We’re almost through Spring already? Where has the time gone? And where are my pants? Don’t worry about these things, because J-List has a delicious assortment of treats that can be delivered to your door every month. Here’s a detailed uber review of May’s Deluxe J-List Box!

My Uber Review of the May 2021 J-List Box Snack Box!

Every month, J-List features a new lineup of tasty snacks hand-picked from Japan. Having worked in Japan as an ALT, I can personally confirm that these are precisely the things you would see on konbini shelves! The snackage is definitely one of the things I miss the most about Japan. Whether you’re a former ex-pat like me, a Japanese culture enthusiast who dreams of visiting someday, or just someone who is hungry, the J-List Box has what you need. I won’t be reviewing everything in the box, as some things are best left to surprise, after all! This will be a review of the Deluxe edition, as well!

But I also understand the intimidation factor when you see all of this packaging with Japanese text on it with scarcely any English. Pretz? Jagabee? Milky? Don’t worry, I’ll help answer your questions about what’s in the box: what the flavors are like, what the packaging says, and maybe I’ll throw in some cultural tidbits as well. One of the best parts about cultural exchange is the food, after all. I’m getting hungry, so let’s get to it.

•  Crispy Pizza Pretz

From snack food supergiant Glico comes Crispy Pizza Pretz. The name “Pretz” might imply that these are pretzel sticks, but they’re more like a biscuit stick instead.

It’s a bit crazy how they can cram so much flavor onto so little surface area. The biscuit sticks are very thin but pack a flavorful wallop. Americans are no stranger to pizza-flavored snacks, but I found these to taste a little more balanced in the taste department. You really taste the herby profiles and the sweetness of the tomato flavoring, while the cheese flavor is dialed back a bit. I enjoyed the balance here, and it’s hard to stop eating them if I’m honest.

The box even comes with a punch-through hole where you can stick the snack pack into! Why? I don’t know! But it’s cool!

• Ginza Waffle Caramel Flavor

Next up, Ginza Waffle, the caramel variety. Ginza is an affluent business district in Tokyo’s metropolitan area. The boutiques and restaurants in the Ginza area were beyond the budget of a humble ALT such as myself, but Ginza is also famous for its myriad of affordable bakeries and patisseries. Freshly made take-home waffles are one such product that Ginza is known for, and this product aims to capture that essence.

This one really blew me away. The waffle “cookie” was nice and soft, instead of a crunchy wafer like I was expecting. It was decadent and sweet, but not overly saccharine. The caramel filling tastes like genuine caramel, interwoven with the soft maple flavor of the waffle. The caramel-maple harmony fills your nostrils as you eat it, and it’s just a wonderful experience. I felt as though the ratio of caramel filling to waffle was perfectly proportioned, as there wasn’t an overabundance of caramel filling. The portion size felt ideal as well, just enough of a snack to not make me feel like I’m destroying my diet. Overall this was a 10/10 in my book.

• Puccho Peach Soda

These were another home run. They’re very similar to Hi-Chew gummies or Starburst candies: chewy little morsels of fruity goodness with a soft gummy center. I’ve never had peach soda before, but after eating this, I feel like I know what peach soda tastes like. I don’t know how to describe it. They even have a wonderful soda-like aroma to them. They’re just, well, peachy!

These were another “once you pop, you can’t stop” experience. If you’re a fan of pink Starburst, these are right up your alley. And they taste twice as delicious, in my opinion. I definitely wouldn’t complain if future J-List boxes had different varieties of these.

• Black Thunder Cacao 72%

Black Thunder (or Burakku Sandā if you want to sound cool) is a cocoa bar filled with Japanese rice puffs, all coated with chocolate. In this case, the “Cacao 72%” basically just infers that this one is more of a dark chocolate variation instead of lighter milk chocolate. I confess I’ve never been a big fan of dark chocolate, but this was actually pretty dang good. If you’ve ever had semi-sweet chocolate, this is similar in that it has mildly sweet and mildly bitter aspects. The chocolate coating was actually pretty rich, and the cocoa cookie beneath it had a good crunch. Unfortunately, we’re moving into the hot, melty summer months, so this will be the last chocolate product to be featured in J-List boxes for a while! It’s a little bittersweet, isn’t it?

• Yellow Jagabee Butter Flavor

If you told me that there was a packaged french-fry snack that actually tasted good and not just like a dehydrated excuse for a french fry, I’d say you were lying. Calbee, purveyors of snacks, cereals, and everything in-between, have mastered the arcane art of making french fries palatable in snack form. These are actually really good. They’re crunchy without being obtrusively so, as well as salty and savory with a buttery, slightly sweet aftertaste. The closest American snack I can juxtapose them with would probably be Pik-nik sticks, but the Jagabee Butter Flavor sticks are less greasy and less salty. These are great to munch on, and I enjoyed these quite a bit.

• Filled Peanuts of Choco Ball – Salt n’ Butter Flavor

Morinaga, the company that makes these munchies, primarily sells crunchy little peanuts coated in chocolate. Despite the name, “Choco Ball,” this variety doesn’t actually have chocolate. These are coated with a crispy, buttery crust instead.

Japanese confectioners have achieved a mastery of making crunchy coated nut snacks, and it shows. The salty, savory flavor of the coating melds well with the subtle sweetness of the nut within. There’s a weird tactile enjoyment to be had as your teeth break through the crispy crust and down onto the firm peanut. Since they’re nuts, they’re a healthier snack to reach for as well!

• Godzilla Energy Drink

How could I not mention one of the most eye-catching items in May’s Deluxe J-List Box review? Who needs gothic fonts, convoluted company backstories, and spicy words like “fuel,” “high performance,” and “octane” on the can? Just slap freaking Godzilla on it while he’s doing his signature atomic breath attack and let him do all the advertising.

I didn’t have a Godzilla wine glass set to model this purple beverage with, so I had to settle for a Kirby glass. Dreamland looks a little darker these days with Godzilla Energy in it, doesn’t it?

This one gave me a kick. Sometimes I feel like my brain is running on power-saving mode, but after a few sips of this, I felt the lights turn on. This one has a grape-like flavor, and it doesn’t taste too dissimilar from other energy drink brands, such as Monster or Reign. It didn’t taste quite as acidic as the ones I just mentioned though, which is a plus. Perhaps the biggest downside is it won’t give you atomic breath. Just grape breath, unfortunately.

Why is my Geiger counter going crazy?

I’ve only scratched the surface of what’s in the Deluxe J-List Box for May with this product review. Hopefully, I was able to paint a clearer picture of what you can expect! The Regular Edition is still available on the site, and you still get quite a few of the goodies that I covered above. It’s a great deal, and heck, it’s worth it alone just for the Ginza Waffle. That thing is seriously good. Go check out the assortment of products here!

April has come and gone, but you can still check out what was in April’s Deluxe Snack box. June is just around the corner, and we’ll have another great assortment next month to review as well. Stay munchy!

J-List has been on a tear, posting fun new limited anime Blu-rays, from the new Hatsune Miku concert collection to Kantoku’s One Room series to the gorgeous second season of Yuru Camp. Browse them all here!