A Month of Japan - TokyoTreat
Because A Mortal Song is set in Japan, in the month leading up to the book’s release I wanted to celebrate some of the amazing media out there by Japanese creators. I’ll be highlighting my favorite books, TV shows, and films (as well as some snack box services-you need something to munch on while you’re doing all that watching and reading!). You can find a full list of my faves and other resources here on my website.
Snack Subscription Box Review - TokyoTreat
What you get: TokyoTreat offers their monthly themed boxes in three sizes, from $15 a month for 5-7 snacks to $35 a month for 13-17 snacks plus a guaranteed DIY kit, drink, and other special item. The boxes ship from Tokyo, with free shipping worldwide.
Review of the box:
I got the July large-sized box, for which the theme was Anime Characters. The outside of the box had a pretty design which you can see above and that extended into the interior, and TokyoTreat’s booklet was the most detailed and professional-looking of all the boxes I reviewed, including seasonal information about Japanese holidays and traditions, instructions for the DIY sets, and extra info about particular treats.
And, of course, a lot of snacks!
As before, I jotted down my thoughts on each of the snacks as I tried them out and gave them a rating out of 3 (0 = nope, 1 = all right, 2 = quite good, 3 = OMG where can I get more of this?).
Milk-flavored Potato Chips - These light chips were a bit odd, because the chips were savory but the milk flavor on them sweet. I usually like sweet and salty together, but although I enjoyed these somewhat, I’m not sure the balance was ideal. 2.
Black Thunder Gold - Great chocolate bar: sweet but not too sweet, the chocolate rich, and a great mix of creamy/chewy chocolate and crispy, crunchy wafer. I liked this a lot! 3.
Fortune-telling Chocolate Pills (Dagashi Kashi) - The idea behind these is cute, but the actual tiny chocolates were kind of bland, like mini smarties or M&Ms. 1.
Thomas & Friends Chocolate Pretzel Sticks - These sticks were basically a Pocky imitation, but with less icing and a harder, more bland biscuit, so less tasty. 1.
Anpanman Ramune Candy - The candies had a nice texture, crunchy and not too powdery, lightly sweet with a light fruit flavor. 2.
Yokai Watch Chocolate - Very cute chocolate “popsicle”-I almost didn’t want to eat it. 🙂 The milk chocolate was creamy but a bit chalky, and the top layers with different colors looked as if they should have different flavors but all I tasted was chocolate throughout. 1.
Thomas & Friends Chewing Candy - I don’t generally like artificial grape flavor, and the candies proved to be no exception. For someone who does like the taste, the texture was enjoyably chewy and substantial. 1.
Pokemon Gummy - These candies were a little softer than I usually like my gummies, but had a nice smooth texture and a mild fruity flavor. 1.
Dragon Ball Heroes Snack 5 - These tasted like North American cheese puffs-I enjoyed them well enough, but there was nothing very exciting or unique about them. 1.
Marutake Peach Drink - This beverage came in a squeezable plastic bottle, which was interesting. The drink was mildly sweet, noncarbinated, and vaguely fruity, nice enough but nothing standout about it. 1.
Moko Moko Mokolet Toilet DIY Candy 3 - This gets one point just for unique-ness: You literally assemble a five-piece mini plastic toilet! The candy (which you drink through a straw) was a little more sour than I usually prefer, but somewhat tasty. 2.
Soybean Flour Mochi Rice Cake DIY - This DIY kit was very simple to prepare and very tasty, with a nice balance of dry flour with soft jelly. The jelly was very smooth and had a subtle nutty flavor that I loved. 3.
Cocotama Snack - These heart-shaped, fluffy, and crunchy biscuits had a corn cereal-like texture and taste with a light artificial strawberry flavor that worked well in combination. I enjoyed these a lot! 3.
Brazilian Orange Pocky - I always enjoy Pocky, and this was a unique (seasonal) flavor I’ve never encountered before. The light artificial orange flavor in the icing tasted great with the biscuit. 3.
Shrimp Crackers - The crackers had a nice crunch and texture, but I couldn’t taste the shrimp flavor at all, which was disappointing because I really like shrimp chips and crackers usually! 1.
Caipis Gummy - These gummies were lightly sweet with a light citrus flavor, almost creamy in taste. They were soft but satisfyingly chewy. I really liked them. 3.
Overall thoughts: Unfortunately I was overall disappointed with this box. Many of the snacks were bland or just okay. I might blame that on the focus being finding character-based candies, but I had the same problem with the ones that weren’t character candies too. It’s too bad, because the packaging and booklet were standouts for sure!
Overall snack rating: 29/48, 60%
Join me next week for more recs! You can read more about A Mortal Song in the meantime:
Originally published at YA Author Megan Crewe. You can comment here or there.