Prerelease:Yo-kai Watch Jam: Yo-kai Gakuen Y - Waiwai Gakuen Seikatsu

This page details pre-release information and/or media for Yo-kai Watch Jam: Yo-kai Gakuen Y - Waiwai Gakuen Seikatsu.

To do: Cover: Post stuff from the game_yokai twitter. April 15 2020 corocoro issue Jul 28 2020 - https://x.com/game_yokai/status/1288021395356581888?s=20

Compared to other Level-5 titles, Waiwai Gakuen Seikatsu hardly got any developmental coverage but there's still plenty of concept art that was released throughout the tie-in movie's coverage.

Developmental Timeline

2019

• Dec. 13 - Yo-kai Watch Jam - Yo-kai Academy Y the Movie: Can a Cat Be a HERO? was released in cinemas.
• Dec. 27 - A screenshot is posted by Akihiro Hino on his Twitter account, teasing a new Y Gakuen game.

2020

• Mar 15 - The first screenshots of the game was released.
• Apr 15 - Gameplay footage is released for the first time.
• May 15 - More gameplay footage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m01tPsmC7Yg
• Jun. 1 - More footage is released, which would be the intro video. https://twitter.com/game_yokai/status/1267288277431644160
• Jul. 3 - New footage from the commercials were released, this time with an approved CERO age rating.
• Aug. 1-3 - A demo for Waiwai Gakuen Seikatsu was announced, and eventually was released.
• Aug. 13 - the game was released digitally on the Nintendo Switch.
• Oct. 29 - The game was released on the PlayStation 4.

Early Development (circa. 2019)

Y Gakuen was originally concieved as a "unified Japanese theme" before sci-fi elements were considered.

Very little is known about the game's development outside of a single interview. The reasoning for using Live2D potraits instead of 3D character models in Yo-kai Watch 4 is because production costs tend to be high, and Live2D can have a wider range of expressions that 3D models cannot have.

Concept Art

To do: More.... Earlier Vs Waiwai No Yatsura theme from Inazuma Eleven SD. 2019 movie concept art, the whole wazoo https://m.blog.naver.com/girlcod/221566148631 https://yokaiwatch.fandom.com/wiki/Y-Academy_(Location)#Gallery - preserved location concept art There's also an early Wampus design from the manga. https://mega.nz/folder/b9AzECKJ#s6OdbhZdVlgJrV_dzRNGaQ

Character Designs

Early Yo-kai Heroes

Back when Y Gakuen was originally concieved as a "unified Japanese theme" before sci-fi elements were integrated, the designs were completely different for Yo-kai Hero forms.

The initial design of Kengo Benimaru, appearing shorter and different from the final.	A slightly later design, along with who would be Little Kommander in the final. The sword now resembles that of Benimaru's.

Momo

A slightly earlier design for Momo was shown on Akiyoshi Konishi's stream of drawing the Y-Gakuen manga, likely by accident due to Level-5's not-so secret history of providing early elements for media purposes.

Their earlier design has a less round and more chubby shape, and with ears that stick out more.

Early	Final

Locations

Academy Gates

A rough concept art of the Academy gates, though the main building has a different silhouette resembling a completely different building.

Academy Building Concept

An early concept for the main building of Y Gakuen, due to the presence of skyscrapers in the background rather than a forested area, and the buildings outer not matching up to the finalized depictions.

Fallen Leaves Street

This area is notable for appearing in the movie, but not making an appearance in the game itself, instead being replaced by generic trees where the location should be in the final game. It is described as an area where students confess their love to one another.

Location Concept Art	Map Concept Art	Final Game

Dorm Exterior

Concept art for the Dorm Exterior.

Dorm Rooms

Concept arts were done for each dorm rooms, each showing the character's personality but there are a few early elements that didn't make it in the final.

Concept art for a blank Dorm room. It would be used as the "base" for Mataro's Dorm.	Mataro Tamada's Dorm.	Jinpei Jiba's Dorm. There is a bag of Chocobars present, suggesting the item was going to appear in Y-Gakuen related media, but it doesn't appear at all.
Sandayu Koma's Dorm.	Fubuki Himekawa's Dorm.	Mera Raido's Dorm.

Map Concept

This map concept, likely dating to around 2019 (hence why it shows the scrapped confession point location) shows a few interesting elements;

Earlier Chiaki Design

The opening song video, uploaded July 20, 2020 erroneously shows Chiaki with a slightly earlier design, with a different hair color. They were initially revealed in the May 2020 issue of Corocoro, implying the video was made before then. Also, Mataro's uniform is red than green with the same shoes as Jinpei's, but that's likely a mistake.

Early	Final

2019

December

The very first image of the video game was posted on Akihiro Hino's Twitter account, serving as a teaser. There are many differences to be found in this image;

Prerelease	Final

• Wampus in this image is likely programmed to be a partner, much like Yo-kai in the mainline Yo-kai Watch games function as them before the element was scrapped to accommodate for four playable characters.

2020

March

First Screenshots

The first images of the game was released on March 15, 2020 in conjunction with the website opening, where it was internally teased on March 6, 2020. There are a few...peculiar differences to be found in the following screenshots;

Prerelease	Final

Prerelease	Final

• The tiny lampposts were removed in the final.

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This image in particular shows a scenario that does not happen in the final game, due to the Live2D models not making these expressions at that point, nor the academy zooming into third-person view.

Prerelease	Final

• Again, Wampus cannot follow Jinpei around in the final.

April

Five new screenshots were released, alongside the same four old ones from the previous month.

Screenshots

Prerelease	Final

• The shadows on the objects are different, implying that this screenshot was taken at a different time of day.
• Fubuki Himekawa's name was revealed in that scene, but in the final she was referred to as "???".

Prerelease	Final

Prerelease	Final

Prerelease	Final

Prerelease	Final

Commercial

To do: Reupload this video before Level-5 inconveniently privates it.

Gameplay footage was shown for the first time.

• The framerate appears to be choppy, whereas in the final runs slightly smoother.

June

Introductory Video

This video was released in June to demonstrate everyday life in Y School, as narrated by Ranto. It would be used as the intro video in the final game, but will be covered here due to it originally being prerelease.

• NPCs are seen walking on top of buildings which don't happen in the final.

Beginning Cutscene

https://twitter.com/game_yokai/status/1283995677433839616?s=20 Released on July 17-27.

• The intro cutscene appears to have lower and more choppy framerate, specifically the part where the Gakuen building is displayed.

https://twitter.com/game_yokai/status/1287712202229571584