50 Fun Facts About Yo-kai Watch

Which ghostly Yo-kai butler gives Nate the Yo-kai Watch after being freed from a capsule machine?

Whisper appoints himself Nate's butler and poses as a Yo-kai expert, yet he secretly looks nearly everything up on a tablet called the Yo-kai Pad.

Yo-kai Watch mascot Jibanyan became a ghost cat after being hit by which vehicle at an intersection?

A truck ended his life as a pet cat, so Jibanyan now haunts that intersection and picks fights with passing traffic to prove his strength.

Which rival monster franchise did the Yo-kai Watch anime overtake in Japanese TV rankings in 2014?

Pokémon slipped behind it in the ratings, and the press dubbed Yo-kai Watch a 'Killer' of the older series as shipments of the first game leapt past 500,000.

Which sweet treat does Komasan fall in love with after leaving the countryside for the city in Yo-kai Watch?

Soft serve ice cream wins him over as he struggles with city life, having left home when the shrine he looked after was knocked down for construction.

In Yo-kai Watch, what does a befriended Yo-kai hand over so that Nate can summon it later?

A Yo-kai Medal is the token of friendship, and Nate uses his collection to call Yo-kai to fight, win over others or solve everyday problems.

Which Hollywood comedy franchise does the spin-off Yo-kai Watch Blasters spoof, right down to its Japanese title?

Ghostbusters is the target of the parody: the game is called Yo-kai Watch Busters in Japan, and its heroes work out of a red firehouse complete with a firepole.

In Yo-kai Watch 2, two Yo-kai armies have been at war for centuries after an argument over what?

Donut fillings set the Bony Spirits against the Fleshy Souls, and many of the soldiers on the battlefield turn out to be Wicked Yo-kai in disguise.

Usapyon of Yo-kai Watch wears a rabbit-eared space suit, but which animal was he when he was alive?

An otter is what he was: a rocket scientist's pet being readied to fly into space, who died in a rocket accident he set off himself.

Which American TV channel premiered the English dub of the Yo-kai Watch anime in October 2015?

Disney XD carried the dub a month before the first game reached North American shops, and later dropped the show as its ratings declined.

Before Yo-kai Watch, its developer Level-5 was best known for which series of puzzle adventure games?

Professor Layton made the studio's name, with 15 million copies sold across six titles by 2013, the year Yo-kai Watch launched in Japan.

In Yo-kai Watch, which younger brother of Komasan adapts to city life far more easily than he does?

Komajiro is the outgoing sibling, and his name fits him: jiro is a traditional Japanese name element for a family's second-born son.

In Yo-kai Watch, Jibanyan wrongly believes that which teenage owner called him lame for dying?

Amy was really scolding herself: a trip into the past shows Jibanyan that he died pushing her out of danger as she crossed the road.

In the Yo-kai Watch games, what do players feed coins into for a random Yo-kai or item?

Crank-a-kai machines take in-game coins or the 3DS system's own Play Coins, and a lucky turn of the handle pays out a rare Yo-kai.

What do the Yo-kai Watch games call the powerful signature move that every Yo-kai can charge up in battle?

Soultimate moves can heal or strengthen allies as well as attack, and Yo-kai Watch 2 added stronger versions that drain the Soul meters of neighbouring Yo-kai.

Which sci-fi-loving girl does Usapyon trick into buying a Yo-kai Watch so she can help build his rocket?

Hailey Anne is a self-proclaimed otaku who adores outer space, and she joined the series as a second lead in Yo-kai Watch 3 and the anime's second season.

Which third version of Yo-kai Watch 2 followed Bony Spirits and Fleshy Souls with extra characters and scenarios?

Psychic Specters arrived in Japan in December 2014 to coincide with the first Yo-kai Watch film, and it sold over 2.6 million copies there within six months.

In Yo-kai Watch, which nightmare event has players hunt treasure chests while a powerful Oni chases them?

Terror Time drops the player into a dream realm full of patrolling Yo-kai, where being spotted sets off a chase by an Oni strong enough to wipe out most teams.

Yo-kai Watch 3 first went on sale in Japan in two versions named Sushi and which other dish?

Tempura was the partner version, with the cat Yo-kai Tomnyan on its box, while Sukiyaki arrived five months later as an enhanced third edition.

Bandai made Yo-kai Watch toys for Japan, but which company sold them under licence in the Americas and Europe?

Hasbro took the Western licence after a craze in Japan so intense that shoppers entered lotteries for the chance to buy a toy watch.

In Yo-kai Watch 2, a journey 60 years into the past reveals that which person invented the Yo-kai Watch?

The hero's grandfather drew up the plans as a boy, and the player helps his younger self by gathering the parts for his first working prototype.

Which leader of the Wicked Yo-kai is the main villain of Yo-kai Watch 2, plotting to remake the future?

Dame Dedtime seems unbeatable at first because her henchmen keep rewinding the clock, and once beaten she transforms into the stronger Dame Demona.

Which town, home to the hero's grandmother, is added as a new area in Yo-kai Watch 2?

Harrisville is where the hero, lured there under hypnosis by a giant cat Yo-kai, first stumbles on the feud between the Bony Spirits and the Fleshy Souls.

Which cat Yo-kai from the past carries the hero back 60 years in Yo-kai Watch 2 and its film version?

Hovernyan first appears as the huge Meganyan, a form he swelled into by absorbing soul energy over six decades.

Which pair of Wicked Yo-kai steal the Yo-kai Watch and erase the hero's memories at the start of Yo-kai Watch 2?

Kin and Gin can manipulate the clock, and they later make Jibanyan relive his last day as a pet in a failed attempt to tempt him into changing history.

In Yo-kai Watch 2, which older version of the watch lets players poke enemy Yo-kai to find a sweet spot?

Model Zero is pieced together during the trip to the past, and a well-aimed poke with it can raise the odds of befriending a Yo-kai or win extra money.

What are the American-themed Yo-kai that Nate meets once his family settles in BBQ in Yo-kai Watch 3 called?

'Merican Yo-kai include Tomnyan, a cat modelled on Jibanyan, and the English script swaps the original language barrier for a thick southern drawl.

Yo-kai Watch 3 dropped the rotating wheel used in earlier battles and placed the player's Yo-kai on what instead?

A three-by-three grid called the Tactics Board lets players slide Yo-kai around mid-fight, either to dodge an incoming attack or to line up a stronger one.

Yo-kai Watch Blasters was sold in two versions: Red Cat Corps and which other team?

White Dog Squad shipped alongside it, and the free Moon Rabbit Crew update reached Western players only twenty days after the two games launched there.

Every playable Yo-kai in Yo-kai Watch Blasters fills one of four roles: Fighter, Tank, Healer and which other?

Ranger Yo-kai back up their teammates by weakening enemies while still dealing damage, a mix that sets them apart from the pure attackers.

Which powerful Yo-kai blackmails the hero into entering a construction site at night in the first Yo-kai Watch game?

Kyubi is steering the hero toward the real troublemaker on the site, Massiface, and he turns up in the anime too, trying in vain to win Katie's heart.

In English versions of Yo-kai Watch, what was Jibanyan's name when he was still a living pet cat?

Rudy is the English name for the cat known in Japan as Akamaru, and his ghostly name blends the Japanese words for a residual haunting and a meow.

Jibanyan's forked twin tails in Yo-kai Watch come from which creature of Japanese folklore?

Nekomata were feared as dangerous cat monsters marked by a double tail, an image the series softens into a round, friendly mascot for children.

Komasan of Yo-kai Watch, who once watched over a countryside shrine, is modelled on which traditional Japanese figure?

A lion-dog statue, or komainu, stands watch at a shrine's entrance, and the first half of that word gives Komasan his name.

In Yo-kai Watch, where every Yo-kai belongs to a tribe, which tribe counts the astronaut Usapyon as a member?

Shady is his tribe, unlike Jibanyan and Komasan, who both belong to the Charming tribe; each tribe has its own strengths and weaknesses in battle.

Usapyon of Yo-kai Watch wants to build a rocket to fulfil the dream of which scientist, his former owner?

Dr. Hughly had hoped to send the first small animal safely into space, and Usapyon means to finish that work with a new rocket of his own.

When pushed too far in Yo-kai Watch, Usapyon flies into a rage and fires his laser gun in which form?

Invader Mode kicks in when his human partner pushes her luck, and it sends him chasing after her with his laser gun blazing.

In the first Yo-kai Watch game, where in Springdale does a bug hunt lead the player to a strange capsule machine?

Mount Wildwood hides the machine by a sacred tree, and the ghostly Yo-kai sealed in its capsule hands over the watch once the player sets him free.

In the first Yo-kai Watch game, players may be confronted by a fearsome Namahage Yo-kai if they do what?

Cross on a red light and the rule-enforcing ogre may appear, though the meeting can turn out well for players who have obeyed the signals.

Level-5 created Yo-kai Watch hoping to match the lasting appeal of which classic Japanese children's franchise?

Doraemon was the example the studio's boss named, so he researched what keeps a series loved for decades before settling on an open-world game for children.

Which Level-5 founder and chief executive created Yo-kai Watch and wrote the stories of its main games?

Akihiro Hino based Jibanyan's sad origin on a childhood memory of seeing a cat that had been run over, and he vetoed a plan to change it for the English release.

In Yo-kai Watch Blasters, which Yo-kai trains Jibanyan's team after they flee a fight with Gargaros?

Sergeant Burly turns up at their house after watching the retreat and drills Jibanyan, Sandmeh, Hidabat and Noway into a proper Blasters team.

Which currency do players collect on every mission in Yo-kai Watch Blasters to level up Yo-kai and forge equipment?

Oni Orbs pay for almost everything in the game, from levelling up a Yo-kai to buying items, and even small patrol errands hand out a few as a reward.

The first Yo-kai Watch film's opening weekend in 2014 beat a Japanese-film record held by which Studio Ghibli movie?

Howl's Moving Castle lost the record to a children's film that took 1.63 billion yen in its first weekend, after more than a million advance tickets were sold.

The English theme song of the Yo-kai Watch anime is sung by a co-creator of which animated series?

Phineas and Ferb co-creator Jeff 'Swampy' Marsh sang it, though on his own show he is better known as the voice of Major Monogram.

Which Japanese magazine began serialising the Yo-kai Watch manga in December 2012, months before the first game?

CoroCoro Comic gave Jibanyan his debut seven months ahead of the first game, and the magazine later broke the news of several sequels and spin-offs.

Which Japanese animation studio produced the original Yo-kai Watch anime that began airing in January 2014?

OLM kept the show running for more than four years, then produced its darker follow-up Yo-kai Watch Shadowside as the original run ended in 2018.

Yo-kai Watch developer Level-5 was founded in 1998 and is still based in which Japanese city?

Fukuoka has been the studio's home since 1998, and the wider prefecture is also where its founder was born, in the city of Omuta.

Which online role-playing game ran a 2016 crossover event that rewarded players with Yo-kai Watch minions and weapons?

Final Fantasy XIV let players earn tokens in ordinary battles and trade them for pint-sized Yo-kai companions, and the event has returned several times since.

In 2015 Yo-kai Watch mascot Jibanyan became a children's goodwill ambassador in Japan for which holiday destination?

Hawaii signed him up through its tourism office in Japan, and Jibanyan later met the state's governor on a follow-up visit to the islands.

A 2015 Japan-only Wii U spin-off pairs Yo-kai Watch songs and characters with which Ubisoft game series?

Just Dance met Yo-kai Watch in a ten-song game built on the 2014 edition, in which players copy routines performed by the Yo-kai on screen.