Why Yo-Kai Watch Failed To Be "The Next Pokémon" Outside Japan.

The Yokai realm, a new frontier to reshape the entertainment landscape. I try to picture spirits as they move between realms. What do they look like: cats? Komainu? Were their homelands like other times? I kept dreaming of a place I thought I'd never see. Then, one day, something happened: I got in.

Now that I have that preamble out of the way, another year has passed since the initial rollout of Yo-Kai Watch outside Japan. People were expecting the series to be as big a hit internationally as it was in Japan: it was not. Though some hold out hope the series can be saved, thinking realistically; it honestly doesn't look good. I even previously wrote an entire post about why the series doesn't work in the US like Pokémon does, and now I'd like to further detail this today. With the future of Yo-Kai Watch still uncertain and Pokémon celebrating its first quarter-century of success, let's explore why Yo-Kai Watch ultimately failed to be "the next Pokémon" outside Japan.

1. A Co-existence that (Largely) Wasn't

One thing I've learned over the last nine years of writing here and the last six of addressing this franchise in some capacity is that not even the most optimistic fans can create common ground out of nothing. While some Pokémon fans were onboard, many others were not. Though at the time and to a thankfully lesser extent since; YKW fans believed that it was merely being dismissed as a ripoff that damaged its reputation, but I never bought into that narrative and I still don't. The piece I just linked also claimed a similar mindset is what impacted Digimon in its initial run. 

However, I submit that also wasn't the dominant narrative in my experience, as I enjoyed both of those series for different reasons on the same concept (Star Wars and Star Trek, DC and Marvel, et al); and Pokémon was able to sustain its impact on pop culture (especially when the Game Boy made way for the DS); while Digimon did not for much more varied reasons (divisive reception to certain seasons; messing with the schedule for Frontier, mishandling the dub of Savers/Data Squad and declining toy sales to name a few). Even if some fans of both series exist, to this day; the majority of fans of both series get along about as well as oil and water. Before I move onto my next point, you can't always make a community of two different series, it just happens sometimes; much as it did with Doom Eternal and Animal Crossing New Horizons.

2. Marketing Confusion

You know that your marketing missed the mark when it shows up on "Cursed Commercials." I'm not saying that it would have been impossible to translate the marketing appeal of the series in hindsight, but the execution killed it at square one. The results were admittedly confusing. Sure, they did point how being inspirited can encourage competitive edge and passing gas in an elevator; but they never explained what a yokai was to the uninitiated. To those outside Japan who did know, claiming they were "not ghosts, spirits or monsters" when they were in fact all of these and more was personally one of the biggest mistakes they made in this process. 

On top of this, the target audience never really clicked no matter how hard they tried. I've mentioned this before, but it bears mentioning again: your average kid in the US likely doesn't care that much about yokai; and your average enthusiast of JRPGs and Japanese culture likely won't derive much pleasure from their parents arguing about a pudding cup. I'm pretty sure the likes of Don Draper or even the infamous "Mr. Caffeine" would be hard-pressed to sell this concept to the Anglosphere. 

Put simply, yokai are as well-known in Japan as zombies or werewolves here. Outside Japan: not so much. It wouldn't even be the first franchise that met this fate- Case Closed/Detective Conan was simultaneously too childish for Adult Swim, yet too gruesome for Cartoon Network (this was a pre-revival Toonami timeframe obviously). Lupin III, despite its influence on both sides of the pacific only has a cult following at best; and One Piece has only really gotten the international recognition it deserves over the past decade. 

Yet, amid all the hype; there would be a new franchise that would quickly become a key part of Nintendo's stable that managed to simultaneously mesh Western and Japanese concepts in a hit game: it was called Splatoon. It got a successful sequel on the Switch and a highly-anticipated third game coming soon; and it got people to understand its premise within moments. The marketing that was integral to the series' success overseas arguably ended up sinking it more here, and eventually dried up as the series went on. Their official social media accounts haven't posted anything since 2019; and I don't expect much more coming beyond that. The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fighter pass had its second volume come and go; and even though Jibanyan was a long shot; the series didn't get so much as a spirit or Mii Costume compared to Kazuya Mishima or Sora from Kingdom Hearts; which makes a good enough shift to my next heading.

3. Fear and Threats< Indifference

At the time the series was initially being brought to regions in the West; it was believed that "fear" and a "threat" of Yo-Kai Watch becoming the dominant monster JRPG brand is what caused the series to be largely shunned. However, as previously stated, that is very much not the case at all. Rather, outside people who were already interested in the series; indifference among the public was in many ways; for more common and detrimental to the series' prospects outside Japan. 

In hindsight, I'm not saying that the same genre immediately means there isn't room for a different take on the same gameplay concept. There's room for Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. There's room for Mario and Sonic. In my case, there's definitely room for Horizon Forbidden West and the Breath of the Wild sequel. I would also suggest there's room for Super Smash Bros. and Nick All-Star Brawl. 

The key difference is that a different title has to convince people that it's worth playing with what you have; if not more so. While some people were convinced; most others were not. At the time, I legitimately did not understand what these people saw in it; and I still don't. This is further compounded by the anime. In hindsight, many of my prior recaps did come off as rather harsh given what I was going through offline at the time. However, that said, I still don't like the original anime and I will not hold back in explaining why. 

4. What if they launched a new franchise, and nobody came?

Even as the series was being sold as a new franchise, despite the recommendations from the publisher; not a lot of people took to it. Even among the main demographic of children, the response was quite muted compared to the likes of  Minecraft, Mario and Marvel (lots of m's there). The article I linked in this header also pointed out that Pokémon has an appeal as both a fantasy quest and a surprisingly complex competitive aspect that can reach across age and regional barriers. 

By contrast, Yo-Kai Watch was always going to be facing an uphill battle to sustain itself after its initial peak and its international launch. As I type this, the lack of a new main game has been conspicuous by its absence; and we still have no word on any more content being released outside Japan, least of all an official release of "Yo-Kai Watch 4." Ultimately, this whole community of other games in the same genre never happened beyond a small contingent of players. Though it isn't impossible for a series to grow thanks to grassroots fan efforts (Ni No Kuni, Yakuza and Persona/SMT are good examples); so far, that hasn't panned out either. 

Beyond one of the dub writers acknowledging an online trend earlier this year, the response at the top hasn't yielded the results expected. The movie and the first season of the anime were delisted from Netflix; no other licensee has picked up the toys after Hasbro dropped the license; and Level-5 has seemingly exited non-Japanese markets after the closure of Level-5 Abby and the potential closure of their International operations overall. We will come back to this in a few moments; but it seems the calls to "save Yo-Kai Watch" may yet go unheard. 

5. Inability/Unwillingness to Learn From Mistakes

Though a small, but vocal contingent of fans continues to insist the series only failed due to attacks from Pokémon fans who disavow any other monster RPG (something demonstrably false in my experience, here are my favorite alternatives in ascending order: Custom Robo, Baten Kaitos, Monster Rancher, The World Ends With You, Ni No Kuni, and Shin Megami Tensei/Persona, with an honorable mention going to Pocket Mortys); I submit in hindsight, the wounds dealt to Yo-Kai Watch were ultimately ones that were self-inflicted. 

This passage is also going to be dealing with material that I've considered before, but held off actually posting until now. I've wondered before why Level-5 didn't simply forego localizing Blasters (Busters in Japan) when they were developing the third main game to appeal to the West, especially after the second game underperformed in sales outside Japan. Again, this comes from sources who used to work for the Abby who I found online in forums (and shall respect the anonymity of); but apparently the contracts drawn up precluded the possibility of skipping a localization, hence why all the previous main titles up to that point also had to be localized first as well. The Moon Rabbit Crew and Iron Oni Force expansions being included as free DLC for Blasters and Yo-Kai Watch 3 containing content from all three versions in one international release were admittedly good moves; but at the same time, it's the very definition of "too little, too late." 

Even as a potential release of "Yo-Kai Watch 4" has been impacted by the events of the past year, I've noticed the same mistakes being made throughout the tenure of the series outside Japan. Why Level-5 hasn't just sold the international rights to other companies still eludes me if they no longer have the means to release content outside Japan themselves. That way, the fourth game could still get released alongside the movies key to its plot with a minimum of worry; especially given the current situation. Instead, each international release sold less than the one before it and was launched in the shadow of other big games. 

Even removing the "P-word" from the equation, YW1 was outsold by Black Ops III at launch. YW2 was outsold by Final Fantasy XV. Blasters was outsold by Marvel's Spider-Man, and YW3 was done in by the combined might of Kingdom Hearts III, the remake of Resident Evil 2 and people moving on from the 3DS to the Switch. Even the Psychic Specters port of YW2 was outsold by last-generation versions of that year's FIFA. That's to say nothing of YW4 launching at #1 in Japan; but quickly falling after the release of Super Mario Maker 2, which sold more in its first 3 days than YW4 did in its first five months. Then there's the anime, which keeps waffling between its initial premise (slice of life with yokai shenanigans) and rebrands to focus on everything from supernatural horror to superheroes of all things; then hitting the reset button whenever things don't pan out. 

Yet, it never seems to click that maybe this haphazard approach to each relaunch isn't really working; and maybe the diminishing returns are the result of over-saturation in the time before, and that there's a middle ground between drowning international markets in content and pulling all marketing completely. 

6.  A Lack of New and Sustainable Audiences

In my post about why the series didn't work in the US, I ended by stating a major problem was the uncertainty of its target audience. Now, three years later; that still holds true. While this 'verse clearly has a dedicated audience; that isn't the same as being able to find a new audience over time or a to keep a sustainable one. The saddest part is that Hino wanted Yo-Kai Watch to have a sort of cross-generational appeal; but that hasn't really happened. It hasn't even been a full decade, and even in Japan; the series has faced a considerable decline. I mentioned these brands earlier in the post, and it's key to mention them again: brands like Marvel, DC and Star Wars definitely practice something called "generational investment," making works that can be enjoyed not only by the current generation; but future ones for years to come. 

Pokémon has managed to rise above the stigma of being dismissed as a "fad" and has become something of an "all-ages" series in the way Mario or Dragon Ball have been viewed as; which I genuinely believe gives it an edge over other entries in its genre. I honestly am not inclined to believe the rumor about Level-5 betting against the Switch; as that raises all manner of questions (least of all: why would they even bother releasing games there at all if that's the case, as opposed to backing Sony or Microsoft instead?). However, if Pokémon could make the transition to the Nintendo Switch and Yo-Kai Watch could not; then that clearly indicates a different depth of feeling in the fanbase. 

It's like this: if a Sonic game doesn't do the best, then it's ultimately not a big deal in the grand scheme of things: the next can always be better. On the other hand, if a Metroid game doesn't do the best; then that's when the series might have to go on hiatus for a while to determine their next move. This also applies to the US market- it clearly had a dedicated fanbase for YKW; but not one that could draw in newcomers or sustain itself, given how the series didn't just bleed sales as time went on; it hemorrhaged them. 

Admittedly, this is something that's been a recurring concern with Pokémon as well ever since Generation III (speaking from experience here); but over time, I notice that concern often is met with relief whenever the content does release (in many ways, it's the reverse of what happens with Sonic as I just mentioned). 

This leaves Yo-Kai Watch at an interesting juncture as I type this. The most recent movie was a box office bomb, making half of what the previous film did amid competition from "My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising" and "Shijin-so no Satsujin," along with the Japanese releases of "Frozen II," "Jumanji: The Next Level" and "Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker." That's quite the drop from how previous movies outgrossed the Japanese releases of both "The Force Awakens" and "Rogue One." It remains to be seen how this year's movie will fare. The most recent anime has also met with relatively muted reception; toy sales significantly declined, and after the disappointing sales of both the fourth main game and the Jam Project spinoff; there is currently no word on a fifth main game. Even though I have no objections to localizing the fourth game, the limbo of any news over the past two years; combined with the challenges in the current landscape makes it an uphill battle. 

Given how things have gone; at this current stage, I honestly don't know if the most recent main game merely failed to stop the series' decline or cemented its downfall. The series has a dedicated western fanbase, but clearly not a sustainable one. I didn't hate the previous games in the series I played, but I honestly had no problem trading them back in towards the seventh generation of Pokémon games. Even with the furor over certain decisions made, it's easily often forgotten that for many people; the latest iterations of Pokémon can often be someone's first. 

Sadly, this new influx of fans hasn't happened for Yo-Kai Watch; and even in Japan, the series is clearly going through something of an identity crisis; as is Level-5 itself. The developer was once seen as something of an antidote to larger AAA companies; but has now ironically fallen victim to many of the same mistakes that contributed to other studios closing entirely. I have stated before I really don't want them to go through that; and that I wouldn't object to a vanilla release of YW4 on eShop/PSN Store, along with maybe selling the rights to the fourth and fifth movies to a streaming service. That's not an ideal outcome, but when the alternative is not having an official release at all; it's something worth considering. Akihiro Hino is also supposedly taking control of their international operations (meaning their previous head, who I have only referred to before as "Crusty Demon" is stepping down); but it remains to be seen how that will go. Even Specter Subs, a longstanding group in the fan community is winding down their operations; announcing on their Twitter account that after they finish their backlogs, their work will not continue.

For now, with Pokémon set to release both a long-awaited pair of remakes along with a highly-anticipated prequel; and Yo-Kai Watch having yet to announce a fifth new main game, let alone an update about an official NA release of the fourth, that is why Yo-Kai Watch failed to be "the next Pokémon" outside Japan. Whatever happens next for the series, it's clear that Level-5 will definitely have to make the next main entry work towards the future; and seriously consider trying not to chase the peak of the second game's success. Most of all, they shouldn't keep trying to make every single game another multimedia package. I've mentioned this before, and it bears mentioning again: just make and release the work, and let people make their own judgment. That will be all for now. Later.