youkai Watch Movie 3: Soratobu Kujira to Double Sekai no Daibouken da Nyan! (anime - Side Story)
Youkai Watch: Best 10 (anime - Summary)
40-shuunen da yo!! CoroCoro All-Star Shougakkou (anime - Character)
Youkai Watch Movie 5: Forever Friends (anime - Other)
Youkai Watch Jam: Youkai Gakuen Y - N to no Souguu (anime - Other)

Genres: Comedy, Kids, Mythology, Supernatural
Themes: Mythology
Demographics: Kids
Studios: OLM
Producers: Dentsu, TV Tokyo
Licensors: Dentsu Entertainment USA
Rating: 6.71 / 10
Rank: #5979
Popularity: #4050
Users Listed: 36,605
Users Scored: 16,911
NSFW: No
Last Updated: 12/24/2022
Aired: January 8, 2014 – March 30, 2018 (Winter)
Type: tv
Source: game
Age Rating: G
Episodes: 214
Broadcast: Friday at 18:30 (JST)

Youkai Watch