LEVEL-5 Celebrates 20 Years Of Excellence

SANTA MONICA, Calif., June 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- LEVEL-5, a leading multimedia entertainment company, is celebrating an important anniversary in 2018. For the past two decades, LEVEL-5. has created, produced and distributed highly engaging content for children, adults and game/anime fans worldwide. The company's mission has been to bring its universally themed popular game and animation content from Japan to fans globally, across all platforms and all devices.

"For the past 20 years, LEVEL-5 has provided a strong commitment to maintaining its position on the content frontier where the newest technologies and great entertainment intersect," said Yukari Hayakawa, LEVEL-5 abby Chief Operation Officer. "We continue to have an overwhelming positive response when we release new opportunities as the market in North America is hungry for video games and anime as new forms of entertainment for the broader masses."

The company's tentpole franchises are available (or soon to be available) via multiple touch points, from animation to toys to games, include:

• YO-KAI WATCHtm is the mega-hit animated comedy and Nintendo 3DS video game series created in 2013, which continues to be a successful staple of LEVEL-5's cross-media franchises. With the use of his Yo-kai Watch, Nate Adams, an average boy, meets an assortment of mischievous Yo-kai who he discovers are invisible to humans and seem to be the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems. Blazion is a hot-blooded Yo-kai that fills folks with fiery enthusiasm, Cheeksqueak is responsible for uncontrollable farting in front of public, and Fidgephant makes anyone need to urgently use the bathroom, just to name a few. The series debuted in 2015 in North America, with new episodes airing on DisneyXD and Netflix for the past two seasons. The Yo-Kai Watch videogames have been published by Nintendo.
• SNACK WORLDtm is LEVEL-5's latest delicacy from Japan. The top 10 TV Tokyo animated series wrapped Season 1 and now is ready for export. SNACK WORLD is a nutty place where mythology, fairy tales, and technology are fusion fare! When an evil mogul wrongs the young hero Chup, the boy and his bite-sized crew embark on an epic adventure of serving just deserts to the giant jerk. The smash hit SNACK WORLD video game debuted on Nintendo 3DS platform in 2017 and on Nintendo Switch in spring 2018. The companion consumer products line won Best Japanese Licensed Character (New Face) at the Licensing Japan Character and Brand Licensing Trade Show in April 2018. The tasty franchise continues to dominate at Japanese retail and indicates similar success abroad.
• INAZUMA ELEVENtm is a Super Dimensional action adventure about a team from humble beginnings rising up to keep their passion alive in the face of a corrupt elite corporation. Only when using their Special Moves can they get their point across. The latest installment in the INAZUMA ELEVEN franchise, INAZUMA ELEVEN ARES, depicts a parallel world that will feature both new characters and cast from the original in action packed, heart wrenching matches between the good, the evil, and those in between. Building on the foundation laid by previous series, which number over 250 episodes, four movies and more than eight million Nintendo games sold to date, the reboot series has begun its broadcast premiere in Asia, is scheduled to launch in Europe Fall 2018, and is planned to debut in North America for the first time in 2019. The slate also includes the premiere of the video game in 2019 with the aim to tap into the growing eSports movement.
• LAYTON'S MYSTERY JOURNEYtm is the latest in the beloved Professor Layton catalog. The LAYTON SERIEStm debuted in 2007 with the release of Professor Layton and the Curious Village on the Nintendo DS platform, and built a phenomenon that continues to delight puzzle and adventure fans from around the world, selling over 17 million games to date. The Layton series of titles are comical, puzzle-laden adventure stories focusing on solving intricate mysteries. This evolution of the Layton series follows Katrielle Layton, daughter of the famous (and missing) Professor as she solves smaller mysteries in London, all woven into an intriguing overall grand conundrum. The strength of the franchise coupled with the globally successful launch of the new game series created the perfect formula to develop a new animated series built around its legacy, which debuted in Japan on Fuji TV in April 2018.

About LEVEL-5 Inc.

LEVEL-5 Inc. plans, creates, and markets video game software and produces mega-hit IPs targeting kids around the world. The company specializes in cross-media strategies and oversees corresponding counterparts (anime, toys, manga, etc.) for its titles. The company's flagship LAYTONtm series has sold more than 17 million units worldwide, The Ni no Kunitm series, featuring animations created the Academy Award-winning Studio Ghibli, has sold more than 2.3 million units worldwide and has received numerous prominent game awards. LEVEL-5's cross-media titles include INAZUMA ELEVENtm, Little Battlers eXperience, and YO-KAI WATCHtm ? which has sold over 13 million units worldwide. All forms of YO-KAI WATCHtm merchandise, including toys and games, are universally popular among people of all ages. While maintaining its foundation as a game company, LEVEL-5 Inc. continues to actively explore collaborations with other media as it strives to flourish as a world-class entertainment brand. To learn more, please visit http://level5abby.com.

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BLAZE PR / Matt Kovacs
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SOURCE LEVEL-5 Inc.