Well, I can see why this movie bombed even in Japan. It's all right I suppose; but between the box office returns and the ongoing pandemic, it's probably going to be the last movie this franchise will get for a while. So, with that said; here are my first viewing thoughts on the pilot movie for "Yo-Kai Watch Jam: Yo-Kai Academy Y."
There will be some spoilers; but seeing as I'm probably not going to review this movie anytime soon, I wouldn't have much of an outlet to tell you otherwise, so let's get started.
This movie, as previously established; features humanized versions of the yokai characters, with the watch in this continuity turning them into superheroes. Key ones to this setting are Jibanyan's counterpart, Jinpei Jiba; Komasan's counterpart Koma Sandayu, and a new character that's essentially our audience surrogate; Tamada Mataro. The film features the three among a cast of characters trying to stop a group of creatures known as "Onryo" from taking over the academy and causing chaos in the world. This is on top of how the slice-of-life elements have now taken a backseat to what I have charitably described as a smaller-scale My Hero Academia by way of My Little Pony Equestria Girls.
So, much like the TV series it acts as a feature-length intro to; it's all right all things considered. The plot structure is not on the same level to me as Shadowside or Forever Friends (still not reviewing that one either), but it's all right as far as riding the coattails of superheroes and tokusatsu series goes.
There are admittedly some cringeworthy scenes (such as a mecha doing something that wouldn't be out of place in one of the Michael Bay Transformers movies); but I can at least understand what everyone's end game is on paper. Once again, the animation is the strongest element in play here. Everything is colorful and sharp, and aside from some rough-looking CGI (including the aforementioned mecha); the movement on the action is quite energetic. The design work on the hero forms is actually pretty neat and has lots of variety (though some in the show proper, such as Fubuki's hero form and Jinpei's "Wild Boy" form kind of look like Overwatch characters, to the point where I half expected to hear an announcer say "play of the game" before an instant replay).
In many ways, this easily ranks among the most insane movies not just in this franchise; but in my lifetime of viewing movies to date, and I've seen Jupiter Ascending. Though, all things considered; much like that film's concept (essentially The Matrix meets Star Wars on $176 million of mind-bending visuals); this one is as advertised. It's not the best thing that I've covered in the series; but it's far from the worst.
Unfortunately, while not as big a bomb as that film was; it still is the lowest-grossing entry in the franchise to date; making about only half as much as the previous year's film. It was met with competition from the hit "Shijin-sou no Satsujin" along with the Japanese releases of "Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker," "Frozen II" and "Jumanji: The Next Level." Combine that with continued uncertainty from audiences and distributors alike in adjusting to a new cinematic climate in the age of COVID-19 (some releases are still being reshuffled, others have taken advantage of an accelerated rise in embracing PVOD/streaming); it's highly unlikely we'll see another new "Yo-Kai Watch" movie anytime soon.
I know I just posted something about this franchise; but I'm still getting used to the new Blogger layout and I will probably need a moment to think about my next review, so I will probably do another simple article like this next time. With Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution now coming out on Blu-Ray, I submit it's only a matter of time before Viz says something about M23 being dubbed in English; maybe around when the JP movie finally comes out at Christmas time. The game hasn't done too well, and I still haven't found much data on how the toys or TV anime are doing either. I will let you know if anything else comes up about the proposed localization of Yo-Kai Watch 4; but so far, nothing else has come up in any of the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcases this year. That will be all for now. Later.
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