Phew, after working on this way too long, it’s finally ready for release. Here it is, the first Youkai Watch Movie! Follow behind the cut for the usual youkai name explanations and some other fun tidbits.

Youkai Watch The Movie: The Secret of Birth, nyan! @ nyaa (okay, all good this time! go forth and download!)

[11.15] You can also check out the version with a higher quality raw over → (here)

Since this is a movie, there’s a lot of youkai that appear. I’m going to focus on the ones that received a spoken line or otherwise important role in the movie.

First up, all the Kaima: Ubaune, Kin, Gin, and Dou. Kaima itself is written 怪魔 in Japanese, those with keen eyes will notice that the 怪 kanji is the same as that in the word for youkai. The kanji on their own mean “mystery” and “demon”. Kin (キン), Gin (ギン), and Dou (ドウ) all have their names written in katakana, and their names literally just mean Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Finally, Ubaune (ウバウネ), also written in katakana, comes from the word 奪う (ubau, to steal), thus what she does. Since I feel like giving trivia, in-game her full name is トキヲ・ウバウネ (tokio ubaune) which is “[I’ll] steal time”, and her final form (which is the look of the million Ubaune in the giant form) is スベテ・ウバウネ (subete ubaune) which is “[I’ll] steal everything”.

Next up, the nyans. Dekanyan is デカニャン in Japanese, and literally just breaks down into “huge” and “meow”. Fuyunyan, written フユニャン, is actually explained in the movie to be related to the term 浮遊霊 (fuyuurei, wandering spirit), similar to how Jibanyan relates to 地縛霊 (jibakurei, stationary spirit)… oh and “meow” is in there too like usual. Then we have Darknyan (ダークニャン) which is exactly what it looks like, “dark” and “meow”. Finally, Buchinyan (ブチニャン), where it breaks down into “spotted” and “meow”. Master Nyada is written マスターニャーダ, and is a play off of (Master) Yoda, and the usual “meow”.

Finally, the odds and ends. Out of Keizou’s summons, there’s Genmashougun (ゲンマ将軍), which is “unpolished” and “shougun”/”war lord”. After that comes Rakutendou (らくてんどう), which breaks down to “optimistic” and “cherub”. Then there’s Kinkaku (キンカク) which is “faithful service” on its own, but also includes the word for “gold” (kin) in it, relating to its form (It’s the gold pagoda looking one). And last out of Keizou’s summons is the purple kimono-wearing one Fujimigozen (ふじみ御前), which breaks down to “invunerability” and “lady” (as in the status). Among Keita’s summons, I think the only major-ish one I haven’t done an explanation of is Yukionna (ゆきおんな), which is the un-evolved form of Fubuki-hime (which is what Ms. Fubuki from the Nyapachi segments is), and is basically just “snow” and “woman”, plus it’s related to a more classical youkai. Oh, and last but not least, Ungaisanmenkyou (うんがい三面鏡), which is “lucky” (ungai) and “three-faced mirror” (sanmenkyou). Pretty simple.

Oh, and because I wanna mention him, Kumamon, the mascot of Kumamoto, makes a cameo. I’m pretty sure he’s familiar to some people, as he’s a fairly well known town mascot. Kemamoto’s name being similar isn’t unintentional, as in Youkai Watch 2 there’s a youkai called Kemamon (who has a similar form to Kumamon), and his quest line is where you interact with Kumamon in the games. I’m hoping for Funnasyi next time lol

Phew, I hope I got everyone. As an FYI, the second ending theme is called Stag Beetle and Rhino Beetle and is the ending theme for Shinuchi (I hadn’t actually heard it before!). Oh, and to the anon that asked on tumblr a long while ago if I could translate the Kaima summon song, if I can find a recording of it on YT or something I might as I don’t have Shinuchi so I don’t think I can hear it in my Honke without getting it as a trade or something.

So, I guess I’ll give my thoughts on the movie. Spoilers may be follow so read at your own risk.

It was really different than I had expected. I was expecting something the level of the Pokémon movies, with a pinch of the first Spongebob Movie thrown in. Surprisingly, the humor was well handled along with the story. Keizou’s character definitely wasn’t what I was expecting from him and I really enjoyed his growth. I also like how Keita and Keizou grow to like each other over the course of the movie, instead of being instant friends. It was nice that the story was taken seriously, but that they weren’t afraid to pull their usual style of gags throughout the film. Knowing the show, I expected Spongebob Movie level of humor that quickly goes stale within 20 minutes, but while humor stayed at the core of the film, they didn’t center everything around trying to be funny. There’s quite a few really good mood whiplash scenes, my personal favorite being the cut to Ubaune’s backstory.

Anyway, thanks everyone for being patient. If a higher quality version of the raw goes up at some point in the future (I’m really starting to doubt it), I will likely rerelease these subs formatted for that version, but otherwise I’m done with the movie. I may make plans concerning Movie 2 if I don’t see anyone putting out the raws for Movie 1 on nyaa and such. This was definitely a test of endurance for me, and I’m glad I was able to share this movie with you. If you have anyone who wants to get into Youkai Watch, this it a great introduction. Or you could just watch it on its own, it stands on its own just fine.

Thanks for your patience everyone, regular episodes coming soon!