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Nihon Box April to December 2020 Review Part 1

Hello everyone! Hope you are all keeping well, I have a massive haul to talk about today as last week I received 9 months worth of my Nihon Box subscriptions all of a sudden on my doorstep!

As you guys are aware, I normally review the SoKawaii box each month. However that isn’t the only subscription service I’m with. Back in March 2020 I did a review of my very first Nihon Box, sadly when the pandemic started my boxes were stuck in their warehouse in Japan due to limited postal options. Almost a year has passed since my last box, when all of a sudden I came home one day to find two big FedEx boxes in my sitting room. The lovely people over at Nihon Box must have decided to rebox everyone’s orders that they had been waiting on for so long and send them first class! So that way their warehouse would be empty of all back orders from 2020. To make it even more amazing, they had replaced any out of date food items with replacement ones. Such attention to detail and top class warehouse operatives too, as everything was packed with care. Not a single item was damaged, and there were a number of breakable items inside! I have to say, that team deserves more than just a round of applause!

I’ve known about this service for quite some time now, as I’ve seen several unboxing videos from Doug D’Marco on YouTube. Check out his channel if you can, he reviews several different subscription boxes and gives good, honest reviews. (https://www.youtube.com/user/Angelraider78)

Much like SoKawaii, Nihon Box is a Japanese monthly subscription service that handpicks at least 6 items each month that are almost exclusive to Japan and ships them straight to your door. Their items are a mixture of Otaku Anime related merchandise and figures, as well as traditional Japanese items, from sweets to tableware. All of this is available to subscribe to for what I find a very affordable price each month.

Like SoKawaii, the more months you pay upfront the cheaper the price for individual boxes will be. https://www.nihonbox.com/en

Monthly is €29.99 plus shipping costs

3 Months is a single payment of €86.97, making each box €28.99, plus shipping costs.

6 Months is a single payment of €170.94, making each box €28.49, plus shipping costs.

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So let’s move on to the types of items you could get in your box – or when 9 months of them just show up on your doorstep! So I have split the items up into different categories. So up first, I have the shirts that arrived. Back last October, Nihon Box got into the spooky vibe and included some Death Note merch – including this very cool looking T-shirt. Everything is official merch, so you can imagine the excitement seeing something like this included. The sizes are pretty accurate, well made and a nice vibrant print as well. Then we have the Naruto shirt that came in May’s box. Followed by the ever popular Kimetsu no Yaiba Demon Slayer shirt that was included in August’ box. Nihon Box tends to switch it up every couple of months as to when they include shirts.

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Next up is the plushie section of the review. So over the course of 9 months, they included plushies from various popular animes in just 6 of those months. We have both large, medium and small plushies, from classic shows including Death Note, DragonBall Z and Fairy Tail. As well as more recent shows, including Fire Force, The Promised Neverland and That Time I Was Reincarnated As A Slime. It was only in May’s box, was there a possibility of getting either a Majin Buu or a Goku Daruma shaped plush. The rest of the character plushies were main cast or lead characters from their respective shows. For me, the Rimuru slime plush was the crowning jewel from this plush haul.

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Next up we have the everyday items, which include items for your lunch, some chopsticks and that all important toothbrush for your oral care. So we got a City Hunter lunch box, from a rather old anime from the late 80s and early 90s. Followed by a GTO Great Teacher Onizuka tumbler, from another classic anime from the year 2000. We also got two sets of chopsticks, from just a classic red pair with rabbits decorating the handles and a pair of cute Pikachu ones that come with their own carry case. This item was available in two different designs back last November, the other design was the classic Pokéball print. April’s box included a large Cardcaptor Sakura melamine spoon, the perfect size to eat your ramen with. May’s box held a Pokémon kozara plate, which is meant for more decoration than use. It’s roughly the size of your palm and features both Pikachu and Wingull on a traditional wave shaped art pattern. And lastly, we have a single My Neighbour Totoro bamboo toothbrush.

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This image is more of the miscellaneous items that were included. I have to admit, I do really love this Gengar face cloth that was included in October’s box. Great quality, fully licensed and straight from the PokĂ©mon store! We also received two laminated posters, from two of the most popular and iconic animes – Naruto & Bleach. We even received a small acrylic card from DragonBall, with 50 character designs available. It will take you quite some time to collect them all if you’re a massive fan. They can pop out from the card and stand freely, well detailed and just a nice small item to have on your shelf. Every few months, if you have a continuous subscription, the lovely people over at Nihon Box throw in the odd loyalty bonus item. Mine included a Kirby pen, a Re: Zero blindbox keychain and a Mario Shell key cover.

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This is turning into a super long review! The next couple of items come from numerous shows and games from a number of genres. First up we have a frisbee with Kirby’s glorious face printed on the front, for all the summer fun we all hope to have this year. We also have a One Piece clear file, from the Wano Kuni arc of the show when they were all dressed as samurai. We also have a Shonen Jump Vinyl case, which you could have gotten in three designs including Dragon Ball, One Piece and Naruro. It could also be used as a pencil case, or even a mask case during this pandemic. Moving on we got a Naruto Shippuden Tower Stand, which is quite handy to store all your pens and pencils in so they are always at the ready. I also got a pair of Dragon Ball Tabi socks, which are the iconic socks from Japan you always see when they wear sandals. It’s a sock that just separates your big toe for the rest of them. Quite comfy when you get used to the feeling. Something you don’t see very often included in subscription boxes, is Kingdom Hearts merch. Of which we got a can badge mystery box pin in July’s box, with 13 to collect. I also got another Demon Slayer bull clip plush, from the same collection and even the same character that I received in a past SoKawaii box. Our PokĂ©mon item was a coaster/strap, which featured one of 6 first generation PokĂ©mon in a pixel art design. Of which I actually got Mew! The last item in this picture was a Kokoro Basket mascot keychain.

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Now we are on to the food items! Now there have been a number of substitutions due to expired dates on original packets, so not every item I received was intended. I have tried quite a few of these items since, some have been well a bit hit and miss. The Animal Crossing chocolate egg had melted at some point over storage and travel, so it was very marbled by the time it got to me. The chocolate was very disappointing, but the figure was rather cute. It’s Japan’s version of a Kinder Egg really, but with lower quality chocolate. The Sakura flavoured green tea came with no instructions as to how to prepare it and since arriving, it has actually gone out of date. If they included a simple english translation for how to prepare it, it would have been very useful. I’ve yet to try the Pokémon snacks, all I know is that they are supposed to be a chocolate snack. I have also yet to try the big bag of Matcha Okoshi, which are green tea flavoured puffed rice cakes.

The substitutes so far have been really delicious, from the mini sugar coated sponge bites – which were quite dry but would be great in a little desert with some cream and jam. The soybean flour and cane sugar sticks had an interesting flavour and texture but were very pleasant to snack on. Ultimately it was the matcha mochi choco that caught my attention. With a layer of green tea chocolate, that encased a mochi inside all in a small bite. It wasn’t overpowering in any way and was the type of treat that made you consume it over time and not in one sitting. Kind of perfect for sharing really.

For more information on how you can order your own box, look to the top of this review and head over to the link below so you can sign up today!

https://www.nihonbox.com/en

That’s the end of part 1, part 2 coming soon.

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