Yo-Kai Watch (Season 2 premiers August 1st with 50 episodes)

[pppp]

I seriously need a little Whisper in my life, even if he is ignorant as shit.

OMG that statement is really sad to hear for me in hindsight xD I'll just say this: There's an extra layer to Whisper's running gag that you won't know till ep 47

[pppp]

There's so much good about it, particularly as something meant to compete with Pokemon when you realize how badly it could've gone like every other collectible/toy-based anime trying to ride Pokemon's coattails. Crossing my fingers that the dub keeps the spirit intact and the series blows up a little bit in the west.

Yeah sorry for double posting but I'd like to voice my thoughts on that. I'm quite tired of the press only talking stuff like "Apparently its the new Pokemon/It's competing with Pokemon". While it is true that it does share some superficial stuff with Pokémon, that is not what Yo-Kai is going for at all. Here's the creator Akihiro Hino's explanation on how it came to be:

"We've created a lot of different IPs, and I figured it was about time that we made something like Doraemon, that could be loved by many people over a long period of time. That was the start of it." Level 5 top man Akihiro Hino said in an interview with Weekly Famitsu. Ever since last year, Hino had stated that he'd wanted to make a Doraemon for the current generation. "I researched what would give something appeal and longevity, and pondered what would be relatable to people and developed the open world RPG that children could play, Yokai Watch. I think title's popularity is the fruits of trial and error."

For those that don't know, Doraemon is basically one of the most popular kids animes ever, and it also dealed with problems kids face on a daily basis. As someone that grew up with Doraemon I can confirm this, as some character designs(Particularly Kuma) are clearly inspired by it. Hell in the movie they actually make a clear blatant reference to Doraemon, mentioning the show and everything.

Yo-Kai Watch can indeed be considered a Pokemon like franchise, but honestly I hate it being mentioned by that cause it's clear people saying that haven't looked deeper. Yo-Kai Watch is so much more than that, It's an hilarious, touching, and consistently entertaining show that defined a unique identity for itself.

[pppp]

So someone posted this english dubbed episode from Toonami Asia. For those that don't know the anime is already airing there. This is not gonna be the dub the US is getting since Johnny Young Bosch doesn't voice him here, but one thing I love is how they kept the overall little quirks like Whisper saying "whis":

 

[pppp]

OK so it premiers October 5th on Disney XD:

http://www.animationmagazine.net/tv/yo-kai-watch-premieres-on-xd-oct-5/

They're gonna air the first 5 eps in consecutive days(Great decision, since the first 4 eps have a few issues with the writers still struggling to find the perfect balance of humor/heart that defines the show, so yeah get those out of the way) but from there on it will be a weekly Monday premier. Also 2 English clips:

 

 

I actually really like Whisper's voice, he retains his neurotic nature from the japanese performance while putting his own spin on it. Johnny's direction in the show seems different than in the games, since here he's not using his Emil voice from Tales Of, but it works well still.

[Nepenthe]

I... honestly don't like Whisper's voice. The overeagerness, hotbloodedness, and the fast pace are completely gone from the performance. Sure, he's a bit of an enigma, and the more proper accent does fit, but that's not really what I've imagined Whisper to be. Granted, his Japanese voice actor is my avatar so I may be a bit biased. At the very least, I really like what I've heard from Jibanyan in the game at least. It seems excessively close to the tone and mannerisms of his Japanese VA.

[Kevin]

The voice don't sound too bad. My only complaint is that Keita (or Nate in dub) sounds a bit too old and much like Nobita (Noby) from Doraemon. Jibanyan's voice sounds pretty good though. At least they appear to be keeping the music from the Japanese version which I like.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Not surprised Disney XD is airing it here in the States, they are really trying to get the teenage/boy audience, and this may be their counter pokemon(it's kinda funny that Nintendo managed to get the next upcoming thing that could have possibly competed with it's money maker, clever really

[Dizcrybe]

I kinda wish they had gotten someone other than Johnny Yong Bosch since he's already voicing Nobita in the Doraemon dub. But apparently he's voicing the kid in the games...? So...

[pppp]

I... honestly don't like Whisper's voice. The overeagerness, hotbloodedness, and the fast pace are completely gone from the performance.

Well remember those traits weren't really there in the first handful of eps since the actor was still doing his Whisper voice from the first game. It was only later that he changed from this:

 

To what we hear in eps from like 8 and so on and in Youkai Watch 2(Start at 1:07):

 

Maybe JW Terry will also receive similar direction.

[pppp]

I kinda wish they had gotten someone other than Johnny Yong Bosch since he's already voicing Nobita in the Doraemon dub. But apparently he's voicing the kid in the games...? So...

Don't quote me on it cause we still don't have confirmation, but apparently it's gonna be the same cast for games and anime. Johnny is confirmed to be in the game and Alcyin(Jibanyan) seems to be the one in the E3 footage.

The interesting thing is how different voice directors change things, in the game Johnny seems to be going for his Emil voice from Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World(You can make out him talking at 10 seconds):

 

 

As for him voicing Nobita, well maybe that's why he was cast, since this is heavily inspired by Doraemon.

[pppp]

So we now have the official USA page for the franchise, It covers everything from the anime to the comics and toys:

http://www.yo-kai-world.com/index.html

Judging from the summary and character bios things seem to be intact storywise, the only thing I notice are name changes.

Also new trailer:

 

Like what I see alot. Katie's voice is a bit too mature for my taste, but most american cartoons have girls voiced like this so I guess it's expected.

Also turns out we were wrong, we are indeed getting an english version of Geragera po:

Sounds cool, the lyrics are cheesy, but come on that was true of the japanese version also, so no harm here.

Edited September 22, 2015 by pppp

[Kevin]

Thank god we're getting an English Geragera po! I was worried we were going to get that really crappy looking intro awhile back! From the sound of things, the English dub is looking to hold up well. Perhaps Level 5 is having an influence in the dubbing process?

[pppp]

Thank god we're getting an English Geragera po! I was worried we were going to get that really crappy looking intro awhile back! From the sound of things, the English dub is looking to hold up well. Perhaps Level 5 is having an influence in the dubbing process?

The English Dub of Inazuma Eleven also had english versions of the original songs. Dentsu Entertainment(Distributors of the anime in both Japan and USA) prefers it this way I guess.

[Nepenthe]

Consider me also relieved that they're not going to 4Kids it up and do something akin to One Piece's rap theme, or worse. Geragera Po is a genuinely catchy melody that properly encompasses the spirit of the show, and it's one of the only like three anime themes that was good enough for me to sit through each episode's opening for.

[pppp]

Consider me also relieved that they're not going to 4Kids it up and do something akin to One Piece's rap theme

Interesting you say that, since Geragerapo IS a rap song

But yeah I love Geragerapo, especially the ballad version from the second game and the movie:

[Kevin]

Here's the official US ending theme.

I have to say that I'm really liking that they're trying to keep things as close to the Japanese version as possible. I'm looking forward to the official dub premiere on Monday.

[pppp]

I love it. Can't really think how an english version of the song could be better than this.

[Kevin]

I just got finished watching the dub and I have to say I'm impressed with how it came out. They tried to keep it as close to the Japanese version as possible keeping the original opening/ending songs along with the background music. My only complaint is that Nate sounds a bit old and Whisper sounds odd, but I like how the rest of the voices came out.

Edited October 5, 2015 by Kevin

[Zaysho]

 

I just got finished watching the dub and I have to say I'm impressed with how it came out. They tried to keep it as close to the Japanese version as possible keeping the original opening/ending songs along with the background music. My only complaint is that Nate sounds a bit old and Whisper sounds odd, but I like how the rest of the voices came out.

 

Well, he is voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch, and I think his voice will always have that quality to some degree. However, I was quite impressed with his performance. He's voiced kids before and they usually sounded forced and grating (worst offender is probably Renton in Eureka Seven, IMO). Here, I think his voice for Nate sounded right for his age and his performance didn't sound like he was struggling to keep the voice and act at the same time. I could hardly tell it was him, actually! He's definitely gotten better with these types of characters.

I'm glad it sounds like the dub is quite faithful to the original, name changes aside. I haven't seen the JPN version so I was curious if it was going to be really Americanized. It'll be interesting to hear what fans of the original have to say as the dub progresses.

As for myself, that was a fun first episode. I thought the concept, as it was described at e3 this year, was interesting so I look forward to seeing where it goes.

Edited October 6, 2015 by Zaysho
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[pppp]

As for myself, that was a fun first episode. I thought the concept, as it was described at e3 this year, was interesting so I look forward to seeing where it goes.

Trust me, the first ep isn't even close to an indicator of how good it gets, it only gets better and better as the writers get more creative and start throwing really different storylines and characters aside from Nate and Whisper.

[pppp]

SSMB, which were yesterday's Yo-Kai? :

That's right, the recaps are gonna be YouTube videos on the official channel. Interesting choice, I guess to promote the eps themselves.

I just watched the dub on YouTube, I loved it, they really kept the essence intact. The only scene aside from the "Next time on Yokai Watch" thing being gone that I noticed was the sheep/food/valet gag(It's like 3 seconds tops), which I didn't get when I saw it in the JPN version and from what I've been told, it's a japanese joke that can't really work in the english language, so it makes sense to ommit it. Not to mention the translators made up for it by inserting an Aladdin reference in place of it that works better for us Westerners anyway. Also loved how in the Jibanyan segment they sneaked in a Rocky reference of all things, pretty clever.

I also love all the voices honestly, after hearing Katie a bit more, I think she'll grow on me. Personally I'm glad that instead of trying to replicate the original japanese performances,which would work horribly against them as I've heard in many english dubs, the voice director decided to have the actors bring their own style to the characters. It worked especially with Jibanyan, Alicyn's performance is true to the original, but doesn't try to go for the cuddly adorable voice the JPN actress uses, which I appreciate, the only US voice actress I can think of that can do that as good as Japan is Tara Strong. Also the puns are still here in full force xD.

It's easy to see why it took so long to come to the US, this is not a cheap, quickly made dub to get promotion for the game and toys out there. Alot of effort and care went into this dub. It's easy to see why if you look at the credits:

 

Notice at 21:47 where we see the credits for the dub and Akihiro Hino is listed as Executive Producer. The creator of the franchise himself made sure this was properly done. Its great that Level-5 now handles their dubs themselves, what happened with the dubs of Inazuma Eleven and LBX won't happen here.

Overall I'd say the dub is a resounding sucess, can't wait for ep 2 today

Edited October 6, 2015 by pppp

[8ther]

You think they might omit the Kyuubi/cucumber joke in episode 18?

[pppp]

You think they might omit the Kyuubi/cucumber joke in episode 18?

Probably, there's no way to make that pun work in english.

[Dizcrybe]

I was able to check out the first episode. It was pretty good; only real complaint I have it that it feels a bit too fast-paced. Like, there's no time to take a breather for a second, you know?

[pppp]

I was able to check out the first episode. It was pretty good; only real complaint I have it that it feels a bit too fast-paced. Like, there's no time to take a breather for a second, you know?

It gets better in that regard as it moves on.Believe it or not, we'll get continous stories through segments that go for like 5 eps at a time. The one starting with ep 9 in particular builds character with a slice of life structure where we just watch the characters be themselves.

Edited October 7, 2015 by pppp