Yo-kai Watch is a children's anime series produced by OLM and based on the video game of the same name developed by Level-5. The anime was broadcast from January 8, 2014, to March 30, 2018, on TXN and related stations. An English dub, produced by Dentsu Entertainment USA, started airing on the Disney XD channel in the United States on October 5, 2015, Canada's Teletoon and Disney XD Canada on October 10, 2015, and 9Go! in Australia on December 14, 2015. Episodes are split into multiple parts. In Indonesia, this anime also aired on Indosiar in 2016, and on RTV starting March 18, 2021.
Its first opening theme through episode 36 was performed by , with lyrics written by m.o.v.e's vocalist motsu. An English version of the song was used for the dub, written by Mark Risley & David H. Steinberg, and performed by Peter Michail & Kathryn Lynn, but was replaced by "Yo-Kai Watch featuring Swampy Marsh" by Jeff "Swampy" Marsh & Dan Povenmire. The ending theme up through episode 24 (episode 35 in the English dub) is performed by Dream5 (Melissa Hutchison and Alicyn Packard perform the English version). Beginning with episode 25 (episode 36 in the English dub), the ending theme changed to performed by Dream5 and Bully-taichà  (Hutchinson, Packard, & Brent Pendergrass for the English version). Episode 37's opening theme was and episode 38's was , both by King Cream Soda, and have alternated until they were replaced. Episodes 48 and 49 used a unique ending theme by , both King Cream Soda and Dream5 along with Lucky Ikeda. In episode 51, the ending theme changed to performed by an AKB48 subgroup named NyaKB with Pandanoko. The opening theme changed again in episode 63 to King Cream Soda's . The ending theme changed in episode 68 to by Dream5.
Both the opening and ending themes were changed in episode 77, to mark the beginning of the "second season." The opening theme became by King Cream Soda and the ending theme became by (Gabriel Brown, Michelle Creber, & Rebecca Soichet for the English version). In episode 102, the opening theme became by King Cream Soda and the ending theme became by Kotori with Stitchbird. In episode 130, the opening theme became "You Got a Otomodachi" by King Cream Soda and the ending theme became "Furusato Japon" (ãµãÂÂãÂÂã¨ã¸ã£ãÂÂã³) by the idol group LinQ.
To mark the start of the "third season," the opening theme became "Banzai! Aizenkai!" (ã°ãÂÂãÂÂãÂÂ!æÂÂå ¨éÂÂ!) by King Cream Soda (the English version is "Cheers! Full of Love!" performed by Brown, Kendall Wooding, and Creber) and ending theme became "TorejÃÂ" (ãÂÂ㋸ã£ã¼, "Treasure") by LinQ (Creber for the English version). Starting with episode 179, the opening became "Gold...Nanchatte!" (ã´ã¼ã«ãÂÂ...ãªãÂÂã¡ãÂÂã£ã¦!) by King Cream Soda, and the ending became "HaloChri Dance" (ãÂÂãÂÂãÂȋ¯ãªãÂÂã³ã¹ Haroã»Kuri Dansu) by Youbekkusu Rengà Â-gun. With episode 202, the opening became "Time Machine wo Choudai" (ã¿ã¤ã ãÂÂã·ã¼ã³ãÂÂã¡ãÂÂãÂÂã ã "Give Me a Time Machine") by King Cream Soda, and the ending became "Aa Jounetsu no Banbaraya" (ãÂÂãÂÂæ ç±ã®ãÂÂã³ãÂÂã©ã¤ã¼) by LinQ.
In February 2018, it was announced that the anime would end on March 31, 2018, at 214 episodes and was replaced with Yo-kai Watch Shadowside to continue the storyline that began in .
In February 2019, it was announced that a revival of the series, now known as Yo-kai Watch! would air on April 5, 2019, replacing Yo-kai Watch Shadowside as direct sequel.