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Yo-kai Watch Anime to Premiere on Disney XD
posted on by Karen Ressler
Dentsu Entertainment USA and LEVEL-5 Inc. announced on Tuesday that the Yo-kai Watch anime will run on the American television channel Disney XD. The agreement thus far includes 26 episodes. Broadcast will begin later this year.
The official website also began streaming a trailer with an English theme song.
Nintendo describes the premise of the franchise:
Yo-kai Watch centers on a boy who gets a special watch that lets him befriend and help mischievous Yo-kai and later summon them to fight other Yo-kai. Players can overcome challenges and help various characters solve everyday problems with the help of Yo-kai friends. These eccentric Yo-kai resemble anything from inanimate objects to mythical creatures.
Game developer Level-5 announced the Yo-kai Watch franchise in 2011 with a game, manga, and anime already planned. The franchise's first game for the Nintendo 3DS debuted in Japan in July 2013, and the anime premiered in January 2014. The latest game in the franchise, a third version of Yo-kai Watch 2, shipped in December. Bandai sells Yo-kai Watch toys and game tie-in medals in Japan.
Hasbro is handling toy sales and will release the first line of toys in North America next spring, with additional markets to follow by the end of the year. Viz Media is publishing the manga. Viz Media Europe also acquired the rights to the anime franchise. According to Viz, the protagonist Keita Amano will have the name Nathan Adams in English.
Nintendo will publish the Yo-kai Watch role-playing game on its Nintendo 3DS platform in North America this winter.
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history