Interest
Yo-kai Watch Screenwriter Reacts to Series Trending in America
posted on by Kim Morrissy
The Yōkai Watch series has been struggling in recent years in the United States. The most recent game, Yōkai Watch 4: Bokura wa Onaji Sora o Miageteiru (We Look Up Toward the Same Sky), hasn't received a western release, despite earlier promises of a localization two years ago.
To show support for the waning series, English-speaking fans on Twitter started posting under the #SaveYoKaiWatch, causing it to briefly trend in the United States.
Here's a small social experiment:
— Yo-Kai Watch Reanimated (@YoKai_Reanimate) March 11, 2021
Lets get #SaveYoKaiWatch trending!
A lot of interest in the series went down, as many people forgot about the series. I wanna try and fix that!
Post about it as much as you can! pic.twitter.com/sBpqs62C4F
This fact even managed to reach the anime's lead screenwriter Yoichi Kato, who tweeted: "Yōkai Watch is trending in America!"
アメリカで妖怪ウォッチがトレンド入りしてる!#SaveYoKaiWatch pic.twitter.com/IUZV2Xemd6
— 加藤 陽一 Yoichi Kato (@yoichi_kato) March 12, 2021
The head writer for the U.S. adaptation of the anime David H. Steinberg also chipped in, tweeting: "Oh my swirls! I wrote 93 episodes of Yōkai Watch but I could probably do a few more! #SaveYoKaiWatch"
Oh my swirls! I wrote 93 episodes of YoKai Watch but I could probably do a few more! #SaveYoKaiWatch https://t.co/eKo47Fe9Sv
— David H. Steinberg (@DavidHSteinberg) March 12, 2021
Three seasons from the original Yōkai Watch TV anime received an English dub, airing on Disney XD US. Sprite Animation Studios handled for the first two seasons, but the cast was replaced in 2018, when SDI Media took over the English dub. Hasbro's Yōkai Watch toy line was discontinued in the United States in 2017.
Yōkai Watch ♪, the new television anime series in the Yōkai Watch franchise, will premiere on April 9 at 6:25 p.m. JST on six stations affiliated with TV Tokyo.
Source: Yoichi Kato's Twitter account