Yo-kai Watch (manga)

Yo-kai Watch (妖怪ウォッチ, Yōkai Wotchi) is a manga series written and illustrated by Noriyuki Konishi, based on Level-5's franchise with the same name. The series primarily follows Nate Adams (Keita Amano in the Japanese and Singapore English versions), who gets the titular Yo-kai Watch, which allows him to see Yo-kai, who are otherwise invisible to the human eye. The series was serialized by Shogakukan in their CoroCoro Comic magazine in Japan from December 2012 to April 2023. Viz Media publishes the series in North America under their Perfect Square imprint, whereas Shogakukan Asia publishes the series in Singapore and Kazé publishes it in Spain and France.

This article is about the manga by Noriyuki Konishi. For other uses, see Yo-kai Watch § Manga and comics.
Yo-kai Watch
North American English cover art of the series' first volume, showing Whisper (left) and Nate Adams (right)
妖怪ウォッチ
(Yōkai Wotchi)
GenreComedy[1]
Manga
Written byNoriyuki Konishi
Published byShogakukan
English publisher
MagazineCoroCoro Comic
DemographicChildren
Original runDecember 15, 2012 – April 21, 2023
Volumes23

Multiple other manga series also based on the Yo-kai Watch franchise have been released, such as one focusing on Nate's love interest, Katie Forester,[2] one based on the Yo-kai Watch Blasters video game,[3] and one based on the Yo-kai Watch Jam: Yo-kai Academy Y: Encounter with N TV-series.[4]

Main characters
Main article: List of Yo-kai Watch characters

The VIZ translation uses western character names, while the Singapore English translation uses Japanese character names.[5]

Nathan "Nate" Adams / Keita Amano (天野景太, Amano Keita) – An 11-year-old 5th grader who acquires a Yo-kai Watch while bug hunting in the Mount Wildwood forest. He's portrayed as a relatively average and straightforward character.[6]

Whisper (ウィスパー, Wisupā) – Nate's self-appointed Yo-kai butler, who had been trapped in a gashapon machine for over one-hundred years before being freed by Nate. In addition to giving Nate the Yo-kai Watch, he also explains the different characteristics and traits of Yo-kai when he and Nate run into them.

Jibanyan (ジバニャン, Jibanyan) – A cat-like Yo-kai, who Nate and Whisper met at an intersection in Nate's residence, Uptown Springdale. Prior to becoming a Yo-kai, Jibanyan was called Rudy (Akamaru) and was the pet cat of a girl named Amy (Emi). One day, Rudy was run over by a truck in the intersection where Jibanyan would later meet Nate and Whisper, causing him to become a Yo-kai.

Background and release

Yo-kai Watch was written and illustrated by Noriyuki Konishi, a Japanese writer from Nagasaki Prefecture, previously known for his work on manga adaptations of series such as AM Driver and Mushiking: King of the Beetles.[1] At the time of the Yo-kai Watch franchise's announcement, the manga, among other media, had already been planned in an attempt to make the franchise long-lasting.[7]

The series first began serialization in CoroCoro Comic, published by Shogakukan, on December 15, 2012, over 5 months before the release of the first Yo-kai Watch video game.[8][9] The series ended serialization on April 21, 2023.[10]

In April 2015, Viz Media announced that they would start publishing Yo-kai Watch in English under their Perfect Square imprint, starting September later the same year, in conjunction with the release of other Yo-kai Watch media and merchandise.[11] A trailer for the English series was uploaded to the official Yo-kai Watch YouTube channel later on October 5.[12] As a teaser to the series' release, Viz Media distributed samples of the series' first volume through some retailers as a part of Halloween ComicFest 2015.[13]

In North America, the first two volumes of the series were released on November 2, after pre-orders were made available on October 27.[14]

There is a separate English translation in Singapore, published by Shogakukan Asia.[15]

Volumes

Currently the ISBNs reflect the versions released in the US.

No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
1 June 28, 2013978-4-09-141655-1Singapore: July 1, 2015
US: November 3, 2015		978-1-4215-8251-1
2 December 27, 2013978-4-09-140018-5Singapore: September 23, 2015
US: November 3, 2015		978-1-4215-8252-8
3 March 25, 2014978-4-09-141709-1Singapore: November 27, 2015
US: January 5, 2016		978-1-4215-8273-3
4 July 25, 2014978-4-09-141793-0US: March 1, 2016
Singapore: March 25, 2016		978-1-4215-8274-0
5 October 28, 2014978-4-09-141817-3US: May 3, 2016
Singapore: June 2016		978-1-4215-8275-7
6 February 27, 2015978-4-09-141876-0Singapore: End of September 2016
US: December 6, 2016		978-1-4215-9217-6
7 June 26, 2015978-4-09-142006-0US: March 7, 2017
Singapore: April 2017		978-1-4215-9218-3
8 September 28, 2015978-4-09-142102-9Singapore: November 2017
US: January 2, 2018		978-1-4215-9691-4
9 February 26, 2016978-4-09-142119-7Singapore: May 2018
US: July 3, 2018		978-1-4215-9753-9
10 June 24, 2016978-4-09-142175-3January 8, 2019
(US only for this and further volumes)		978-1-4215-9754-6
11 August 5, 2016978-4-09-159232-3May 14, 2019978-1-4215-9755-3
12 April 28, 2017978-4-09-142389-4September 12, 2019978-1-9747-0310-4
13 September 28, 2017978-4-09-142530-0January 14, 2020978-1-9747-0311-1
14 November 28, 2017978-4-09-142637-6May 12, 2020978-1-9747-0312-8
15 May 28, 2018978-4-09-142710-6September 8, 2020978-1-9747-0608-2
16 July 26, 2019978-4-09-143046-5January 12, 2021978-1-9747-1858-0
17 October 28, 2019978-4-09-143109-7May 11, 2021978-1-9747-1881-8
18 July 28, 2020978-4-09-143209-4September 14, 2021978-1-9747-1485-8
19 August 27, 2021978-4-09-143339-8August 9, 2022978-1-9747-3210-4
20 December 27, 2021978-4-09-143367-1January 10, 2023978-1-9747-3424-5
21 April 27, 2022978-4-09-143390-9May 9, 2023978-1-9747-3697-3
22 December 27, 2022978-4-09-143575-0January 9, 2024978-1-9747-4300-1
23 May 26, 2023978-4-09-143615-3——

There was a special edition of Volume 1, released with a Yo-kai medal, in Singapore.[16]

Reception and sales

Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network rated the series' first two English volumes a B−, praising the book's "comfortable narrative patterns for kids [and] nice humor", while criticizing its localization for being "highly formulaic". Silverman was also positive towards the series' art, rating it a B and calling it "deceptively simple and very expressive". Silverman also noted that Konishi would frequently illustrate "grotesquely bulging eyeballs", among other "icky imagery", which she felt made it "thrillingly disgusting" for child readers.[17]

The series won the award for Best Children's Manga at both the 38th Kodansha Manga Awards and the 60th Shogakukan Manga Awards.[18][19]

Throughout 2014, Yo-kai Watch sold over 2.58 million copies in Japan across its different volumes, ranking it as the 20th best-selling manga series on Oricon's Annual Book Ranking that year.[20]

References
  1. "Yo-kai Watch". Viz Media. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  2. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (February 27, 2017). "Elex Media Licenses Ōji Gentei, Yo-kai Watch Nyanderful Days Manga". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  3. Sahdev, Ishaan (May 14, 2015). "Yo-kai Watch Busters Game Gets A Manga Adaptation". Siliconera. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  4. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (November 27, 2020). "Yo-kai Gakuen Y Manga Ends With 3rd Volume". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  5. "Yo-kai Watch 7". Shogakukan Asia. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
  6. Sato (May 22, 2013). "Meet The Awesome Youkai And Characters Of Youkai Watch". Siliconera. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  7. Kohler, Chris (December 4, 2015). "Yo-Kai Watch Is Engineered to Be Your Kid's Next Obsession". Wired. Condé Nast. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  8. "『妖怪ウォッチ』のマンガ連載が2012年12月15日よりスタート". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. November 15, 2011. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  9. Arai, Yosuke (November 16, 2011). "「妖怪ウォッチ」の漫画連載が12月15日発売の月刊コロコロコミックでスタート。ゲームのストーリーを先取りできるかも". 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). Aetas. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  10. Cayanan, Joanna (April 25, 2023). "Noriyuki Konishi's Yo-kai Watch Manga Ends in 23rd Volume (Updated)". Anime News Network. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
  11. Loveridge, Lynzee (April 6, 2015). "Viz Media Adds Yo-kai Watch Manga to Perfect Square Imprint". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  12. Creegan, Dermot (October 10, 2015). "New Video Provides a Sneak Peak at the Yo-Kai Watch Manga". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  13. Lada, Jenni (October 28, 2015). "Yo-Kai Watch Manga Samplers Being Given Away For Halloween ComicFest". Siliconera. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  14. Whritenour, Jacob (October 27, 2015). "Yo-Kai Watch Manga Pre-Orders Now Open". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  15. "Yo-kai Watch 1". Shogakukan Asia. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
  16. "YO-KAI WATCH 1 Special Edition". Shogakukan Asia. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
  17. Silverman, Rebecca (November 30, 2015). "Yo-kai Watch GN 1 & 2 Review". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  18. Loo, Egan (May 8, 2014). "Yo-kai Watch, Baby Steps Win 38th Kodansha Manga Awards". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  19. Nelkin, Sarah (January 21, 2015). "Yo-kai Watch, Be Blues Win 60th Shogakukan Awards". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  20. "オリコン2014年 年間"本"ランキング" [Oricon 2014 Annual Book Ranking] (in Japanese). Oricon. December 1, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
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