Type of service: Import Specialty monthly service.

Price: 7.99 – 24.99 Monthly

“Just a little while after lunch a lot of people say to themselves “I’m a little bit hungry…” and pick up a snack. In Japan, this snack is called “Oyatsu.” The word “Oyatsu” comes from the word “Yattsu” meaning eight. In the old system for measuring time ‘eight o’clock’ – or “Yattsu doki” – was from the modern day 2pm to about 4pm.” – Oyatsu Defined Source

Since the Loot Crate introduction of services, many more became instantly notable among many fans of shipment services. This time around this is a service that provides popular brand name snacks that will ether make you say out loud “what the heck am I eating” or, “nom nom nom”. Luckily this time around the package I received a citrus theme assortment of goodies. With a vending machine key chain finch, that is sleeping. Awww. This Oyastsu box was provided to the website for review purposes. So let us begin and break down what items we received.

So, about packaging and how I received it, the video below is the un-boxing, along with me going over all of the items with a first whim to what they were. Everything was received in mint shape, without any of the items damaged. I would like to add, it was awesome they provided a guide for us otherwise the Google footwork would have been a pair of two of running shoes.

So with that out of the way, my final impressions of the bundle of items was overwhelmingly awed by the quality of everything. Not one single snack was lackluster, and had some thought behind its placement in being here. It was practically a top of the line, not your dollar store selection of foods. I sat down with a few others and tried each item. Most of it was pleasant. I would say out of the snacks I enjoyed the savory item the most, the bag of Calbee Potato chips, or crisps if you are not a yank. This variety was Hot Chili, which was not as hot, but an interesting mixture nonetheless. I had a vibe of Habanero, or Cayenne with what tasted like mango juice. I found myself completely munching down the contents quickly.

Going down to the price point, for the cost of twenty five dollars per month, you will get over eleven items. The said items are unique to Japan only. Unless you have a specialty shop some where local. At most Ebay flippers whole sale the said items for around five or six dollars ahead free shipping. This way around you are actually saving more money for the price of a small fraction of grocery money. Off the bat if you sign up they deduct your first months payment for the service, so if you only have like one dollar and thirty three cents in your savings, be aware. If you have lets say Paypal as a service you pay for items then the same time every month it will take the funds. So for the rest of this article I will break down each item I tried, include a photo of snack size comparison to my hand, which my ring finger size is about ten, so that is the scale.

Meltykiss (small fudge like squares):

Twenty years ago, these things are passed around for a few weeks in winter. Thus considered one of the most popular treats that people in Japan give to friends and loved ones threw out the year. I at first tried one and got rushed by a very bold raw coco taste, as in not sweetened. Then I began to break it down chewing it letting my tongue do the work, then the full flavor came out like a wrecking ball. These things were fantastic! I wish they were localized in the states.

Lifeguard Soft Candy:

This stick of soft taffy energy drink flavored candy is a take from Japan’s most popular brand of energy drinks. The flavoring at first reminded me a small bit of a red bull but a bit more mellow, which is not a bad thing. I was not certain if it contains actual caffeine, but I felt a bit of a jolt after consuming some.

Kracie Takoyaki Candy Kit:

A do it your self candy kit, much like how you would think of an easy bake oven, meets a creepy crawler toy kit. However remove the terrible light bulb and add a actual microwave, I will be honest here, I was a bit confused when constructing this due to the fact I am not educated in Japanese completely. So it was actually fun to learn from the pictures what to do next, then construct the creation, unfortunately it was my least favorite tasting item in the whole kit, still a cool experience, but the fish flavors, and curry was a bit too extreme for me to enjoy. Takoyaki is basically a wheat ball filled with real octopus. This emulates that in a pretty easy to break down and construct kit. I still give it props for having such a fun to make factor, just the eating part turned me off.

Gochi Ramune Gummies:

These bottle cap (the old school coca cola bottle size) Japanese Rumune (lemonade), in the form of what you see from the picture blue sugar coated gummy pieces. At first it was an eruption in my mouth of a strong sour taste, but it began to break down in my mouth into a very enjoyable taste. I began to pop down a few more, then restrained from completely finishing them off.

Taiko Drum Gummies:

A gaming themed set of grape, and orange flavored gummy drums. From the very popular Taiko Drum master arcade game series. I first got a taste of the game itself via Nintendo DS by a import cart a while back. So I had a good perspective of how it emulates the cute hub characters from the game. I enjoyed both the flavors, favoring the grape a bit more. Now I want to buy more of these.

Gashapon Vending Toy:

Gashapon is a part of the traveling and leisure culture in Japan. The print out guide provided explained that it was the first edition. The toy is of a sleeping Finch. The sculpture is nicely made and has no error in its paint job. It features a slip rope for things such as a portable device, but personally it looks cute just sitting on my desk. I enjoyed my capsule toy.

Hi-Chew – Mikan Orange:

A oddly packaged taffy like Miken orange flavored candy. Supposedly, every package you would buy features a different character on each package from the company UPRIGHT. This flavor is only within the Japan region. So As I stated before It is a lot like Taffy, but with more structure. Where it takes a while to chew but its flavor lasts as long as you chew it. Like a Star burst, but on steroids.

Poifull – Fruit Jelly Beans:

These are in the shape of most Jelly Belly’s brand jelly beans, but with a inner soft texture. Rather then a real fruit flavor it provides more of a candied take on grape, apple, lemon, and raspberry. Raspberry was seemingly replaced prior to Peach mentioned on the item guide. The box was very colorful sealed in plastic, with a interesting take on a pop lid to dispense the gummy like jelly beans. Each piece had a fruit juice like taste to them, with the candy casing coming in with a fragment of sugar following in with each chew. These were really pleasant, so if you have a friend who is a fan of Jelly Belly, try them on to these and see their response. I really liked these.

Calicot Strawberry:

If you loved Pocky, the stuff you see a ton of anime fans raid their local supermarket or movie place by the truckloads, then you might have heard of Gilco. These are a light and airy like chocolate candy with a rush of strawberry flavoring. The texture is a little chalk like, bit without the nasty chalk taste, replace that with a half chocolate, and half strawberry element and its money in the bank. Each piece can be popped out of its black egg casing with a lightly firm push, letting you know the rest of the pieces are not going any where.

JOO-C Cola:

I see what they did there with the name. This cola flavored tablet shaped candy is from Kabaya. Every piece of candy is actually made from sherbet. From the guides description they were suppose to melt in your mouth. So I placed one on my tongue, waiting for Katy Perry to start singing firework in my ear drums, but instead, a slightly flat cola taste started to run down my tongue and throat. It had a bit of a tangy fuzzy taste to it after awhile, then the flat taste came back. After a sharp taste in my mouth after consuming it. Never personally trying out the real cola drink, if there is one. The packaging has a weird cow drinking cola, waiting for me to fall to sleep..

The candy tastes decent but not something I would reach for if given the option.

Calbee Potato Chips – Hot Chili:

The highlight to the whole box for me. These were recently voted as the most popular chips in Japan going. Being a top snack for many weeks apparently. I popped open the back and had taken a smell of the insides. What hit me was a hint of Cayenne pepper, but its flavor was something a bit more sweet then that blend of spice. So I reached in, as like in the photo my first chip. I took a bite and began to guess the flavors out. What tasted like a Habanero hit me. Not  a overly spicy way, just a tiny bit of bite, but a smooth sweetness shortly after. Before I knew it I began to pop more and more down. It was not pretty. I would say if these were local I would gladly buy these on a almost daily basis. Addicting!

In closing, we would like to thank the Oyatsu Box company for providing us a sample case to try out their product. If you are a gamer who loves to experience the Japanese culture in new and exiting ways, start with your taste buds. For the value of the money, if you crunch the numbers, with import pricing, and how much you spend daily on groceries. This is not too expensive in the long run to be able to try monthly new and interesting snacks. You receive over eleven items total, including one random capsule toy. They do allow you to cancel at any point by visiting the website via your account. For those who would rather spend under ten bucks. They have a $7.99 option where you may receive three items every month to see if you like it. But here I do acting like a sales man. I can fairly tell you I would personally at some point might buckle down to give this company a future try again. I had a blast trying out the off the wall nature of the packaging, and well looking at the Taokoyaki kit flavors..

Recommended