Unboxing + Review | Japan Funbox Mini July 2016

“Nine out of ten people like chocolate. The tenth person always lies.” – John Q. Tullius

Why am I starting the post with this quote? 

Because today I’m going to talk about everyone’s favourite – chocolates! ? Actually not just chocolates, but some authentic Japanese treats as well, which I received last week in July’s Japan Funbox Mini subscription box.  P.S. :- You might feel hungry while reading this post.. don’t say that I didn’t warn you!

Before we start with the preview and review, here is a brief introduction of japan funbox and the story behind it..

About Japan Funbox

Japan funbox is a subscription delivery service that brings you all the most fun, cute, and crazy candy from Japan, right to your doorstep monthly! We were inspired to start our service by a Chinese person we worked with — we mainly work with Web development, and came to meet him through a business project. He was extremely talented and diligent, and outside of work he was also kind enough to introduce us to a whole host of other interesting things like popular Chinese trends and the differences between Japanese and Chinese culture. He also loved to eat candy while he was working.

Shortly after he returned to China, a new flavor of Kit-Kat (one of his favorite treats) was released back here in Japan. We decided to send him a package including the new flavor, as well as a number of other candies, and he was so delighted that we started sending him packages regularly! He shared the candies with his friends, who also told us that they’d love us to send them packages of their own.

This was our first realization that the candy that we are so familiar with here in Japan were so diverse and varied from an international perspective. Knowing how much delight our packages brought to their recipients, we decided that we wanted to share the joy of Japanese candy with the rest of the world. That’s why we started Japan funbox. So why sell our packages on a regular basis instead of selling each individual candy separately? Well, that way it’s much more cost-effective, and even more fun!

Our subscription service is still in its early days, but we truly hope you’ll join us to experience the excitement and fun of our Japanese candy box for yourselves! Bon appétit!

They currently have these three options of subscription box sizes..

Mine is the “mini” one. Unfortunately, the box I received was completely deformed, that’s why I am not posting its picture here. At least, the treats were not damaged a lot. (I’ll mention which ones were damaged) I am 100% sure that it must be either Customs Dept. or India Post’s fault. They are very terrible at times, if you are an Indian then you will agree with me!  Let’s leave aside the outer packaging and talk about the treats!

I got total 6(+2) treats in the Japan Funbox Mini July 2016 box and here they are..

• Hello Kitty Strawberry Pretzels

A strawberry-flavored pretzel with Hello Kitty, a popular character among girls. An attractive design with the character depicted largely on the package.

This snack consists of biscuit sticks covered in a very thin layer of strawberry (cream?). I wish it had more layers of strawberry, but otherwise it’s nice.

Rating – 3.8/5

• Whistle Candy: Grape Flavour

This is a very popular and regular snack in Japan. Because this candy can make sounds like a whistle when you put it in your mouth and blow. It makes the children happy, but their parents angry. A cute secret toy box comes with it.

When I read “whistle candy” I was like OK, seems exciting. So I took one of them out of the package, put it in my mouth and blew air through it. The candy actually made a loud whistle sound! I spent the next 5 minutes blowing the whistle with it and yes, my mom did get angry. This candy is from a brand called Coris and I guess it’s available in many flavors. I received one in grape flavour, it tasted nice, but its whistle part impressed me the most. If you are wondering what I got in that small red box then here it is..

A small toy! What should I name it guys?

Rating – 5/5

• Potato Happy Butter 

Sold for a limited time in Japan, stores kept going out of stock. You can enjoy a combination of 4awase (read as shiawase) or a happy feeling with four ingredients: butter, honey, parsley, mascarpone cheese. A sweet and salty deliciousness with these 4 flavors as base. 

Whenever I am buying snacks for myself, I always make sure to buy 2-3 packets of salted potato chips as they’re my absolute favourite! I found this potato happy butter snack to be a little different from the potato chips we get in India. It has honey as one of its 4 main ingredients so it tastes slightly sweet. (This treat was damaged, but edible)

Rating – 4.8/5

• POKEMON 3D Candy

The candy in which POKEMONs pop out! The upper part of package becomes 3D sunglasses and use it for looking into the individual wrapping… You can see the picture of POKEMONS jumping out!

Creative packaging, I must say! This cool packet contains total 10 candies of lemon flavour. They’re very sour and they even have some kind of white liquid in the middle, which is 10 times more sour than the hard part of the candy. I don’t like their aftertaste though!

Rating – 4.6/5

• Umaibo

Umaibo is a puffed corn snack which is very popular in Japan. You will receive 3 yummy flavors of umaibo in your July Japan Funbox. Pictured here is curry flavour and curry, of course, is favourite of us Indians!

Rating – 4.8/5

• Strange Gum 2

When you eat the lemon, strawberry and green apple flavors together, it mysteriously changes into grape flavor. You can enjoy various flavors depending on the combination you pick. Why not try different combinations?

These gums are very flavorful! Instead of combining them, I preferred to taste them individually. The lemon gum was damaged from one side so I removed that part. All three of them tasted nice, but I liked strawberry flavour the most. They are not like typical chewing gums because their flavour stays for a really long time! I wish we could get such flavorful gums here in India. I LOVED it!

Rating – 10/5 (yes, ten out of 5! Highly recommended to chewing gum lovers)

What I liked about Japan Funbox monthly subscription service –

• They send new and authentic Japanese treats directly from Japan!

• They don’t charge any shipping fee!

• They give you 3 options to choose from!

What I didn’t like about Japan Funbox monthly subscription service –

They need to improve the quality of the outer packaging, i.e. – the box.

Will I recommend Japan Funbox to my readers?

Yup! All you subscription box lovers need to check out Japan Funbox’s service which delivers a box full of deliciousness every month to your doorstep! ☺ Order yours here – Japanese Candy Box – Japan Funbox. To know more about their service, click on the image below..

Have you ever tried any subscription box service like this one? Let me know your thought about it in the comments section below. I really hope that you guys enjoyed my review! Please stay tuned for more upcoming posts. 🙂