The Anime Blog – We Go Beyond Anime!

I’m such a sucker for pretty packaging when it comes to Japanese treats. I don’t read the Japanese language above junior-junior remedial, so having smart, attractive packaging is important in conveying to me that I MUST buy a J-snack.

This tart/ cookie, Choco & Coffee, has a nice fusion of East meets West (and then [...]

There’s this weird phenomena in Japan that, for whatever reason, men can’t be seen eating unsanctioned “female” candy. They can’t grab a box of Milk Pocky or Strawberry YamYam and still be thought manly and mature. This is at least the impression I get from candy makers whenever I see “Men’s Pocky” or “Men’s Bitter [...]

Leave it to Kasugai, those purveyors of culinary delights, such as kiwi gummies and wasabi peas, to create a whole new taste experience: Pizza Beans.

Pizza Beans seem like a bad idea. A dichotomy exists between beans (healthy and nutritious) and pizza (delicious and lard-inducing) which seems too insurmountable to overcome. Kasugai already has [...]

Senbei, okaki, and arare, the elusive Japanese rice crackers. Or I should say, good senbei, okaki and arare are elusive. I’ve had my fair share of senbei and arare mixes, most of which have been underwhelming in terms of excitement and enjoyability. They all seem to taste the same with varying [...]

Halloween and Christmas this year were one and the same as David made my Pocky dreams come true by buying me a Halloween Pocky variety pack with Pumpkin Pocky!!
I’ve wanted to try the pumpkin Pocky ever since I discovered it on the Pocky Gallery two years ago. I silently craved to try this Pocky, [...]

Hard candy doesn’t really wow me; it’s a lump of flavored sugar that’s only function is to dissolve. Oh so not impressive. I like my candy with texture and personality, not some lazy piece of sucrose. However, if hard candy meets me halfway in terms of being more than a slightly [...]

Variety is the spice of life, right? If that’s true, than today’s snack review is muy picante (super spicy)! I have two, sample-size variety packs of tasty-looking Meiji candy; equaling a total of eight different Japanese candies.

Meiji is one of the big Japanese candy companies; up there with Glico, Kasugai, and Morinaga. They’re [...]

Crackers as a snack food can be so very blah. Sembei, Japanese rice crackers, while having more variety than their Western counterparts, still taste amazingly similar when you get down to it, and also fall prey to being blasé.
There are several varieties of Japanese rice crackers, which have have been explained before, but the [...]