Yo-kai Watch: The Movie

The film's score was written Kenichiro Saigo.

• Opening Theme
  • "Gera Gera Po (Movie Version)" by King Cream Soda (Japan)
  • "Yo-kai Watch" by Basilio Fernando Ferreira (USA)
• Ending Theme
  • "Yo-kai Medley" by Yo-kai King Dream Soda & "Kuwagata to Kabutomushi" by King Cream Soda (Japan & USA)

The film was announced in July 2014 on CoroCoro Comic.[3] The first trailer was released in August[6] and another trailer was released in October.[7] A second film was announced in November.[8] A story tie-in to the film was included in the video game Yo-kai Watch 2: Shinuchi, released on December 13.[9] A manga of the film, illustrated by Noriyuki Konishi, was released in December, reaching the 30th place on the weekly chart with 32,561 copies sold on its first week,[10] and selling 261,145 copies by its fifth week.[11]

In some scenes of the movie the famous mascot, Kumamon is seen. He also appeared in Yo-Kai Watch 2 in a scene in a quest to get Harry Barry.

The Blu-ray and DVD were released on July 8, 2015, with both reaching the number-one place on the animation rankings, with 14,090 and 84,932 copies sold, respectively.[12][13] By its 13th week, the DVD had sold 128,810 copies.[14]

In September 2016, it was revealed via the Fathom Events website that the movie would be screened one time only on October 15, in select cinemas across the United States. Attendees received an exclusive Hovernyan medal at the screening.[15] It made its premiere on American television on Disney XD on Saturday, November 12, 2016 after the premiere of the "Yo-kai Watch" anime episode "Whisper's Secret Past", with further showings on Sunday, November 13 and Monday on the 14. It was released on Netflix on December 1, 2016 in the United States.[16] Its DVD was released on May 19, 2020, nearly four years after its theatrical release. the film was distributed by Wild Bunch in France, 01 Distribution In Italy, Buena Vista International in Turkey, Selecta Vision in Spain and Universal Pictures in some countries.

The film set a new record for Toho for advance ticket sales, with 721,422 sold by October 26,[8] reaching 840,000 by late November[17] and more than 1 million by mid-December.[18]

The film was number-one on its opening weekend, with ¥1.629 billion ,[19] a record for a Japanese film, previously held by Howl's Moving Castle.[20] reached ¥5 billion by its third weekend,[21] ¥6.54 billion by the fourth weekend[22] and ¥7 billion by the sixth weekend.[23] The film grossed ¥7.8 billion ($73,623,259) at the Japanese box office, where it was the highest-grossing domestic film of 2015.[24]

Overseas, the film grossed ₩1.98 billion ($1.69 million ) upon its opening in South Korea,[25] and went on to gross ₩3,888,698,100 ($3,437,804) there.[26] The film also grossed $257,343 in the United States and Canada, and $1,715,393 in France, the United Arab Emirates, and Thailand,[27] bringing the film's worldwide gross to $80,268,947.

Kotaku's Mike Fahey described the movie as keeping the humor of the TV show even in its highest dramatic stakes.[28] Anime News Network reviewer James Beckett liked the humor, but was bothered by the pacing issues. He gave it a B grading.[29] Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an 80% with average rating of 6.6/10 based on 5 critics reviews.[30]