Further Thoughts on Yo-Kai Watch Shadowside and Localizing More Content.

Hello everyone. By the time you read this, I will have returned from vacation; and it will be much closer to E3, with many games I'm looking forward to.

With that in mind, I thought I would give some more thoughts on Yo-Kai Watch Shadowside and localizing more content.

I will start with the latter first, given the timing of all this. Despite persistent rumors of localizing
Yo-Kai Watch 3 and the Blasters spinoff, there is a notable lack of talk from official sources on the matter. Even people who are much bigger fans of the series than me (such as my associate Kohdok) noted on Twitter they have doubts about the whole thing. Amid the mixed reception to the anime and toys, Level-5 is apparently making plans to reset their licensing deals; which may explain part of the delay behind more toys and the third season of the anime's English dub.

Even as someone who isn't a fan of the series, I have to admit that sometimes being right isn't all it's cracked up to be. For example, when I began recapping the dub; I pointed out that Manjimutt's backstory that led to him becoming a yokai stemmed from being let go from his job as a salaryman due to "budget cuts." Two years after I wrote that, the exact same thing happened to the cast of the English dub. Me personally insinuating that might happen didn't exactly help.

Still, even with me rejecting requests to stop watching it; it's clear to me that the show wasn't getting enough ratings to justify continuing with the existing cast. It didn't matter if I personally stopped, because the show didn't really live up to the lofty expectations the top brass had for it. Regardless, my plan is still the same: no tapping my backlog without official confirmation of season 3 airing, and no recap of the third movie without an official release for Yo-Kai Watch 3 outside Japan.

Furthermore, people claimed that Shadowside isn't the answer to the problems the series is facing outside Japan, but I disagree. They've been trying to find out a way to make it successful in the US since the beginning. Now, there's something that can potentially do so; and they reject the possibility. This is exactly what I said needed to happen for the series to continue, as the original format was running out of steam even in Japan. The future of the series is still less about jokes and toys, and more about stories and characters.

While there are some occasional dirty moments and goofy scenes, the series is a vast improvement over the original version. Even if the fans wonder if the brand's western failure tainted any chance of getting Shadowside, I personally think it might fit better as a soft reboot than the second game. To be honest, I think it's more likely the disappointment of the US release ended up tainting the brand on its home turf. It's the ultimate irony that the third game was deliberately made to appeal to American players, yet word of localization is highly conspicuous by its absence.

With E3 starting soon and Nintendo's conference taking place on June 12, it will be when my decision will be finalized. So, my plan is as follows: if the US release of Yo-Kai Watch 3 is officially revealed, I will start work on recapping the third movie; with my coverage of the series ending with a recap of the Shadowside movie in October (pending an English subtitled copy). If not, then I shall end with a recap of the final episode of the original anime and the first two episodes of Shadowside. That will be all for now. Later.