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Yo-kai Watch Anime's English Theme Song Video Streamed
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
Dentsu Entertainment USA and LEVEL-5 Inc. began streaming the "Gera Gera Po Song" video for the Yōkai Watch anime on Friday. Peter Michail and Kathryn Lynn perform the English version of the opening theme song "Geragerapō no Uta" originally sung by King Cream Soda. Tomoki Kikuya and FRAME composed and arranged the English version, and Mark Risley, David H. Steinberg, and motsu provided the lyrics.
The video's description introduces the anime's story:
One summer day, I stumbled upon something amazing...One summer day, an average fifth-grade kid named Nathan Adams, comes across a strange old capsule vending machine in the mountains. He puts in a coin and opens a sealed rock capsule that emerges to discover... it's actually a Yo-kai named, Whisper!
Whisper, a self-proclaimed "Yo-kai butler," gives him a Yōkai Watch that lets him see hidden Yo-kai all over the world. Once he befriends a Yo-kai, they give him a Yo-kai Medal that he can use to summon them when Nate needs help. Nate soon finds himself calling upon his Yo-kai friends to solve life's everyday problems.
The U.S. English dub cast includes:
- Johnny Yong Bosch as Nate
- J.W. Terry as Whisper
- Alicyn Packard as Jibanyan
- Melissa Hutchison as Katie
- Pierre Holloway as the Teacher and Manjimutt
- Brent Pendergrass as Nate's friend, Eddie
The English dub of the anime will premiere on the American television channel Disney XD on October 5 at 5:00 p.m. ET/PT. New episodes will first run every day until October 9, and then the series will run every week on Mondays at 5:00 p.m. Each episode will also be available on the WATCH Disney XD streaming service one day after its television premiere.
The website Zap2it is listing an episode of Yōkai Watch on Canadian television channel Teletoon for Saturday, October 3 at 2:00 p.m.
The anime's official English website began streaming a trailer with an English theme song in June. Along with the previously posted trailer, Animation Magazine is also streaming two clips from the anime.
Nintendo describes the premise of the franchise:
Yōkai Watch centers on a boy who gets a special watch that lets him befriend and help mischievous Yo-kai and later summon them to fight other Yo-kai. Players can overcome challenges and help various characters solve everyday problems with the help of Yo-kai friends. These eccentric Yo-kai resemble anything from inanimate objects to mythical creatures.
Game developer Level-5 announced the Yōkai Watch franchise in 2011 with a game, manga, and anime already planned. The franchise's first game for the Nintendo 3DS debuted in Japan in July 2013, and the anime premiered in January 2014. The latests game in the franchise, a third version of Yōkai Watch 2 and Yōkai Watch Busters, shipped in December and July, respectively. Yōkai Watch 3 will follow next summer. Bandai sells Yōkai Watch toys and game tie-in medals in Japan.
Hasbro is handling toy sales and will release the first line of toys in North America in January, with additional markets to follow by the end of next year. Viz Media is publishing the manga starting on November 3. Viz Media Europe also acquired the rights to the anime franchise.
Nintendo will publish the Yōkai Watch role-playing game on its Nintendo 3DS platform in North America on November 6.
