Hasbro has become the first North American licensee announced for the hit Japanese property Yo-Kai Watch; the company will produce toys based on the property under license from Dentsu Entertainment USA and TV Tokyo beginning in 2016, the companies announced. 

Yo-Kai Watch emerged as a hit Nintendo 3DS video game franchise from Level 5 in mid-2013, and became a hit anime and manga series and a licensing powerhouse, with a CCG one of the most popular product lines.  The video games have sold 6.5 million units in Japan since launch. 

The anime is now TV Tokyo’s top series for kids 4-12.  No U.S. outlet has been announced for the anime to date.

The manga is published by Shogakukan in Japan, which would make it a VIZ Media series here. 

The CCG is from Bandai in Japan; Bandai has not responded to requests for information about plans for the game in the U.S.

"Additional broadcasting, video game and merchandising relationships" will be announced later this year, according to the announcement.