As Ireland heads into its second lockdown of the year, at least I have my October SoKawaii box to enjoy over the next few weeks. This months’ theme is focused on the Spooky season as Halloween is just around the corner. Although this year is going to be a very down played celebration, I have the popcorn bought and the list of movies lined up to enjoy on All Hallows Eve! Also did you know that Halloween originated in Ireland? It’s true!
So onto this months’ box, we have 100% licensed products from Studio Ghibli, Sanrio and DoReMi. With a number of household and stationary items included, it really is a practical bunch of gifts. I mean I see the plush as well needed during these unsettling times.
So let’s get onto the important information shall we? SoKawaii is a company based in Japan, home of practically everything kawaii (the Japanese word for cute). They create monthly subscription boxes, jam packed with 100% licensed products from brands such as Hello Kitty, Pokémon, Sanrio, Studio Ghibli and more. The items range from plushies to Gachapon, little figures, stationary, lifestyle, kitchenware and more. The staff at SoKawaii handpicks 6 to 8 cute & useful items exclusive to Japan, pack them up in a very decorative box and send it straight to your doorstep. You can also check out their Instagram for even more info and insights into what is currently trending in Japanese arcades and stores. As well as sneak peeks into what they could be including in next month’s box. They also listen to what you would like to be included in future boxes, by asking across their social media. So make sure to have your opinions heard over on their social media posts. https://www.instagram.com/sokawaii/ And at the moment, they are amongst one of the only subscription boxes that are still able to reach your door no matter what country you are in! *cough cough I now have 8 months of Nihon Box crates stuck in Japan due to Japan Post still not shipping to Ireland*
Our first gift in this month’s box is this adorable Halloween themed Kuromi plush from Sanrio. Which is in fact my very first Kuromi plush, which I am delighted about. Where Kuromi usually sports a black and purple theme, for this Fall season, she is switching out her purple for the Pumpkin Orange look. Although not my favorite look or her’s, it is still adorable and well made. On the back there is a small zipper, which hides a very small pocket which might just hide a coin or two and nothing more. There is also a keychain on top that allows you to hang it from your bag, a hook or even your bedpost.
On to our second gift, next up we have another Sanrio Halloween themed item in the form of this Cinnamoroll pouch. This is the second month in a row now we have gotten a Sanrio pouch, although this one is larger in size and of better quality – in all honesty how many pouches does one person need?! The design is adorable, with a spooky looking Cinnamoroll and background. With a strong zip and decent size pouch, you could easily fill this up with all that spare cash we all have or just full of candy!
We are now half way through this box and SoKawaii have added a bit of a throw back to what would be classed as an old anime now. They have added a fold out memo pad from ‘Magical Doremi’, a magical girl series that first debuted back in 1999 that is still being adapted even today. This is very high quality and looks like it must have come from a pop up store, as I imagine it would be pretty rare to find something from this franchise in stores very often. This product is available in two designs, which has 6 different memo pads inside that correspond to each character.
We are now on to the first of our Studio Ghibli items, with this 500ml tumbler. It’s decorated all round with the classic Totoro characters and a forest theme, it doesn’t have anything that actually themes it exclusively to Halloween or even Fall. In fact you could easily use this all year round. It comes with a straw, a screw-on lid and is BPA free. It is also very simple to clean, but I wouldn’t chance putting it in the dishwasher as I would be afraid the design would come off.
Our second Studio Ghibli item is this adorable set of Jiji chopsticks, featuring the iconic black cat from Kiki’s Delivery Service. These bamboo chopsticks are essential when it comes to eating that next Cup Noodle in the middle of the night, in fact what will be the first meal you eat with these chopsticks? Let me know in the comments below or on our social media. It is also not dishwasher safe, so once again this product is best to hand wash.
And now our final item is this Sanrio Candy Mold featuring My Melody. This is our third kitchen item this month and is perfect for those that love making their own sweet treats. These molds look like they will make some adorable chocolate characters, not sure I have the patience to even give it a go though as I may just end up eating the melted chocolate halfway through the recipe.
And there we have it folks, that was October’s SoKawaii box. Kinda surprised they didn’t include some sort of sweet treat, instead they included a chocolate mould. Overall I really enjoyed this box, simply for the plush and tumbler. The rest was just a bonus.
So here is the price breakdown of the box each month and the savings you can get. At the moment, SoKawaii are shipping their boxes via DHL as Japan Post is still not allowing worldwide postage from Japan. Whether you subscribe month to month, or for their 3, 6 or even 12 month package options – there are savings to be had.
1 MONTH – $35.00/€31.77mo
3 MONTHS – $33.50/€30.40mo
6 MONTHS – $32.00/€29.04mo
12 MONTHS – $31.50/€28.59mo
Better yet, here is a 10% discount code that you can use on your first box!
http://sokawaii.refr.cc/maryhealy
Now if you liked everything you saw in this review of October’s box, rest assured that the items are different every month, for the most part. Each box has 6 to 8 items included and a few of them will be revealed online through SoKawaiis’ social media as the weeks go by. November’s box theme is “Kira Kira Night”, which will feature goods from Pokémon, Sanrio and Kirby, with a few of the products included already announced across their social media.
