Youkai Watch Movie 5: Forever Friends
映画 妖怪ウォッチ FOREVER FRIENDS
1960s --- Tokyo. Shin is a boy who lived happily despite being poor, loses his mother who is his only family member, and falls into deep misfortune. Itsuki, a boy who saves Shin also lost his older sister. Those two boys are joined by Tae, a girl who can see youkai and together with Shin's guardian spirit Suu-san and new Youkai such as Nekomata, they take on a mysterious incident in order to retrieve the souls of their precious family! And what is the shocking truth that awaits them...!? An origin story for how Lord Enma became the rule of the Yomakai. (Source: Wikipedia, edited)
Synopsis
1960s --- Tokyo. Shin is a boy who lived happily despite being poor, loses his mother who is his only family member, and falls into deep misfortune. Itsuki, a boy who saves Shin also lost his older sister. Those two boys are joined by Tae, a girl who can see youkai and together with Shin's guardian spirit Suu-san and new Youkai such as Nekomata, they take on a mysterious incident in order to retrieve the souls of their precious family! And what is the shocking truth that awaits them...!? An origin story for how Lord Enma became the rule of the Yomakai. (Source: Wikipedia, edited)
Characters
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Supporting
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Trailer
Reviews(1)
Chrismas95
August 17, 2019
The main thought i had after watching Forever Friends was "What was the point?" Given it features a new protagonist (to the point of being a whole third of Yokai Watch 4), I was obviously wondering what different direction and tone LEVEL-5 would take to make it stand out from the goofy Keita era and the gritty Shadowside era. The answer: it's just more Shadowside. And if you're like me and hate all of the "Enma stuff" (which is all of the "cool anime guy" characters and swords and stuff) that's been defining the series for ages now, you're going to hate this. The moviestarts off promising. The plot works, the initial conflict is humble, and the three protagonists are all likable. However, it's shoved aside halfway through in favor of powerful men/spirit/demons fighting and getting more and more powerful just for the sake of spectacle. At least, when Shadowside did all of this, it was new and experimental. However, this movie is just more of the same (sometimes literally reused ideas) to the point where I wonder why it's separate from Shadowside. The focus being pushed away form Shin in the second half doesn't do it any favors for anyone hoping to learn more about the Yokai Watch 4 protagonist, either. I feel like the point of Yokai Watch is the many yokai that inspirit people with their quirky traits, but the series has since pushed them to the wayside for ideas that aren't nearly as unique. This movie is no exception, and your enjoyment of it will depend on how you feel about the Enma stuff.
