This May TokyoTreat has gathered together some awesome snacks celebrating a major part of modern Japanese culture: Anime!
There’s the menu booklet on top. See any characters you recognize?
There’s lots of great stuff in the booklet. A full contents list, plus DIY candy instructions, a wordsearch, and their ‘Discover Japan’ section.
Lotte Choco Pie Party Pack. This is a pack of eight little pies. They’re not really pies, more like a cross between a cookie and a cake with a soft marshmallow filling and covered with chocolate. The remind me a little bit of a cross between a Moon Pie and a Teacake. Despite the chocolate and marshmallow they are not as sweet as you might think! They’re not anime, but they’re extremely nice.
Senzu Bean Edamame Snacks Share Pack. Theses are four little bags of little biscuit sticks made of edamame beans. They are salty and lovely, and do taste remarkably like edamame! They’re not an anime snack, but they are reminiscent of the Dragon Ball Senzu Beans! (Though don’t expect them to have the same restorative powers…)
Sriracha Rice Chips. OK, not anime either (we’re getting to the anime stuff, promise!) but again, very delicious. These are crunchy triangles made from soy, okara, sesame, and brown rice and pleasantly spicy from the sriracha seasoning. As a bonus they are also gluten free. I made the mistake of offering them to my husband when he wanted a snack. I got to eat exactly two of them, which was really not enough.
Splatoon Gummies. Who can resist these? This massively popular Nintendo game has spawned no end of merchandise, including these gummy sweets. They are orange and melon soda flavoured and shaped like squid. You might even find the odd octopus gummy lurking inside the bag!
Dagashi. Clockwise from top left: Shin Chan Gummy, Don Taro Udon Snack, and Thomas the Tank Engine Chewy Candy.
Yes, Thomas is very popular among children in Japan. Not only that, but the first ever Thomas theme park in the world opened in Japan in 1998!
Crayon Shin Chan is a five-year-old boy anime character, similarly popular in Japan.
Getting back to more grownup stuff, the Udon snack is a little bag of crispy crunchy noodles flavoured like the Japanese kitsune udon soup. You can eat them dry or soften them in hot water.
Tohato Crayon Shin-Chan Chocobi Almond Tofu Corn Puff. Chocobi is a popular star-shaped corn puff snack, that also features in the Crayon Shin Chan anime cartoons. This version is almond tofu, which is a popular dessert in both Japan and China. It’s the Asian equivalent of blancmange, and it’s not actually made from almonds. It’s made instead from apricot kernels, which is usually translated as almond.
One Piece Bubble Jelly DIY Candy Kit. This month’s DIY candy kit is actually a drink. The package contains powder to mix with water to create a two-layered melon-flavoured jelly soda. It also includes a reusable cup!
Mentaiko Umaibo. Umaibo (which means ‘delicious stick’ in Japanese) is a crunchy tube-shaped corn snack. Umaibo come in an enormous variety of flavours, and this one is Mentaiko, or pollock roe. Even though I adore Umaibo I’m not going to eat this one, because I’m not quite sure of the ingredients and I can’t find a reliable translation (I’m allergic to shellfish so tend to avoid anything seafood-related for safety’s sake). But I understand that this is a very popular traditional flavour in Japan, and it’s savory and slightly spicy.
Dragon Ball Cheese Puffs. No, it’s just one packet, but on the back is a licensed Dragon Ball Heroes collectible trading card. I love corn snacks, especially cheesy ones!
Boruto Hand Gummy. Boruto is a pretty new anime series, but having themed candy is a good sign! This gummy is flavoured like a Japanese pineapple energy drink, though fortunately it’s just the flavour, not the effect. (Though there’s not guarantee that all the sugar won’t send you up the wall anyway!)
Boruto Pineapple Jellies. Pineapple must be a thing with Boruto, because this is another pineapple snack! This time it’s little pots of pineapple jelly, each with a different ninja character on the lid. These taste remarkably authentic, probably because they contain actual pineapple juice.
Minute Maid Craftz Cherry & Peach. I always associated Minute Maid with America, but it seems it’s big in Japan too. This flavour is exclusive to Japan, and this fragrant peach and cherry mixture is seasonal. I went so far as to look it up (Minute Maid is owned by Coca-Cola) and this flavour was only released in mid-February.
Five of these snacks are savory (though I’m avoiding the Umibo, boohoo) which is a pretty good proportion. It’s always fun to get another version of a snack in another crazy flavour; we last saw Chocobi (grape flavour) in December’s box. Those were grape flavour, so it’s pretty nice to have another unusual and unfamiliar flavour to try.
I think this is a really fun theme! Anime is a part of Japanese culture that has spread around the world and enjoys international popularity. Japan has such fun and colourful packaging that it make perfect sense to have so many themed snacks.
Anyone who enjoys trying something a little bit different, and is interested in popular foods from different places, would love this box. It would also make a terrific gift! Even the packaging is a feast for the eyes.
With this month’s selection of goodies you can match your snacking with your favourite anime!
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Premium: $35 per month containing 17 items: 5 popular Japanese snacks, 1 party pack, 4 share packs, 3 dagashi, 1 anime snack, 1 DIY candy kit, 1 kinosei snack, 1 Japanese drink
Classic $25 per month containing 12 items: 4 popular Japanese snacks, 4 share packs, 2 dagashi, 1 DIY candy kit, 1 kinosei snack
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A different version of this review was first published on allsubscriptionboxes.co.uk.
