Over the last few years, the Tamagotchi Nano has become Bandai's collab machine. Hello Kitty, Gudetama, My Melody and Kuromi, Pompompurin, a Chopper-themed One Piece device, Detective Conan, even Pac-Man — the tiny pets have worn just about every mascot Bandai could borrow. So the most striking thing about the new Mametchi Memories Colorful isn't what it features. It's who it leaves out: everyone.
The Mametchi Memories edition is the first Nano model since the original to skip the crossover or collaboration with another franchise. There's no Sanrio guest star, no anime tie-in — just Mametchi, in more forms than any single device has ever carried. Announced at San Diego Comic-Con this summer as part of Bandai's "30 Years of Tamagotchi" push, it's a headline act in an anniversary year already stuffed with tributes, and it stands apart precisely because it has nobody else to thank.
Raising One Hero Through Three Decades
The concept is the clever part. You start where everything started: with the first-generation Baby tchi, the same little egg-shaped hatchling from the 1996 original. Raise it to Mametchi, and instead of evolving into a new character, your Mametchi keeps transforming — swapping through the mascot's appearances across the franchise's history as you keep caring for it.
The care loop is the familiar one. Feed rice and snacks, clean up the poop when it lands, and let time do the rest. What changes is the world around your pet. Play more than 20 minigames that pay homage to the franchise's biggest entries — the original, Tamagotchi Plus, the iD L, the Uni — and the minigame set shifts depending on which Mametchi you're currently raising. At different times of day, other Tamagotchi drop by to visit, and your Mametchi plays with its belongings. Raise one to the end and you get a special send-off scene and a personal message from Mametchi himself.
Small, Colorful, Rechargeable
Like the rest of the Nano Colorful line, it's a palm-sized thing — about 4 cm tall (roughly 40 x 30 x 25 mm) — with a color LCD, a freshly minted 128 x 128 screen, and a built-in rechargeable lithium-polymer battery that tops up over USB instead of cold-starting on coin cells. No more hunting for a screwdriver in the dark.
Priced at ¥6,600 each (about US$43), it ships in two 30th-anniversary colorways: 30th Yellow and 30th Blue. Preorders ran on Premium Bandai in Japan from April 15 through May 14, with delivery arriving in August 2026. It's also the first Colorful Nano to leave Japan — a US release is set for November 2026, with a North American price still unannounced at last check.
Why This One Matters
Underneath the nostalgia, the Mametchi Memories Nano quietly answers a question fans have joked about for decades: why does Tamagotchi keep leaning on everyone else's characters? The honest version is that collabs sell — that's why the Nano line has been almost nothing but them. A device with a single original star and no borrowed brand is a statement, a bet that the house mascot can still pull a launch on his own.
It's also a subtle reminder of how unusual Mametchi's longevity is. A character that old, still readable to a 2026 buyer as the face of the whole franchise, is the whole point of the celebration. Bandai spent the year dressing Tamagotchi up with fashion houses and stationery brands. Here it dresses its oldest friend in his own history — and for once, nobody else was invited to the party.