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Bandai Streams Tamagotchi in Seven Languages for Free
posted on by Egan Loo
The international conglomerate Bandai is streaming anime episodes of its Tamagotchi virtual pet franchise on the YouTube video-sharing site for free in seven languages. The 12 shorts of 2007-2008's Saikō! Tamagotchi television series are available in Japanese with optional English subtitles, although some of the videos are limited to certain regions by the viewer's Internet address. (At the bottom right corner of each video, select the triangular options button to reveal the captions menu.)
The first 11 shorts of the Saikō! Tamagotchi series (retitled as Let's Go! Tamagotchi) are also available with English dialogue and subtitles in one of seven different languages: English, Dutch, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, or Spanish. Three more original animation works are only available in Japanese.
Bandai is aiming these streams mainly at foreign viewers to tie into its export business. There was a 1997-1998 Anime TV de Hakken! Tamagotchi television series and a 1997 Tamagotchi Honto no Hanashi theatrical short, but Bandai is streaming neither of these earlier works. The first full-length Tamagotchi feature, Eiga de Tōjō! Tamagotchi Doki Doki! Uchū no Maigotchi!?, opened on December 15 of last year, and Bandai Entertainment announced last May that it had licensed the first film for North America. The second film, Eiga! Tamagotchi Uchū Ichi Happy na Monogatari!?, will open in Japan on December 20.
Source: Nikkei Net
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