The Yo-Kai Watch Anime Starts In North America on 5th October

Don't have that channel not do I need /want it. Too bad as the cartoon network would've been much better.

Still don't see Yokai Watch taking America by storm the way Pokemon did. It should be reasonably successful though.

I wish that they'd at least keep some of the Japanese flavour instead of Americanising it to the point where the only Japanese-ness (!) left is in its animation style.

I hope Youkai Watch will do well in America and that we in my country can get Youkai Watch too . (Hopefully the dubbed version in my country will be good, but I doubt it as usual ;^^. Still I think the American voice for the protagonist should have been a bit more high pitched, but not much).

"Sweet, I made another friend." is what I always say after pummeling someone's face to within an inch of their life.

Well at least it's a carton look, I've had enough CG. Don't think my kids will be watching it though, they have too much respect for Pokemon to be watching this shameless rip-off.

I've been watching the japanese version of Yokai Watch. We're up to episode 60 I believe. Can't see any reason for me to watch it on tv, but I'll be rooting for it nonetheless.

I agree with people who say this won't reach the level of popularity that pokemon did in the 90's but I still want to see it succeed in America. I've already preordered it and will watch the cartoon to show support for the series.

@Sergio151 : I'm surprised that Doraemon is very rarely localised for Western markets, considering that Doraemon merchandise is quite readily available. the new movie is even being released in cinemas in Turkey (a dub based on the original Japanese version currently airs on Disney Channel).

What's... what's with those voices? I LOVE Youkai Watch but this dubbing is just horrible! I'll stick to my subbed version.

@Rhydas @Yrreiht Where have you guys/gals/gender-neutral corporeal entities been watching it? I'd prefer a CrunchyRoll or Hulu type solution, but whatever works

@rjejr No matter what article I see, you just always seem bitter about everything.

This is absolutely nothing like Pokemon. I don't understand why people think that just because you make a party of collectible monsters that its immediately a Pokemon ripoff

Disney Big...WHAT?!! XD What would the NA version of that be...?

@rjejr How is it a "shameless rip-off" and how many such "rip-offs" surpass their predecessor? If solely for the fact it's a monster-battling game, then Pokemon is a "shameless rip-off" of the Megami Tensei series, which had players recruiting and battling with teams of various monsters and demons prior to the Pokemon franchise. Or the Dragon Quest series, which also had a catch-and-battle system well before Pokemon came to be.

I guess you're not familiar with Japanese culture. Yokai have been a part of Japanese culture for centuries, and it's these unique mythological ghosts and monsters from which the Pokemon franchise drew inspiration. But while Pokemon only nods toward yokai, Yokai Watch fully embraces them, uniting the Yokai Watch franchise to a timeless facet of their culture. You can show a 90-year-old Japanese man the Yokai Watch monsters and he's likely to recognize many of them without ever having heard of the game or show. Show the same old man some Pokemon and he'll likely only be able to identify Pikachu.

Yokai Watch not only capitalizes on Japan's love of collecting and turn-based RPGs, but also taps into a previously underutilized source recognized by everyone from a little kid to a great grandpa.

But this same aspect that resonates strongly in Japan falls flat in the West, due to lack of any cultural links. It might achieve moderate success, but won't blow Pokemon out of the water like it does in Japan. Broadcasting the show on Disney XD isn't gonna do them any favors either. That channel isn't available to a lot of people so they're excluding a substantial amount of potential viewers.

@SaGa_K @Jayvir "No matter what article I see, you just always seem bitter about everything."

True that.

And it's not the concept - collectible monsters - that's been done before w/ Digimon - or the battling - Yugi-oh and Beyblades - it's the carton look, how the main cat looks like Meowth and does his attack move, the pummeling and capturing dynamic, the Ash like boy - couldn't they have gotten an Asian by or a girl?

If knowing the entire history of japanese culture is necessary for me to differentiate this cartoon from the Pokemon cartoon - and that's what we are discussing here, the cartoon, not the cultural history or the game - then the show has already failed.

Upon watching the video my wife said to me - "Did he just say "fury swipe"?, b/c that's Meoth's move." The soccer mom's have spoken.

"Premiering on the Disney Big Grin channel"
o_0
"Disney XD"
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA fart.

"Claws of fury", its just how the line was said, and I don't see how the cat looks anything like meowth besides both being based on the lucky cat.

I don't see how anything you've said matches up for that matter. The art style is pretty different, its more like Shin Megami Tensei if anything, calling out attacks is rather typical for any fighting anime, and relative age is the only thing him and Ash have in common. Pokemon isn't the first game or anime game to use the battle and capture dynamic either.

Its basically Pokemon vs. Digimon all over again, right down to the show being stuck on a less popular channel, that's going to be the series' main problem. Its not even about understanding Japanese culture, just the fact that everything will be compared to the more popular series. Pokemon is the only popular or hugely successful series of this type, so as far as most people know or care it did do everything first.

It will flop horribly because even though Pokémon kinda lost it charm with kids because most kids will think the designs are terrible (do you think a farting monster is even appealing to anyone that isn't a furry that has a dart fetish?) and will think it just a rip off of Pokémon like Digimon and many other "monster collect-a-thon" animes/games. If I get proven wrong I will eat 2 pairs of my socks.

Since its the same voice actor, I want the protagonist to sound like Lelouch Vi Brittania. Screw that, just make the main protagonist Lelouch Vi Brittania! XD

Edit: @Chaoz Digimon isn't a rip-off of Pokemon. Both ideas were conceptualized from totally different thoughts and were unlucky enough to appear at the same time. It also isn't about "collecting" the creatures.

Pokemon: Pocket Monster
Digimon: Digital Monster.

@russellohh Mouri~

Imean, I watch it here: http://kissanime.com/Anime/Youkai-Watch

Go ahead and click it - all episodes are there and it's updated regularly.

He's not as cute as Satoshi but I like the overall concept and design. Hopefully he doesn't stay 10 for like 20 years cough.

I am not a purist and don't usually care for original audio tracks, but my ears hurt, the dubbing is not great, also the writing may be trying to make this show more American, when it's really not, and should rather embrace its japanese essence, therefore I'll probably just watch the original with subs.

I didn't care for the trailer, the voices put me off. I'd rather see an anime of Ni no Kuni than this.

Yeah not a fan of Americanized Japanese anime.

@Sergio151 : No, nor do I want to. Turkish dubs of original Japanese versions of anime tend to be quite good as they are culturally and even linguistically similar to one another (grammar and sentence structure is very similar between Turkish and Japanese), making the transition much more organic.

I have no interest in watching American dubs, particularly of something as iconic and as "Japanese" as Doraemon. I would consider watching it if an uncut subtitled version is made available though.