TamaOtch
Bladeagotchi will no longer be updated from the start of 2012, as I lost nearly my entire collection in the floods of 2011. Bladeagotchi is now archived and kept online for historical purposes only.
The Japanese-Exclusive Classic Tamagotchi Based on a humanoid character - the popular Japanese comedian Tamao Nakamura!
The TamaOtch is also known by various different spellings. The most common spelling both in Japan and abroad appears to be 'TamaOtch' - although 'TamaOtchi', 'TamaO', 'TamaOgotch', 'TamaOagotch', 'Tamaoagotchi' and 'TamaOgotchi' also appear to be common. The front of the unit itself says TamaOtch, which is the spelling I have chosen to use here. But take your pick!
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| [Instructions] | [Growth Chart] |
[Random Pictures] |
This virtual pet is rather bizarre and quite difficult to look after, and to me it seems to be more 'adult' than the other themed Tamagotchi's Bandai was releasing in 1996 to 1998. For example, the game is a slot machine (very tricky), but the main feature is that you have to train her up for performances on the stage!
TamaOtch only came in one official design and colour - pink with a white pattern. It was released in April 1998, and only in Japan. However, there was also an almost unheard-of, fault produced Orange version (thanks, Melissa!). Alas, I have no photographic proof of this, but it would probably look quite interesting. I have taken the circuit board and screen out of my TamaOtch shell and transplanted it into an old 1996 Tamagotchi, so I won't be embarrassed in public with a bright pink virtual pet! ;-)
TamaOtch are very rare, and are a collectors item. I play with mine and enjoy it, but it's a very challenging. They need attention at least four times per hour, usually more. During the first hour, the infancy stage, it needs almost continuous attention and the beeping can be extremely frustrating.
The Discipline feature is more complicated than on other Tamagotchi's, depending on what she is doing, you need to either give her a fan letter (confusingly under food) or normal discipline. Thankfully, I've decoded these and it's all explained in my English TamaOtch Instruction Page - with my very own screen shots I took with my camera. I'm very proud of this page.
Another interesting feature is that the same characters appear in different growth stages. Again, I've sort of explained this on my TamaOtch character and Growth Chart page. I managed to find the original Japanese chart, but it's difficult to read and doesn't have character names on it in our Roman letters. Nevertheless, it does show character paths, which I believe shows just how to get each character, so you can find this chart here. I'm still confused over the egg selection, it appears that you can only get certain characters with certain eggs, but I really don't think this is true. The only adult I have ever been able to get is Tabakotchi. Mits has a fantastic growth chart with explanations of the characters, you can find her site here (via Web Archive).
For those who don't know, Tamao Nakamura was a very popular Japanese actress of the time. Because her name sounded so similar to the Tamagotchi, the story goes that Bandai approached her to model a Tamagotchi after her. And the rest is history!
Interestingly, if you look at the Growth Chart, there's a character called Senda-Chi. It is apparently a cameo appearance of a Japanese comedian of the time called 'Senda Mitsuo'. According to the Japanese instructions, the methods to get this character on the TamaOtch is 'quite embarrassing', which I assume means poor care. Senda-Chi, along with TamaOtch-2 (that's the character that actually looks like Tamao Nakamura), are the two secret characters on this Tamagotchi.
There was an official TamaOtch site (via Web Archive)! Alas, it was only in Japanese.
