Yo-kai Watch Jam - Yo-kai Academy Y: Close Encounters of the N Kind is an anime spinoff of Yo-kai Watch. It's a sequel to the sixth film, Yo-kai Watch Jam The Movie: Yo-kai Academy Y - Can a Cat be a Hero?.
The series features humanized versions of various youkai. Jinpei is a young boy who goes to the elite school Y Academy. He and a few of his friends are a part of the "YSP Club", a school club that solves mysteries involving yokai.
The series began in December 2019, replacing the original Yo-kai Watch. A Korean dub of the series was released in 2021, while Animax Asia aired it and its predecessor movie subtitled under the name Y School Heroes.
This series provides examples of:
- Adaptation Expansion: The first episode acts as a prequel to the movie and series, showing Jinpei and Koma's first meeting in elementary school and becoming good friends, and how they were scouted by Enra to enrol into Y Academy.
- Anthropomorphic Personification: The yokai have all been turned into humans.
- Blessed with Suck: Clock Lady is able to generate a force field that slows down the movement of anything within it... including herself. If that was not bad enough, she is also able to create smaller clones of herself that are able to move normally within the field, but they are too weak to deal any damage to the enemy.
- Childhood Friends: According to their bios, Jiba and Koma have been friends since elementary.
- Henshin Hero: As in the movie, the cast can turn into Yo-Kai Heroes by fusing with an Onryo.
- Jinpei can fuses with Bakera to become Kengo Benimaru, a nekomata-themed Brave hero, with Goromi to become Wild Boy, a gunslinger-themed hero, with Bluepon to become Blue Moon, a wizard-themed hero, and with Miketto, the original combined form of the previous three, to become Earth Walker, a roller-blading Hero.
- Sandayuu and Komadillo become Little Commander, an astronaut-based Charming hero.
- Mera and Kazuma become Shishi-Ou, a Beast Man hero.
- Ryuusuke and Izuna fuse into Ninetail, a kitsune-themed hero.
- Fubuki and Broken Clock become Clock Lady, a clockwork android-themed hero.
- Ranto Kirigakure's Alien Watch allows him to transform into Mist Shadow, without the need to fuse with an Onryo. He can also transform into Deep Shadow Galaxy, Mist Shadow's true form
- Creator Cameo: Satomi, Rinu, Nanamori, and Jel of Strawberry Prince, the idol group who sings this series' first two opening themes, feature in the anime as four Victims of the Week.
- Creator Thumbprint: Nayu Kuruhoshi resembles and poses like Andromedako, a character that appears in most of NayutalieN's (composer of "Gingira Ginga") works.
- High School AU: The series is a middle school AU starring various yokai as humans.
- Japanese School Club: Koma, Jinpei, and their friends are a part of the youkai-related YSP Club at their school.
- Moe Anthropomorphism: Jibanyan and several of the others are turned into cute children.
- Parental Bonus: Episode 13 is entirely focused on Principal Daiouji trying to rid himself of a gravure magazine that keeps coming back to him. Turns out said magazine was insprited by his late pet frog, whom he accidentally killed while trying to hide the magazine from his daughter in the midst of reading it in school.
- Shout-Out: Most episode titles are references to multiple media.
- #02: The Melancholy of Giant Salaryman Miyazawa - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
- #03: Back to the Morning ~Don't Step On It~ - Back to the Future
- #04: Mess Note, If Your Name is Written You Become a Mess - Death Note
- #05: A Long Line!! Cha Li's Chocolate Factory - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
- #06: Don't Stop the Camera or You'll Get Cursed - One Cut of the Deadnote
- #07: HANAKO ~Queen of Morishita la Damelia~ - Sagrada Familia
- #08 (and the series title): Close Encounters of the N Kind. Did You see a UFO? - Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- #09: Prison Break! Akatentraz Camp - Prison Break
- #55: Y Academy's high school campus has an arcade of Tamayo's face over Street Fighter and Mario Kart characters.
