By Marcy Magiera
Yo-kai Watch is arguably the hottest kids’ property in Japan. Now the franchise, about a young boy who uses a special watch to summon spirits who are causing pesky problems for people, is about to hit the U.S. In November, Nintendo will launch a Yo-kai Watch game for its handheld 3DS, about the same time that Viz Media’s Perfect Square imprint will introduce Yo-Kai Watch manga. An animated comedy on cable’s Disney XD is due later this year, to be followed in early 2016 by toy and games centering around collectible Yo-kai medals, from Hasbro.
Yo-kai Watch is widely considered the hottest kids’ trend since Pokemon in Japan, where Nintendo has sold more than 8 million 3DS games based on the property. Yo-kai Watch was developed by videogame publisher Level-5 but didn’t become a phenomenon until an anime series based on the property began airing on Japanese TV, where it is the top-rated animated show for kids 4-12 years old. According to its backers, Yo-kai Watch also has more than $2 billion in Japanese licensed merchandise sales, including games, music and publishing.