I’ve been following the popularity of Yo-Kai Watch (also known in Japan as Yokai/Youkai watch in Japan) for the last two years after it exploded in the Japanese scene. While my draw to the game was from one of my favorite developers, Level-5 Inc., it was also my friends who became huge fans that helped keep me updated on the series. After its debut in Japan, the series was received extremely well for kids and adults due to its style and imagination that had a more supernatural and unique take on the Pokemon series.
With both the Yo-Kai Watch 3DS game and Yo-Kai Watch anime series finally arriving late last year, it also led to a few toys being released by Hasbro. Let’s take a look at a few of the currently available items.
It wouldn’t be Yo-Kai Watch without the watch, I mean it’s in the title after all. You know what you are getting right out of the packaging. The design is pretty simplistic but that’s the point, it looks like the one Nate (Keita in Japan) uses in the game and it show with the markings. It won’t let you find Yo-Kai, but instead by sliding your medal, it will say a phrase based on the character medal you insert. (It was kind of tricky at first to slide it.)
The watch is extremely light and fits both adults and kids. It’s a great start but that’s just the beginning.
Yo-kai watch has way too many layers to the RNG and this is from someone who got about 120/240. It also really messes with the pacing of the main game, since you have to go out of your way to get Yo-kai and it doesn't happen naturally through encounters.
When I say it’s just the beginning, it is because of these items, the Yo-Kai medals. There are 44 medals to collect in series 1. You can get these a few different ways, but most of them come in a random bag, which comes with three medals with a chance at a shiny rare medal in each bag. Luckily the medal bags are only $2.99, so it’s not super expensive to try to collect everything.
The medals work with the watch. Just pop them in and the watch will let you know what the Yo-Kai’s type is and name, which then follows with a saying from the character. Of course there is also a few variants of the medals you can get which come with the different toys. You get a medal with really any Hasbro Yo-Kai item you get, so you have a nice starting point.
Luckily it’s much easier to collect the medals in the West than it is in Japan. In Japan, Yo-Kai watch has teamed up with places like McDonalds to release limited edition medals, which had huge lines for people wanting the medals. They’ve also released them in gashapon machines, meaning you got one each time and it would be random with people trying to clear out the machine to get the rares.
So what do you do with those piles of medals you bought to complete your collection? You could shove them in a drawer or in some type of zip lock bag. Another option is the Medallium Collection Book. It lets you organize your medals how you want, making it easy to keep track of where all of your medals are and a nice way to display them in case you want to pull them out or trade.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the Medallium Collection Book, well specifically the look inside. It felt a little too plain and looks cheap when you open it up. I ended up buying some black felt and lining it up on the back of the covers to give it a nicer look since I wasn’t a huge fan. I liked everything else about the book, including the page where you can put your favorite or rare medals into slots based on their type.
Yokai Watch Slot Machine Dicks Sporting Goods
I’d love to see Hasbro release a higher quality version of this book, it be worth it especially if I really started buying more and more medals. After this pic I ended up buying about eight more bags.
If you enjoy the game and/or anime series, this is another fun way to enjoy the series. Ever since starting, I’ve met a few new friends who for trading and chatting about the series, playing the game and am looking forward what’s next for the line. There are also character specific figures to collect that come with a medal and are pretty affordable.
