MarVista picks up another Dentsu toon

US-based producer and distributor MarVista has acquired Latin American rights to Yo-Kai Watch, the second anime inspired toon series it has picked up in recent weeks from Japan’s Dentsu.

The 26x30mins series has proved popular in Japan where it is shown on TV Tokyo. MarVista has TV and L&M rights throughout Lat-Am.

The agreement comes on the heels of another recently inked with Denstsu, for theLittle Battlers eXperience (LBX) series.

“Yo-Kai Watch has taken the Japanese market by storm since its introduction in January 2014 on TV Tokyo, becoming the number one animated show for kids [aged] four to twelve-years-old on the network,” said MarVista CEO Fernando Szew.

The series follows a young boy who gets a special watch empowering him to discover and summon mysterious ‘Yo-kai’ supernatural monsters that help him solve problems.

Marc Harrington, senior VP, global strategy & development at Dentsu Entertainment USA, added: “Having recently concluded our agreement with MarVista for LBX, we know that they are the right partner for us to also license Yo-Kai Watch into the Latin American marketplace.”

Yo-Kai Watch was created by Japanese video game company Level-5. The game has sold over seven million copies in Japan. The TV series targets 4-to-12s and was made by Level-5, Dentsu and TV Tokyo.