Evatchi (Evangelion Tamagotchi)

The Evatchi, also known as the MULTIPURPOSE EGG SHAPED DECISIVE WEAPON EVATCHI! As you can probably already tell, this is a Tamagotchi featuring characters from the Evangelion franchise. Even if you don't know anything about the Evangelion franchise, I think the character design and gameplay are enough to support this as a standalone toy.

When you start it up you'll get to see a quick scene featuring the Second Impact, and your Angel Fetus arrives! The characters here aren't really cute in a traditional sense, but they are really cool and weird. They're pretty decently animated  considering the size, and there are a lot of characters to raise and unlock. In a change from traditional Nanos, some characters are available right away while others can only be unlocked by raising other sets of characters first.

This moves nicely into the gameplay/lifecycle of the Tamagotchi. Rather than sticking around nearly indefinitely like other Nanos, this one only sticks around for a few days as an adult. Considering the minimalistic interactivity typically featured with the Nanos, I think this is really nice. This has really become one of my favorite Nano variants because of it.

After emerging, the care you give to your new Angel partially helps determine what character it will become. The standard food/snack options are available here, as well as two games. The first is a game where you move back and forth dodging oncoming projectiles. The second is a game of timing where you try and press a button when a triangle is lined up over a circle. The first game is pretty easy, but the second can be a little unforgiving with the window of opportunity for getting in.

In addition to the regular baby and adult stages of standard Nanos, this one also features an extra stage in between, the cocoon. You choose when to hatch it; the earliest you can choose to do so is three hours after it's entered the cocoon. How long you let it stay in there determines what character group your adult Angel will come from. With so many characters here, it's nice having a little extra control over which one you'll end up with.
The ending is a little morally conflicting. The "good" end sees your Angel flying off to cause the Third Impact, while the "bad" ending has your Angel killed by NERV. Neither one feels particularly right, but your Angel looks so happy as it goes off to cause destruction...

Despite that, this has really become one of my favorite Tamagotchi Nanos. Its short lifecycle compliments the gameplay and size of the device. They released in Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong in 2020 and are set to be released in the US in June of 2021. They will retain the original Japanese programming, but the Evatchi's English instructions can be found on Bandai's website. Since Bandai seems to be using their Nanos for licensed crossover Tamagotchi versions at the moment, I'm hoping to see others follow the groundwork laid out by this model.