#ramune. pocky. mochi. whatever

[zehecatl]

i feel like Ghostwire: Tokyo was made for a very specific subset of people, like just. directly targeted at

1) people who like Japan. and i don't mean casual like, i mean the type of people who started eating ramen specifically because it was from Japan, i mean the type of people who can name yokai off the top of their head, i mean the type of people who hear 'the food items gives you little tidbits about ACTUAL food items in Japan' and gets excited

2) yaoi enjoyers. danmei fans. BL connaisseurs. the type of people who cheer when a relationship between men can be read as homoerotic

[cutiecrates]

Cutie Reviews: TokyoTreat April 20

Er... yeah, as you can see by the title/pic below, I somehow got the April box mixed up with my March box. When I get my boxes, on the package it usually lists the date of shipping the month prior. Due to Covid and how shipping was backed up around this time, some of them are a bit off compared to usual, so when I saw February written on this box, I guess I just assumed it was March’’s box. I usually open them to double check, and I’m pretty sure I did with this one- but I still somehow missed it.

On the brighter side of things, I did make a purchase from Blippo.com, and I went to Ulta again :3 I wanted more of the cream I bought, but they were sold out. I still managed to find a couple things though:

Alright, so let’s get on with the review! As usual I won’t be going into detail regarding items I’ve already reviewed.

“What comes to mind when you think of spring in Japan? Cherry Blossoms of course! It’s Sakura season! and people love watching sakura, taking pictures of sakura, smelling sakura, eating sakura... wait, what? That’s right! Cherry blossoms are a really delicious and uniquely Japanese ingredient! That inspired us this month to create a ox using sakura and traditional Japanese flavors, and snacks that compliment sakura well! Maybe you can enjoy them at your own Hanami (cherry blossom viewing party)! Grab a blanket, snacks and your friends and head to the park!“

Before I continue, I wanted to mention that in a few prior boxes, we had a page/pages describing the flavor of the month and/or highlight snacks of the box. Besides that, we also lost our DIY page, but this box didn’t include one so that could be why. The Discover Japan page lists their top 6 Hanami spots.

Lucky Treat & Photo Contest

For this month, the lucky treat consists of cozy items from Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service. The photo contest included two large strawberry themed Sumikko Gurashi plush and candy pouch.

Nectar Peach Drink

(see above for picture)

I feel like I’ve had this before, but I decided to talk about it anyway because I wanted to mention that this drink was nearly a year old and expired in July. Some drinks manage to hold up, so I was still going to try it regardless. But I can’t tell if it was because of the expiration date or if it just genuinely tastes like watered-down peach-scented play-doh. I didn’t like it at all.

Sakura Pocky & Kit Kats

The kit kats are nothing new, but I don’t really recall having the pocky before. This box is nice because it included four or five individual packs, which you could either share with others or just carry around for a quick snack. Somehow these managed to avoid melting over summer in comparison to some other snacks too, which was impressive.

I really liked these! They had a saltiness to them that went well with the sweet chocolate and biscuit, some of them were making me think of pretzels, but others had less-salt, so the creaminess really stood out instead. There is a flavor that vaguely tastes floral, and a hint of toastiness with the biscuit. 

Sakura flavoring wise, I would say the kit kats are stronger and probably accurate, but I actually prefer the pocky.

Cider Gummy

I’ve had this in cola before, but I can’t remember if I had this specific flavor yet. It’s a chewy gummy and has one flavor overall; it’s a little minty and not super-sweet, but after a while of chewing on it, it seems to gain another taste, but I’m not really sure what it is. It doesn’t taste like ramune, so I guess whatever cider is?

It was pretty good and the flavor lasted a while in my mouth afterwards.

Banana Man, Marshmallow, Chocolate Umaibo

Had these several times. Moving on.

Taiarare Crackers & Turtle Crackers

I felt like I had these before too, but I couldn’t really remember. As annoying as that is, at least it gives me something to talk about.

Both of these snacks are buy the same brand, as are the two beneath this. Both also take inspiration from nature, as you can see :3 from the cute shapes of the fishies to the turtle shell. Their flavors are light and they’re crispy. The fish crackers don’t seem to have too much flavor but they are sweet, and the more you eat the better they seem to taste. Meanwhile, the turtle shells have a faint sweetness and kinda taste a bit like soy sauce.

I like them both, they were yummy. I just wish the bags were bigger~

AJ Curry & Yamato Salty Fries

I believe I’ve had these both before, I’ve never really been a big fan of AJ Curry but I don’t hate them. They have a nice crispiness to them, but if you don’t like the curry flavoring of them, the salty fries are probably a better option. Less taste but the satiness is there. I like them about the same I suppose.

Sakura Milk Caramel Corn & Pandaro Butter Cookie

It’s still not in one piece, but you can actually see the panda this time :D If you’re confused by this remark, then let me explain. No matter what these cookies never show up in one, solid piece. It doesn’t make it inedible though. It’s just a basic butter cookie, nothing special- but it’s surely very cute.

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Our other snack I believe is new though, I don’t believe I’ve ever had this flavor of caramel corn. This one is a limited edition, featuring the sweetness of normal caramel corn balanced out with the mellowness of milk. There are also hints of sakura flavoring... supposedly. I don’t really taste it, and in general these ones come off as a little flat to me. But the sweetness makes up for it I think.

Mr. Onion Snacks & Wasabi Cheetos

I’m pretty sure I’ve had Mr. Onion before... they’re really good, probably one of my favorites in these little snack bags. They’re airy and light with a nice crispiness. They’re meant to have the flavor of onion soup, and I hate onions, but for some reason I have always wanted to try it. I’m not sure how accurate they are but I really like them.

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Our next item is one I’ve seen before, but I never had it. So that was pretty exciting, and a little scary because it’s wasabi. Just in case anyone reading this might not be familiar with it, Wasabi is an ingredient that is usually served with sushi. It’s like a really spicy mustard, the flavoring can really hit your sinuses.

I don’t mind wasabi but it’s not my favorite thing either. If I decide to use it, it’s always in small amounts. I’m not a big fan of the flavor itself. Most of the time I don’t even use it though, so when I order sushi I try not to get it.

Like with the wasabi chips I tried some time a year or so back, these are pretty good. They have the normal crunchiness of cheetos and you get a little tickle of wasabi with each one. It’s tolerable, unless you just don’t like wasabi. You don’t really feel it in your nose like you normally would, but your throat, but it’s very light. Honestly, you don’t even need a drink with these except for when the dryness kicks in.

Salty Full Moon Pon & Mochi Taro Snacks

Had these both before, they’re very plain with a little salt taste. Nothing too impressive- except for the Salty Pon, which is normally broken up when I get it.

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Content - 3.5 out of 5. Everything was fine and I was so happy to see less-sweet things in this box considering how much was in the February box. I love sweets but lately I’ve had so many, I really needed something else. However, there was a decent amount of repeats again, which I don’t like. I didn’t hate any of the items though. Theme - 3 out of 5. We had a couple of sakura/cherry blossom flavors, there could have been more they could have gave us I suppose. I think when looking at this, we’re meant to see the snacks people would usually eat for Hanami, but I don’t know that for sure, so...

Total Rank: 7 out of 10. This was an improvement from the February box, but those repeats are really bugging me. I’ve been seeing them so much lately, and with the box price raising I’ve been starting to wonder if it’s really worth it. I want to try new, different Asain things like I’ve seen in some other boxes... is that rude of me? I mean, I do like what I get, but I wish they would actually give us unique things like they used to way back. They quit giving us health snacks, a bonus item, DIY, is it really that much to ask for?