the film. It was dubbed in English along with the English dub of the movie. The Eurodance group Daze song entitled "Together Forever" uses many Tamagotchi references. The Los Angeles-based pop duo LOONER released their tribute to the toy in May 2009 with the single "I Love My Tamagotchee!". The Filipino band Eraserheads made a song called "Tamagotchi Baby" on their Aloha Milkyway album. The German band "Die Ärzte" also made a song called "Tamagotchi". The French singer Lorie made a song called "La TamaDance" in 2014 to the contest TamaDance. Tamagotchi!, the anime based on Tamagotchi, also features numerous original songs, most of which are performed by the Japanese voice actress Kei Shindō as the pop idol character Lovelitchi. Polish rapper duo Taconafide (Taco Hemingway and Quebonafide) released their song Tamagotchi in 2018; it has reached the position 1 on many Polish charts. Reception The success of the Tamagotchi led to the electronic pet being appointed the Christmas Gift of the Year by the Swedish Retail Institute in November 1997. Criticism and controversies During the late 1990s, children frequently took Tamagotchi digital pets to school because in the first two releases (Generation 1 and Generation 2), a character could die in less than half a day if it did not receive adequate care. Teachers expressed concerns over class disruption as well as general distraction from schoolwork and this eventually led many schools to ban the product. Children became emotional at the deaths of their Tamagotchi, leading to teenagers sending them to graveyards for burial and urban legends of teen suicide, such as an alleged case of a teenage girl hanging herself over the death of her Tamagotchi after her parents took it away as a punishment. See also Digimon — a similar digital pet by Bandai Giga Pet — a brand of virtual pets released by Tiger Electronics to compete with the Tamagotchi Fin Fin on Teo the Magic Planet — a similar digital pet game List of Tamagotchi releases Pixel Chix — a similar toy aimed at girls Pou — a Tamagotchi clone where the user cares for a simulated creature Tamagotchi effect — A psychological effect named after the digital pet Tuttuki Bako — a similar Bandai release Pokémon Pikachu — a similar line of digital pets by Nintendo References External links Bandai Namco Entertainment franchises 1990s toys 2000s toys 2010s toys 2020s toys Handheld virtual pets