Yo-kai Watch
妖怪ウォッチPrimary school student Keita Amano's curiosity is as innocent as any other child's his age. But when one day he decides to venture deeper into the forest, he encounters a small and mysterious capsule. Out from its depths comes Whisper. After 190 years of imprisonment, this ghost-like creature is glad that someone has been kind enough to set him free. He decides to reward Keita by becoming his guardian against supernatural forces. Whisper is one of many Youkai that exist in the world, and provides Keita with a special Youkai Watch, which enables him to see and interact with all the other Youkai.Youkai Watch follows Keita, Whisper and the cat spirit Jibanyan as they encounter Youkai, befriend them, fix all the trouble that they so often cause, and, with the help of the watch, use the powers of previously encountered Youkai to aid them. Young Keita may have been just an ordinary primary school student when he first encountered the Youkai, but the many adventures that follow his discovery provide him with invaluable experiences and precious life lessons that help him grow.
Reviews
dahlia89 - 2014-08-20 20:49:54
Youkai Watch is basically a shounen anime with monsters, falling into the same line as Pokémon, Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh. Similarly based on the (bestselling!) video game, the story is about a young boy named Keita who one day encounters a ghost named Whisper. He gives Keita a watch that allows him to see youkai; monsters/ghosts that are invisible to humans, but can affect their lives in mysterious ways.
Each episode consists of two of Keita's youkai-hunting adventures. With the help of Whisper and the watch, he has to keep the youkai from messing with him and his friends. This usually results in Keita befriending the youkai in question and receiving their Youkai Medal, which can be used to summon it later on. At the end of the episode, the newly encountered youkai's medals are added to Whisper's Youkai Encyclopedia, which makes for a nice recap.
Youkai Watch is a cute anime with fun monsters, but it's still a children's anime. Each episode follows a similar formula, which can make it appear boring, especially when watching several episodes at once. There is however an upside to this as well; even in RAW form, it's easy to follow. As such, it could be a nice anime to try watching without subtitles if you have a desire to learn Japanese.
All in all, if you're looking for some lighthearted entertainment with a hint of Japanese mythology, Youkai Watch may just be for you.