You haven't seen the packaging yet. I suggest the faint of heart & any people currently eating peaches avert their eyes about now.
oh god no he's coming back this way its right behind us no
Oh, he just wants a kiss. Haha...okay...that's fine. Yes. If you're eating a peach right now, whatever you do, don't turn it around to make sure that it isn't making this face - I can assure you that it is, and you don't want to know about it.
Man, this thing is a grim spectre of a mascot. You're probably wondering what the hell it is, and I've only got a half-answer for you: Dwarf Encyclopedia. Apparently just a series of books, DVDs, and various characters goods in Japan that are all about these weird little imps that live in gardens and look like that. They're all disturbing blends of old men and vegetables, and after a little while they look less gross and more interesting. I'd never say they reach 'cute' levels, as many websites seem to suggest they do if you keep looking at them, but at least they stop being so ugly. I mean, I think they always stay pretty grotesque and I like Cubic Mouth. From an artistic point of view, they look very cool - but would I want to stare at one for very long? No, I'd definitely think it was going to blink into existence the second I looked away.
Anyway, that explains why this creepy peach man is on the front of this box of Pocky. So, how's it taste?
Peachy! If you've ever had Pocky before, you know the drill - at least half way. The biscuit is saltier than a cookie, but sweeter than a pretzel and has a satisfying crunch. I was shocked to find that I had yet to review a Pocky on this blog: the closest I came was this Lotte Toppo, which is sort of like reverse Pocky.
There is a difference between coating quality in the Japanese version and the Thai, Chinese, et cetera releases. The Japanese version are the originals, and have a higher quality 'chocolate' that doesn't feel so much like cheap fondant coating your mouth. It's more like actual chocolate.
So the peach flavor is translated really well, much better than I would've expected. It tastes sweet and tangy, a bit like peach yogurt. I've had peach hard candies before that were way too sweet and didn't have any of the tang you would expect from an actual bit of fruit - they tasted more like peach iced tea or canned peaches in syrup.
This tastes most like peach yogurt, or like peaches themselves. There were only a few in the pack, and it was just one little envelope inside the box which made splitting them more of a challenge, but it was worth it.
Oh, and there was more of this freaky guy & his friends on the back.
So how many of these netherworld chimps can you spot? The answer: enough.
I had a really fun time with the packaging on these, and the Pockys themselves are super tasty. If I were younger I would've been going crazy for these little Dwarf Encyclopedia guys, they would've flipped all the right switches of creepy, foreign, and cute. Get your own pack at OyatsuCafe, and maybe keep the empty box in your garden to ward off...anything. You know, scarecrow style.
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