Yo-kai Watch is a children's anime series based on the video game of the same name developed by Level-5. The anime was broadcast from January 8, 2014, to March 30, 2018, on TXN and related stations.[1] An English dub, produced by Dentsu Entertainment USA, started airing on the Disney XD channel in the United States on October 5, 2015, Canada's Teletoon and Disney XD Canada on October 10, 2015, and 9Go! in Australia on December 14, 2015.[2] Episodes are split into multiple parts. In Indonesia, this anime also aired on Indosiar in 2016, and on RTV starting March 18, 2021.
Its first opening theme through episode 36 was performed by, with lyrics written by m.o.v.e's vocalist motsu. An English version of the song was used for the dub, written by Mark Risley & David H. Steinberg, and performed by Peter Michail & Kathryn Lynn, but was replaced by "Yo-Kai Watch featuring Swampy Marsh" by Jeff "Swampy" Marsh & Dan Povenmire. The ending theme up through episode 24 (episode 35 in the English dub) is performed by Dream5 (Melissa Hutchison and Alicyn Packard perform the English version). Beginning with episode 25 (episode 36 in the English dub), the ending theme changed to performed by Dream5 and Bully-taichō (Hutchinson, Packard, & Brent Pendergrass for the English version). Episode 37's opening theme was and episode 38's was, both by King Cream Soda, and have alternated until they were replaced. Episodes 48 and 49 used a unique ending theme by, both King Cream Soda and Dream5 along with Lucky Ikeda. In episode 51, the ending theme changed to performed by an AKB48 subgroup named NyaKB with Pandanoko. The opening theme changed again in episode 63 to King Cream Soda's . The ending theme changed in episode 68 to by Dream5.
Both the opening and ending themes were changed in episode 77, to mark the beginning of the "second season." The opening theme became by King Cream Soda and the ending theme became by (Gabriel Brown, Michelle Creber, & Rebecca Soichet for the English version). In episode 102, the opening theme became by King Cream Soda and the ending theme became by Kotori with Stitchbird. In episode 130, the opening theme became "You Got a Otomodachi" by King Cream Soda and the ending theme became "Furusato Japon" (ふるさとジャポン) by the idol group LinQ.
To mark the start of the "third season," the opening theme became "Banzai! Aizenkai!" (ばんざい!愛全開!) by King Cream Soda (The English Version is "Cheers! Full of Love!" performed by Brown, Kendall Wooding, and Creber) and ending theme became "Torejā" (トレジャー, "Treasure") by LinQ (Creber for the English version). Starting with episode 179, the opening became "Gold...Nanchatte!" (ゴールド...なんちゃって!) by King Cream Soda, and the ending became "HaloChri Dance" (ハロ・クリダンス Haro・Kuri Dansu) by Youbekkusu Rengō-gun. With episode 202, the opening became "Time Machine wo Choudai" (タイムマシーンをちょうだい "Give Me a Time Machine") by King Cream Soda, and the ending became "Aa Jounetsu no Banbaraya" (ああ情熱のバンバラヤー) by LinQ.
In February 2018, it was announced that the anime would end on March 30, 2018, at 214 episodes and was replaced with Yo-kai Watch Shadowside to continue the storyline that began in Oni-ō no Fukkatsu.[3]
In February 2019, it was announced that a revival of the series, now known as Yo-kai Watch! would air on April 5, 2019, replacing Yo-kai Watch Shadowside.[4]
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 76 | January 5, 2014 | June 30, 2015 | |
| 2 | 74 | July 10, 2015 | December 23, 2016 | |
| 3 | 64 | January 4, 2017 | March 31, 2018 | |
| Volume | Episodes | Release date[8] [9] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yo-kai Watch (妖怪ウォッチ) | Volume 1 | 1–5 | May 28, 2014 |
| Volume 2 | 6–9 | June 25, 2014 | |
| Volume 3 | 10–13 | July 30, 2014 | |
| Volume 4 | 14–17 | January 27, 2016 | |
| Volume 5 | 18–21 | September 24, 2014 | |
| Volume 6 | 22–25 | October 29, 2014 | |
| Volume 7 | 26–29 | November 26, 2014 | |
| Volume 8 | 30–33 | December 19, 2014 | |
| Volume 9 | 34–37 | January 28, 2015 | |
| Volume 10 | 38–41 | February 25, 2015 | |
| Volume 11 | 42–45 | March 25, 2015 | |
| Volume 12 | 46–49 | April 29, 2015 | |
| Volume 13 | 50–53 | May 27, 2015 | |
| Volume 14 | 54–57 | July 24, 2015 | |
| Volume 15 | 58–62 | August 26, 2015 | |
| Volume 16 | 63–66 | September 25, 2015 | |
| Volume 17 | 67–70 | October 28, 2015 | |
| Volume 18 | 71–74 | November 25, 2015 | |
| Volume 19 | 75–78 | December 18, 2015 | |
| Volume 20 | 79–82 | December 18, 2015 | |
| Volume 21 | 83–86 | January 27, 2016 | |
| Volume 22 | 87–90 | February 24, 2016 | |
| Volume 23 | 91–94 | February 24, 2016 | |
| Yo-kai Watch 2016 (妖怪ウォッチ 2016) | Volume 1 | 95–98 | April 27, 2016 |
| Volume 2 | 99–102 | May 25, 2016 | |
| Volume 3 | 103–106 | July 27, 2016 | |
| Volume 4 | 107–110 | August 24, 2016 | |
| Volume 5 | 111–113 | September 28, 2016 | |
| Volume 6 | 114–117 | October 26, 2016 | |
| Volume 7 | 118–121 | November 25, 2016 | |
| Volume 8 | 122–125 | November 25, 2016 | |
| Volume 9 | 126–129 | January 25, 2017 | |
| Volume 10 | 130–133 | February 24, 2017 | |
| Volume 11 | 134–137 | March 24, 2017 | |
| Volume 12 | 138–141 | March 24, 2017 | |
| Yo-kai Watch 2017 (妖怪ウォッチ 2017) | Volume 1 | 142–145 | April 26, 2017 |
| Volume 2 | 146–149 | May 26, 2017 | |
| Volume 3 | 150–153 | July 26, 2017 | |
| Volume 4 | 154–157 | July 26, 2017 | |
| Volume 5 | 158–161 | August 23, 2017 | |
| Volume 6 | 162–164 | September 27, 2017 | |
| Volume 7 | 165–168 | October 25, 2017 | |
| Volume 8 | 169–172 | November 29, 2017 | |
| Volume 9 | 173–176 | November 29, 2017 | |
| Volume 10 | 177–180 | January 24, 2018 | |
| Volume 11 | 181–184 | January 24, 2018 | |
| Volume 12 | 185–188 | February 23, 2018 | |
| Volume 13 | 189–192 | February 23, 2018 | |
| Yo-kai Watch 2018 (妖怪ウォッチ 2018) | Volume 1 | 193–196 | April 25, 2018 |
| Volume 2 | 197–200 | April 25, 2018 | |
| Volume 3 | 201–204 | May 25, 2018 | |
| Volume 4 | 205–208 | May 25, 2018 | |
| Volume 5 | 209–211 | July 25, 2018 | |
| Volume 6 | 212–214 | July 25, 2018 | |
| Yo-kai Watch DVD BOX (妖怪ウォッチ DVD BOX) | Volume 1 | 1–21 | October 29, 2014 |
| Volume 2 | 22–41 | March 25, 2015 | |
| Volume 3 | 42–62 | September 25, 2015 | |
| Volume 4 | 63–82 | December 18, 2015 | |
| Volume 5 | 83–102 | October 26, 2016 | |
| Volume 6 | 103–121 | November 25, 2016 | |
| Volume 7 | 122–141 | March 24, 2017 | |
| Volume 8 | 142–161 | October 25, 2017 | |