Yo-kai Medals

A Yo-kai Medal (Japanese: 妖怪メダル, Yōkai Medaru) is a small coin-like disc used with the Yo-kai Watch to summon Yo-kai. They are featured in the video games and the anime, in which are given to the protagonists by Yo-kai as a sign of their friendship and stored in the Yo-kai Medallium.

There have been known to be many kinds of Yo-kai Medals that come in many different types and colors. One example are Z Medals, which are reserved for normal Yo-kai like Houzzat and Herbiboy and special Yo-kai like the Wicked Executives and the Onis that appear during Terror Time.

Yo-kai Medals also exist in real life, in the form of collectable items. They have been known to be a big selling point for the franchise and has expanded onto other international territories.

Overview

History

Very little is known about how Yo-kai Medals were first created. In Yo-kai Watch: The Movie, they were originally created from milk tabs that Nathaniel Adams had used to refer to Yo-kai he had befriended.

Appearance

Yo-kai Medals are small disc-shaped objects that have a picture of the Yo-kai on them with the color and symbol of the tribe on the back. They come in different colors, that depend on the Tribe and type of Yo-kai. There are different variants for other types of Yo-kai like Classic Yo-kai having a traditional art for it's design and 'Merican Yo-kai having comic book-inspired aesthetics.

Each Yo-kai has a Yo-kai Medal after they become one, with some of them having their photo taken in M02 and given multiple medals to give to Yo-kai Watch bearers as a sign of friendship. When a new Yo-kai Watch is released, Yo-kai line up to get new types of Medals for new Yo-kai Watch models. They all carry Yo-kai Medals in specific places, such as Jibanyan who carries his in his haramaki.

For a Yo-kai Medal to be given from a Yo-kai, the bearer must do certain deeds to earn their friendship such as listening to their backstory and fulfilling their wishes. Depending on the Yo-kai, the Yo-kai Medal may or may not be given, such as Yo-kai like Crook-a-doodle giving away a fake.

Summoning Yo-kai

Nathan Adams summoning a Yo-kai with the Yo-kai Watch.

They can be summoned with the Yo-kai Watch by putting the medal inside the clock's face, allowing colorful spirals to flow out of the watch and the summoning chant to play before the Yo-kai fully appears. Yo-kai that are summoned are immediately transferred from their location in a circular-shaped ring, making them do the summoning dance and pose no matter what situation they were in.

Though the mechanic is applied to most Yo-kai Watch models, the way they're summoned can be different depending on them. The Model U makes them do a different summoning dance, and to an extent gives them the ability to perform songs with Song Medals. The Yo-kai Watch Dream has a "Dream Roulette", that can have an equal good or bad outcome when being summoned.

Some Yo-kai Medals vary on the Yo-kai Watch, such as the Model Zero Watch not being able to summon regular Yo-kai Medals or newer medals being incompatible with older Yo-kai Watch models. The Model U does have a slot on the side, allowing it to be upgraded to summon newer Yo-kai.

Storing Yo-kai Medals

Yo-kai Medals are mostly stored in the Yo-kai Medallium, which are placed inside the circular slots of each page. It is not known how many Yo-kai Medals a Medallium can store, but twelve can be stored on singluar-sided page. They come in different colors for different types of Yo-kai Medals.

However, other characters store Yo-kai Medals a different way. Hailey carries them on hand while Jerry carries them around in a plastic bag.

Types of Yo-kai Medals

Yo-kai Medals

Jibanyan's Yo-kai Medal

Yo-kai Medals (Japanese: 妖怪メダル, Yōkai Medaru) or referred to "Normal Medals" or "Gray Medals" by fans is the first type of Yo-kai Medal that works with all Yo-kai Watch models, except for the Model Zero. They summon a Yo-kai regularly by playing the respective song.

They only cover all of the befriended Yo-kai that debuted in the Yo-kai Watch video game, with each of them having a number at the top right corner that go in order of the Yo-kai Medallium.

Z Medals

Main article: Yo-kai Medals/Z Medals

Jibanyan's Victory Soultimate Medal.

Z Medals (Japanese: Zメダル, Zetto Medaru) are the second type of Yo-kai Medal that works with the Yo-kai Watch Model Zero, as well as the newer models. When summoned with the Model Zero, it plays an instrumental rendition of the summoning song and works just like the original Yo-kai Watch. Although, newer models play the respective summoning song for the Yo-kai Watch model.

They have a green frame on them which has artwork of Yo-kai on it like the original Yo-kai Medals, and cover the Yo-kai that have debuted from Yo-kai Watch 2 up to Yo-kai Watch Busters 2.

Merchandise-wise, there are two types of Z Medals with one of them only working on the Yo-kai Watch Model U that can be told by a symbol at the top-right corner that says "Zero" (零) in kanji, or "U" that corresponds to what Yo-kai Watch model it works with.

Classic Medals

Main article: Yo-kai Medals/Classic Medals

Faux Kappa's Medal.

Classic Medals (Japanese: 古典メダル, Koten Medaru) are known to be one of the oldest Yo-kai Medals to be created, and covers all Classic Yo-kai. Just like with Z Medals, they are compatible with the Yo-kai Watch Model Zero and plays an instrumental rendition of the summoning song. They also work with newer models.

They have a red frame around them, with traditional artwork reminiscent of old Japanese paintings. and have their name engraved in a scroll. However, Classic Yo-kai introduced in later games only work with the Yo-kai Watch Model U that can be told by the "U" symbol on the Medal.

Song Medals

Main article: Yo-kai Medals/Song Medals

Jibanyan's Song Medal.

Song Medals (Japanese: うたメダル, Uta Medaru) are the third type of Yo-kai Medal that works with the Yo-kai Watch Model U, along with newer models. When it is summoned with the Model U, the song of the Yo-kai will play along with a short introduction at the beginning. However, newer Yo-kai Watch models won't play the song and will just say the name of the Yo-kai or group when summoned.

They have a white frame around the medal, with the name around the inside of it. They depict the artwork of the Yo-kai or group on front with a slightly different aesthetic from the original Yo-kai Medals.

B Medals

Main article: Yo-kai Medals/B Medals

Jibanyan's B Medal.

B Medals (Japanese: Bメダル, B Medaru) are the fourth type of Yo-kai Medal that works with the Yo-kai Watch Model U, along with newer models. When summoned with the Model U, a different summoning chant from the other Yo-kai Medals will play. That doesn't apply to newer Yo-kai Watch models as it will reuse the summoning name audio from the watch. They consist of Yo-kai introduced up to the Yo-kai Watch Blasters video game, alongside Boss Yo-kai.

They also have black frames around the medal, with jagged patterns at the top and bottom. The artwork on the medal also looks more serious compared to other Yo-kai Medals, usually showing the Yo-kai in the middle of combat. Each one represents their Blasters role at the top-right corner represented by kanji or letters ("T" meaning "Tank"), alongside color-coded flames.

Sangokushi Medals

Main article: Yo-kai Medals/Sangokushi Medals

Jibanyan Liu Bei's Medal.

'Merican Medals

Main article: Yo-kai Medals/'Merican Medals

Usapyon's Medal.

'Merican Medals are vibrant-red Yo-kai Medals from Merican Yo-kai and are used with the Yo-kai Watch U.

Dream Medals

Main article: Yo-kai Medals/Dream Medals

Jibanyan's Dream Medal.

Dream Medals are the third variation of Yo-kai Medals, only compatible with the Yo-kai Watch Dream. They resemble poker chips, and play a roulette song while they're being summoned. Depending on the outcome, a Yo-kai will either win or lose, reflecting their mood on the situation.

Kuroi Medals

Main article: Yo-kai Medals/Kuroi Medals

Kuroi Jibanyan's Medal

Kuroi Medals (or known as Dark Medals) are another special variation out of the Medals. They are known to have come from another dimension, where Yo-kai are a lot more scarier. They only work on the Kuroi Yo-kai Watch or the Yo-kai Watch Dream.

Treasure Medals

Main article: Yo-kai Medals/Treasure Medals

A Bronze-Rank Treasure Medal of Treasure Jibanyan.

Treasure Medals are Yo-kai Medals that taken on the form of treasure coins.

Luck Medals

Main article: Yo-kai Medals/Luck Medals

Soultimate Medals

Main article: Yo-kai Medals/Soultimate Medals

Y Medals

Main article: Yo-kai Medals/Y Medals

Y Medals are special Yo-kai medals that can only be used with the YSP Watch. They each come in four categories

• Transformation Medals - These allow the user to transform into a Yo-kai Hero
• Command Medals - These allow the user to utilize a unique ability, most of the time it's used for a special attack
• Item Medals - Grants the user a special item
• Onryo Medals - Allows the user to summon their partner Onryo

Tranform Medal of Kengo Benimaru

Merchandise

Various collectable Hasbro-manufactured Yo-kai Medals.

Main article: Yo-kai Medals (merchandise)

In real life, Yo-kai Medals are available as collectable toys. They're either found in blind packs, gasha machines (only in Asia), or bundled with Yo-kai Watch toys. On the back, there is a QR code that can be read in the game to obtain coins that can be used in the Crank-a-kai or special key items that would allow the player to fight certain Yo-kai.

The Yo-kai Watch is also available as a real-life toy, and can be used to insert Yo-kai Medals. If one of them is inserted, the Watch will act if it is summoning a Yo-kai by playing the tribe song and the Yo-kai's name will be said. The Medal can be taken out of the Watch at any time, and can be stored in a real-life Yo-kai Medallium.

Trivia

Jibanyan's Korean Dream Medal, which has a different pattern.

• There were a total of 1,758 Medals produced by Bandai.
• In the Korean localization, Dream Medals have a different pattern on the front, that are of a zigzag pattern. This was likely done due to strict gambling laws in South Korea, as the Dream Medals resembled poker chips too much.
  • Strangely, the back of the Yokai Medal retains the poker chip design, as seen in the anime.

In other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	妖怪メダル Yōkai Medaru
French	Médaillons Yo-kai
Korean	요괴메달 Yogoe medal

See Also

• Yo-kai Watch (item)
• Crank-a-kai
• Yo-kai Arks
• Yo-kai Pad

External Links

• Japanese site
• Korean site (Now Closed as of June 29, 2018)