Voted on this board but never replied to it. I think death is more realistic and doesn't hide the truth from children. I think its far better to have children to understand what death is than to hide it from them.
I prefer it when they die, it makes it seem more real and makes it seem like your mistakes actually mean something, I remember the first time one of my tapas died, I felt horrible and it made me resolve to he a much better caretaker to my tamas.
I prefer them dying then leaving. But then what I always wondered is that if a dead tamagotchi becomes an angelgotchi, where do devilgotchis come from?