>>29148218Because people heckled them over not releasing them and worried it'd be Japan only or only internationally released in Europe like with Inazuma 11, fucking America over. People were interested because it was Level-5's pokemon and Level-5 had a good track record with Ni no Kuni, Layton, and other decent titles like Fantasy Life, and anyone who kept track of Japan's sales knew Yo-kai Watch was a huge deal over there.
Level-5 waited for the perfect opportunity to release Yo-kai Watch in the US, namely in the drought year betweenPokemon releases to give it the best shot at a wide audience and to build the multimedia empire they engineered to make Yo-kai Watch succeed in Japan, mirroring Pokemon's initial success.
The difference, though, lies in the fact that Yo-kai Watch was engineered to be a success in Japan primarily. Gameplay is fast and easy, built to cater to young Japanese players in a hands-off approach to battles that Japanese kids like, reminding them of arcade machines, something an international audience wouldn't really be receptive to, taking control out of their hands. Additionally, people would always inevitably compare Yo-kai Watch to other mon series because they're usually not prolific or numerous in the west, meaning it'd have to measure up to Pokemon, whereas it's just one of a million mon series in Japan. The main thing that could drive sales, the Anime, suffered from the problem of western television standards changing in the years since Pokemon. Anime is niche, and there's not really a consolidated block for kids to watch it anymore. Pokemon is on a cable channel in an early morning slot and I can't remember the last time I saw an ad for the series that wasn't for a movie showing or marathon. Yo-kai Watch also got picked up by Disney XD, which already struggles to get exclusive shows to have staying power, and is even more exclusive than CN.
Things are just different. Treating the west like Japan killed it.
