CATDOLL: Yo-kai Watch's performance surpasses classics and saves the Japanese toy industry

In the first half of fiscal year 2014, the Japanese toy market showed an upward trend due to the popularity of the physical version of Yo-kai Watch and the animated film "Frozen", with an overall growth of 7% over the previous fiscal year. Among them, Yo-kai Watch's sales ranking surpassed the classic "Super Sentai series" and "Anpanman", and jumped to the first place.

Statistics show that boys' toys and stuffed dolls (ぬいぐるみ) have the highest growth rate, and the comprehensive statistical results (total of pure toys) have increased by 7% compared to last year.

Annual sales ranking of titles. Yo-kai Watch, which was not on the list last year, took the top spot. The following titles are Super Sentai series, Anpanman, Kamen Rider series, and Pretty Cure.

The ranking of works with the highest sales growth compared to the same period last year. Disney princess characters grew 649% compared to last year, thanks to the popularity of "Frozen" in Japan, followed by Hasbro's Transformers (up 142%) and TAKARATOMY's Koeda-chan (up 137%).

The survey report was conducted by GfK Japan, a Japanese market research company, targeting home appliance stores, toy stores and e-commerce websites across Japan. From April to September this year, the sales of Japanese boys' toys increased by 120% compared with the same period last year, while the sales of girls' toys decreased to 90% of the same period last year. However, the dolls related to "Frozen" were popular among Japanese little girls.

The Yo-kai Watch mentioned in this article is not a 3DS game software, but a physical toy version of Yo-kai Watch released by BANDAI. The shape and functions of the toy version of Yo-kai Watch are designed and produced according to the settings in the game. The gameplay is quite unique and self-contained. After buying the watch, the little players also need to buy "Yo-kai coins". Physical Yo-kai coins can be inserted into the Yo-kai Watch. Different types have different abilities and different voiceovers.