Character-themed foods have long been a staple at Japanese convenience stores. Although these limited-time offerings are often adorable, they usually look much better than they taste.
Lawson and Seven-Eleven recently unveiled new character tie-ups that illustrate this problem. The former has started selling new nerikiri sweets in the shape of popular bear Rilakkuma and friends (¥285 after tax), while the latter is doing the same with characters from popular anime series “Detective Conan” (¥258 before tax). Both look fantastic, but lack much in terms of flavor besides being blandly sugary.
Far better is a new item at FamilyMart that sacrifices aesthetics in favor of flavor. Its new Sumikkogurashi-themed sweet (¥168 after tax) looks like a vaguely bear-shaped white blob, but it has a sweet milk taste worthy of the convenience store dessert section, though probably not on your #stayhome social media.