Tamagotchi: The Movie (2007)

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The Tamagotchi franchise is one of the most easily recognizable fads that everybody will remember from the top of their heads when you mention the late 90's. But with every franchise that ended up being a fad, there would always be a film adaptation (Most of the time it would be animated) which intricately tries to bring back our attention to those fond thoughts of the fads or pass those trends to newer generations. Some succeed and some fail as it depends on what the formula the film is trying to achieve is and whether the formula is useful to the audience.Then this film shows up and it got me interested once I started watching it. The film is fulfilled with simplicity, irresistibility, adorableness, and kindness with no trace of violence in sight and a lack of a true antagonist which would sound a bit taboo for some. The personalities of every character is loaded with all the colors of the wind and the effects are very acceptable. The story is well scripted, family friendly, and tenaciously emotional. The structure that really had me thinking was the moral, which is the whole purpose of the story and the lesson it gives to the audience. The one moral that catches my eye is the lesson about accepting siblings and the many responsibilities and challenges you have to face when you have one, which made me recall that the story is actually about coming of age.Coming of age films like "To Kill A Mockingbird" generally tell a story of an experience or a series of experiences of a young character's transition in becoming an adult and is mostly a category focused towards young adults. In this film, for instance, we can generally assume that both Tanpopo, the human protagonist, and Mametchi, the Tamagotchi protagonist, are both young adults who are aware that they are going to be the older child when the new child arrives and they must be able to take care of themselves most of the time later on in their lives. This is actually something that impressed me about the film, but it did it too subtly to maintain the family friendly factor.The only thing that keep me from giving this film a perfect rating is the absence of demographic equilibrium, not only with the film, but with the franchise in whole as well. The film suddenly has the tendency to heavily target to the female demographic than to the male demographic since the franchise was originally meant to only have a demographic of teenage females (Something we should already know is not new, but it can bother some people including myself as being something that can can greatly separate us from being all united). The film, as with every other anime films I have seen, also unintentionally target the more hipper demographic which can usually make the experience more embarrassing for me.In all it's glory, the film is actually something definitely worth watching no matter your age. If you grew up with the franchise, the film will sure provide a remastered experience and with its unique share of being a coming of age film, it is also pretty useful if you are studying about the topic.

I am a massive Tamagotchi fan, so of course I love this movie; and I'm sure any other fan of the popular virtual pets will feel the same. The characters are brought to life through lovable personalities, and the movie maintains the colorful, creative world we Tamagotchi fans know and love.The movie teaches valuable lessons to both children and older people. The themes more for children are to conquer your fears (like Mametchi being afraid of the dark) and to accept new siblings even though they take your parents away from you. The themes suitable for older viewers are to take responsibility for your actions and that sometimes friends just have to leave in the end.The scene where Tanpopo leaves is amazing. The sparkling dandelions are so beautiful; Tanpopo's departure is so sad and touching it always makes me cry. This movie's flaw is that some messages are targeted at the very young, but that just makes it appealing to even the youngest of viewers. Ten out of ten!

The Good:The visuals. Now, I'm not much of an animation buff, so my standards might be comparatively low, but I think this is where the movie (quite literally) shines. The world of Tamagotchi is filled with unique characters and odd, "living" architecture, all rendered in beautifully eye-pleasing pastel. Everything, from the buildings to the filing cabinets, has subtle faces, makes expressions and is in constant, organic motion. The characters, while stylistically simple, are all completely unique; in fact, despite a rather dense population, I could not spot even two identical looking characters in the entire movie. All of this contributes to an atmosphere of strangeness and wonder. In this regard, the movie definitely succeeds.The Not-So-Good:The story. This is the movie's biggest and most damning weakness. The core premise is that of a young girl's accidental teleportation to Tamagotchi World, the home planet of the famous virtual pets, but instead of focusing on this girl's adventures in this strange, new world, or maybe on her attempts to get back home, the story shifts focus almost every ten minutes. At first, it's about the girl, then it's about one of the Tamagotchi characters' fear of the dark, then it's about his little Tamagotchi sister hatching from an egg, then it's about the planet getting sick, because the sun has disappeared... you get the idea. So many random ideas, so little cohesion. The fact that these conflicts and their consequence-free resolutions are often unrelated to one another makes the movie feel more like a collection of short episodes and not like one, coherent storyline. It's a shame, really, because as I said above, the world design and the color palette certainly are nice enough to make for a good kids movie. To be fair, however, as weak as the story is, at the very least the movie's messages are not quite as ill-conceived and trite as they are in many other substandard children's movies and TV shows. They address the various insecurities a child might feel in the role of the older sibling, and encourage the expression of feelings and opinions even at the risk of offending others. That's a bit more substantial and practical than the usual "Be nice and love everyone" theme, I suppose.In closing, I guess I would recommend this movie only to two kinds of people: Very young children and devoted fans of Japanese animation, who can get enough of a kick out of the vibrancy and radiance of the visuals to overlook the clumsy randomness of the story. On a side note, I watched the English version of this, and some of the voices were ear-bustingly shrill. I cannot say if the Japanese original fares any better in this regard.

When I first got this movie, I expected it to be like the Tamagotchi Video Adventures released back in 1997 (I think). As you can guess, I wasn't too ecstatic about watching it. Within the first ten minutes I found I was totally wrong. "Tamagotchi: The Movie" is bright, colorful, and light-hearted all at once. Children and Tamagotchi fans of all ages will enjoy this movie, and it's a pretty good babysitter if mom and dad need to get some work done. It's sprinkled with humor that kids will find amusing, and contains amazing special effects that will dazzle anyone who watches it. Girls can favorite the adorable Chamametchi, the trendy Memetchi, or the kind and caring Tanpopo, while boys can watch Mametchi create (or fail at) interesting experiments, or laugh at Kuchipatchi as he stuffs his face full of food. My verdict? If you see this for this sale, buy it before anyone else does. Trust me, "Tamagotchi: The Movie" is worth the 90 minutes it takes to watch it.