Nov 03, 2016 10:44 AM EDT By Noi Ramirez, UniversityHerald Reporter

Tamagotchi will grace the screen during Japan's Golden Week alongside "Kami-sama MinaRai: Himitsu no Cocotama (God Apprentices: Secretive Cocotama)." The short film is Tamagotchi's first theater release after nine years.

"Eiga Tamagotchi: Himitsu no Otodake Daisakusen (Tamagotchi the Movie: Great Secret Delivery Strategy)" release was announced in Bandai's Japanese website, said the short film is to commemorate the franchise's 20^th anniversary. Tamagotchi launched back in 1996 sold about 40 million of the virtual pets in its first batch, according to AnimeNewsNetwork.

Jouji Shimura, director of the Tamagotchi TV anime series which ran from 2009 to 2015, was tapped to direct the anime short on a screenplay by Hiroshi Yamaguchi. Voice actress Rie Kugimiya, who voiced the character "Mametchi" in the TV anime series, will reprise her role, according to Crunchy Roll.

Sources report that "Eiga Tamagotchi: Himitsu no Otodake Daisakusen (Tamagotchi the Movie: Great Secret Delivery Strategy)" would center on nostalgic elements that both parents and children would enjoy. The new Anime movie short will introduce us to a new character named "Teppuru," although there was no mention of this new character's background was announced. The last feature film Tamagotchi was featured in was way back in 2008, "Eiga! Tamagotchi Uchū Ichi Happy na Monogatari!?"

Tamagotchi is one of Bandai's successful product lines that sold 38 million units when the brand was revived back in 2004. Another 1.72 million units of the brand's Tamagotchi iD line were sold in 2009, and as of March 2016, a total of 81 million Tamagotchi's were sold worldwide.

The digital toy became one of the 1990's biggest toy fads. The game's simplistic approach from hatching an alien egg and raising it to adulthood to having it develop random characteristics depending on how the owner cared for it, appealed to millions. The egg-shaped keychain Tamagotchi virtual pet is a creation of Japan's Akihiro Yokoi of WiZ and Aki Maita of Bandai, was originally designed for teenage girls, to provide them an idea what it's like to take care of children.

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