The artistic side of anime is only half the picture. For many popular series, there’s an entire ecosystem of associated products: clothes, backpacks, keychains, posters, sheets, comics, videogames, and, most importantly, toys.
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It’s one thing for an anime to sell toys to capitalize on its success; it’s another thing for an anime to exist solely to sell toys. Just because an anime was created to sell toys doesn’t mean it’s bad, however. Indeed, some of the most enjoyable and enduring anime of all time were created just to sell toys. Here are great anime that were created for this purpose.
8Yo-kai Watch
Though eclipsed by other, more popular variations of the same concept,Yo-kai Watchis still an energetic and lighthearted anime worth watching. Created by Level-5 and then rerun by Hasbro in North America,Yo-kai Watchis about befriending the Yo-kai that haunt Sakura New Town, and it doesn’t hurt that they Yo-kai are cute enough to compete withthe best kawaii anime.
Befriending a Yo-kai grants a person that Yo-kai’s friendship medal, which allows them to be summoned. The Yo-kai can then be used to do battle, make friends, or solve problems.Yo-kai Watchbenefits from strong character designs and a plot with just enough of a twist to keep it interesting.
7Bakugan Battle Brawlers
The toys based onBakugan Battle Brawlersare, simply put, confusing. To do battle, players launch spheres onto magnetic cards, causing the spheres to open and reveal monsters. Players then flip those cards over to see their effects. Fortunately, the show did a far superior job of handling these mechanics than the real-life product, soBakugan Battle Brawlerswas able to find an audience.
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Easily one of the best things about the franchise are the designs of the Bakugan themselves. Drago, Tigrerra, Gorem, Skyress, and Reaper are just a few of the most memorable. The most important thing for any anime that seeks to push merchandise is that the merchandise is worth pushing. Good designs and a fast-paced story help the anime keep its audience engaged, making sure toys continue to move off the shelves.
6Medabots
A variation on the “catch and battle monsters” formula,Medabotsrevolves around children who collect parts to assemble into fighting robots. Ikki and Metabee become fast friends, battling against those who wish to steal Metabee’s rare medal.
Though it’saimed at a younger audience,Medabotshas a lot to offer viewers of all ages. Its battles are more interesting tactically than those of many similar shows, and its plot (often revolving around the challenges posed by Medabot AI) plays with interesting themes, even if it doesn’t dive too deeply into any of them. Overall,Medabotsis an enjoyable enough series, and it’s easy for viewers to forget it exists to hawk toys.
5Beyblade
Compared to giant robots and fire-breathing dragons, tops aren’t that exciting. At least, tops weren’t that exciting until the premiere ofBeybladesuddenly made them one of the coolest and most coveted toys.
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The plot ofBeybladeis a somewhat surreal melodrama even by the usual standards of children’s anime, but it absolutely nails the fast-spinning, nail-biting action of its fighting tops. The Beyblades themselves manage to have unique personalities despite being whirling hunks of metal, and that’s enough of a sell for many kids to go all in.
4Gundam
It’s hard to overstate the popularity of mecha in Japan. Mecha anime and manga are some of the most popular in a country where anime and manga are themselves omnipresent forms of entertainment. There have been challengers, but no other anime has managed to moveGundamfrom its throne.
It takes a fan with an encyclopedic memory to track the many wars, betrayals, and famous faces that have appeared throughoutGundamand its many spin-offs, but even fans who don’t knoweverything about the Post Disaster timelinecan point to their favorite city-stomping machine.
3Digimon
While it may not have matched the world-class shopping frenzy generated by a certain other monster-catching franchise,Digimonstaked an immediate claim for one of the best toy-pushing anime of all time. Like other shonen anime that prioritize episodic content,Digimonknows how to move the story one flashy battle at a time.
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It has everything a kid (or adult, for that matter) could want: an infectious theme song, exciting battles, memorable characters, and most importantly, a host of new creatures. The card game never took off the way some others did, but one would never know it by the sales of toys, plushies, video games, and other associated media.Digimonwill forever be one of the greatest anime in the monster-collecting business.
2Yu-Gi-Oh!
Few things are better tailored towards a child’s desire to surround themselves with cute creatures than the collectible card game market.Yu-Gi-Oh!latched onto children’s imaginations (and their parents' wallets) with creatures like Exodia and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and it hasn’t let go since.
All would’ve been for naught if the characters had been boring, the creatures had been annoying, or the game hadn’t been fun to play. Thankfully, none of that was the case. The card game exploded in popularity and remains a staple of game shops everywhere, but the action figures,countlessYu-Gi-Oh!video games,and other toys found their own place on collectors' shelves.
1Pokemon
Gotta catch ‘em all? Never has a more appropriate catchphrase been said.Pokemonis a superstar anime franchise by all accounts, spinning itself into every available media. Toys, statues, collectible cards, video games, clothes, posters, and every other imaginable piece of merchandise have been branded with everyone’s favorite electric mouse at one point or another.
Pokemonis far more than a genius marketing ploy; it’s a genuinely endearing and fun quest to see, collect, befriend, and battle a legion of adorable creatures. Fans may not remember how much they’ve spent on their collections, but everyone remembers their first starter Pokemon, and that’s a testament to the anime’s legacy.
