Yo-kai Watch: Puni Puni and Rent-A-Girlfriend Collaboration Announced
Level-5 has announced a new collaboration between its popular mobile game Yo-kai Watch: Puni Puni and the romantic comedy series Rent-A-Girlfriend (Kanojo, Okarishimasu). According to the announcement, the crossover event will bring characters from the Rent-A-Girlfriend universe into the Yo-kai Watch: Puni Puni game.
The Yo-kai Watch series is a major media phenomenon launched by Level-5 studio under the leadership of Akihiro Hino with its first game released in 2013. The series, which expanded even further worldwide with its anime adaptation in 2014, gained a huge fan base especially among children and young people in Japan. Yo-kai Watch: Puni Puni is the series' mobile puzzle game that began release in 2015. The game, which keeps its player base active with its fun mechanics that bring Yo-kai together and events that have continued for years, is also known for its crossovers with different brands.
Rent-A-Girlfriend is a manga series created by Reiji Miyajima, first published in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine in 2017. The story revolves around university student Kazuya Kinoshita and Chizuru Mizuhara, whom he meets as a rental girlfriend. The series quickly gained popularity with its dynamic characters in the romantic comedy genre; it continued to expand its fan base with its anime adaptation that began airing in 2020.
Details about the scope of the collaboration are currently limited. In Level-5's announcement, the event date and the full list of characters to be added to the game were not disclosed. However, considering similar Puni Puni collaborations in the past, it is quite likely to see special quests, limited-time draws, and special voice acting. Fans are already talking about the designs of Rent-A-Girlfriend characters in the Yo-kai Watch world.
Such collaborations are also important in revitalizing the lifecycle of mobile games while bringing together fans of different series. As the Rent-A-Girlfriend manga continues to be published, this crossover will bring the two communities together in a joint event. Level-5 is expected to share more information, along with the event schedule and visuals, in the coming days.
As official information about the event arrives, it is expected to reach fans through in-game announcements and Level-5's social media channels. Yo-kai Watch: Puni Puni players will soon have the opportunity to meet their favorite rental girlfriend characters in the Yo-kai world.
