Bandai releases Tamagotchi Paradise comic for Free Comic Book Day, and it may hint at the next device

It’s the first Saturday of May, which means Free Comic Book Day is here, and this year, even Tamagotchi is getting in on the fun. Bandai has released a limited edition comic for the event, and it sports the new moniker that’s been fueling fan speculation for months: Tamagotchi Paradise. The comic will only be available in physical form, so if you want one, you’ll have to take a trip to your local comic store to pick it up. You can find participating shops using the FCBD store locator.

Internet sleuths first spotted a trademark filing for Tamagotchi Paradise earlier this year, sparking theories about the company’s plans for an upcoming device. The comic doesn’t outright confirm anything — there’s no official statement about whether the device and previously unseen characters pictured in its pages will be brought to market — but it sure does seem to suggest that something really cool is on the way.

Per the Tamagotchi website:

I’m kind of getting Pokémon Snap vibes from it all, at least in the idea of observing Tamagotchi characters in the wild, which would be a pretty fun and fresh approach to the Tamagotchi universe. But we don’t know for sure what any of this means yet. If the purpose of this comic was just to drum up the hype around a new version of the virtual pet toy… well, it’s working. I’m now dying to know more.