The Anime Blog - We Go Beyond Anime!

Cola, aka soda, aka pop, is an under appreciated candy variety here in the States, although I don’t know why. Cola is a fun, sparkling flavor with a refreshing zing. For whatever reason, American candy manufacturers have largely ignored cola flavor in their candies, much to my dismay. The only cola candy readily available (read [...]

The mascot for today’s candy, Choco Ball, is a famous critter in Japan who’s gotten some anime face time on the series Gantz. Remember the creepy bird alien from the series? Yeah, that guy is inspired by this guy, Kyoro-chan.
Morinaga is the company responsible for the odd bird mascot thingie, and the products it [...]

Meiji, a giant in the modern Japanese goodie biz, has produced many fantastic offerings over the years, ranging from the “It’s good but not great” to the “OMG! This is fantastic!!” For the most part. I’m a Meiji fan, and am willing to give anything these guys make a go.

This latest Meiji product comes [...]

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When you’re having fun on the go and you’re looking for snackage, food which is as mobile as you is always a good thing. In Japan, country of a thousand festivals, food mobility is an important factor to enjoying the celebrations. Many festival snacks come in ball form (takoyaki), on a stick (yakitori) or both, making carrying around your food without making a mess easy. These two snack attributes are best personified in a treat almost as old as the festivals: dango.

Dango are dumplings which can be either savory or sweet and are often, but not always, served on a bamboo skewer. Savory dango are many times covered in some type of soy-based sauce, which can either be sweet, salty or both, and can be served with nori sprinkled on top or completely wrapped in a sheet of seaweed.... Continue Reading...

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 differences in texture and size. Everything tastes like shoyu (soy sauce), nori and sugar. These flavors are great, but given the huge diversity in appearance and packaging, shouldn’t there be just as many flavors to match?... Continue Reading...

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!!... Continue Reading...

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 flavorful ball of sweetness, then I’ll invest the cash to give it a shot.... Continue Reading...