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NEWS: Yo-kai Watch TV Anime Enters Shadowside Arc in April

I'm still really disappointed Yo-kai Watch didn't do so well here in the States. It would have been interesting to see it become the next big phenomenon, but in the end, poor marketing sunk it stateside.

At the Walmart and Walgreens where I live, I didn't see one chunk of merchandise. And yet SpongeBob and TMNT were everywhere, as well as Nintendo's own Mario.

I'm still really disappointed Yo-kai Watch didn't do so well here in the States. It would have been interesting to see it become the next big phenomenon, but in the end, poor marketing sunk it stateside.

At the Walmart and Walgreens where I live, I didn't see one chunk of merchandise. And yet SpongeBob and TMNT were everywhere, as well as Nintendo's own Mario.

Does this mean that the show will no longer focus on Nate and Hailey? If so, then I’m totally fine with that. The show needs a change in format to stay fresh.

CastMember1991 wrote:

I'm still really disappointed Yo-kai Watch didn't do so well here in the States. It would have been interesting to see it become the next big phenomenon, but in the end, poor marketing sunk it stateside. At the Walmart and Walgreens where I live, I didn't see one chunk of merchandise. And yet SpongeBob and TMNT were everywhere, as well as Nintendo's own Mario.

To be fair, the franchise focuses on Japanese-centric ideas that aren’t as easily accessible and appealing to mainstream consumers in the US. Sure the English version has various Americanizations thrown in, but it still has that Japanese feel that mainstream consumers in Asia are more likely to identify and appreciate. The big boys, such as Pokémon, Dragon Ball and Mario, are popular in the US because they focus on universal ideas that anyone can identify and appreciate.

A good amount of Americans aren’t curious about foreign cultures and ideas. When they consume entertainment, they want to be entertained, not educated.

Wait wait a minute, does that also mean the Pokemon anime is doing OK on Disney or something?

To be fair, the franchise focuses on Japanese-centric ideas that aren’t as easily accessible and appealing to mainstream consumers in the US. Sure the English version has various Americanizations thrown in, but it still has that Japanese feel that mainstream consumers in Asia are more likely to identify and appreciate. The big boys, such as Pokémon, Dragon Ball and Mario, are popular in the US because they focus on universal ideas that anyone can identify and appreciate.

A good amount of Americans aren’t curious about foreign cultures and ideas. When they consume entertainment, they want to be entertained, not educated.

OjaruFan wrote:

To be fair, the franchise focuses on Japanese-centric ideas that aren’t as easily accessible and appealing to mainstream consumers in the US. Sure the English version has various Americanizations thrown in, but it still has that Japanese feel that mainstream consumers in Asia are more likely to identify and appreciate. The big boys, such as Pokémon, Dragon Ball and Mario, are popular in the US because they focus on universal ideas that anyone can identify and appreciate. A good amount of Americans aren’t curious about foreign cultures and ideas. When they consume entertainment, they want to be entertained, not educated.

Well, it appears that we didn't watch the same thing otherwise 4Kids wouldn't have had to change the Japanese-centric jokes/food/text/etc. to something that English folk would understand.