DIY Dino Island Pudding

RAWRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! Sorry, just have to get in the spirit here, as we're going back into prehistoric times where canines definitely weren't a thing. Sad days those were... but instead we have these giant (well, actually small green plastic) dinos roaming the earth. And what better surface to roam in than scrumptious pudding? At least I hope it's scrumptious. And hearty enough to satisfy my inner T-rex.

The contents here are surprisingly simple, just a mold, the two dinos, and packets for the pudding and sauce. Sadly the utensils needed, as well as the cup to mix the pudding in, nor the milk to mix the pudding with, is not included. Thankfully I have all the necessary things. But for those who don't and want to follow along, get them or you'll be disappointed.

I don't usually arrive at the final conclusion so early with these DIY kits, but alas there wasn't much to show in the middle. The steps basically are: mix the pudding powder with milk, microwave it, leave it in the fridge, and then pop it out of the tray and put the sauce and dino toys on top of it. Pretty straightforward, though I didn't know how long to leave it in the fridge. I left it in for an hour, maybe should've been two. As I can't read Japanese, who knows.

Despite being a little messy, the pudding is still delightfully eggy, with more richness as this one takes on a darker color than some of the other pudding I've had. I have conflicted feelings about the strawberry sauce though: well it seems like a nice idea, every bite I have with it completely masks the pudding flavor, and you know I wouldn't want that.  It's nice on its own though, a little oversweet. I find myself wanting more from even the pudding component though, it's nice but not with the depth and perfect balance of sweetness and richness that I'm used to. If anything it needs some more sweetness and a stronger pudding flavor to really draw out what makes this great. I do have to say this is a really nice concept. Visually one of the best DIYs and it's such a simple idea too.

Rating: 6 - Aruff!

Puccho Gummy - Hoppe-Chan Cherry

Well, this is one cute snack! I love when companies include kawaii characters on the packaging, it's like little cute spirits luring me over to eat whatever they made... which could also be easily used against me but I'm a wolf so it's okay right?  Hoppe-Chan especially, not sure how she gets around being just a blob, but she seems to have made her way onto a gummy this time, and I guess we'll see if she was forced there or it actually got her stamp of approval.

There's a nice surprise hidden in this packaging: the cap is actually a toy! It's one of those ones where you invert the cap and then after a long while it pops up into the air from all the tension. I thought it didn't work at first, but I was wrong, it takes forever to pop up! I guess it could be used to surprise my packmates. Test their reflexes. The actual gummies are pretty tiny, making this a nice bite sized snack, and they have a nice cherry flavor that balances sweetness and richness. I've heard these are sweet and sour cherries, interested to see how that ends up working.

The gummy texture is a little hard which is a bit jarring. You have to let it sit for a little while before chewing it, which is hard for a pup like me with no patience. But eventually that patience pays off and it becomes chewier. There is definitely a bit of sourness in these gummies, and it seems to add some depth of flavor here which is good, it's more interesting than a plain sweet cherry. But I think the form factor plays against the gummies here, because it's a lot of chewiness and then I don't really get a chance to experience the cherry flavors, I'm left always wanting more. The little cherry I get is pleasant, but it's not quite enough to make the whole treat satisfying. I guess maybe it works better for Hoppe-Chan because she's tiny.

Rating: 6 - Aruff!

Henshin! Transform Glasses

This has to be weirdest thing I got in Japan Crate this month for the fact that I have no idea whether it's even candy. Or, I wouldn't if there weren't nutrition facts on the back. In that case, the question is do the glasses come with a candy or are the glasses themselves edible? Guess we'll find out. These glasses also come in one of 48 styles, too bad it doesn't show me which styles these are anywhere on the package. Not that I'll be trying them on much anyways. Wolves don't wear glasses, y'know?

Fue Ramune Whistle Candies: Pineapple

Yep, you read that right. Whistle candies! Seems like Japan likes to have a little more fun with their food, so they created these candies that are basically like Lifesavers, but you can whistle through the little hole in them. Cool right? They probably don't have these in America because American children are annoying and loud as it is, so this would make it even worse. Bleh. Good thing the alpha wolves scare them away every time. As a side note, there are actually 8 in this package, but I've already tried a few out of sheer curiosity. They're fun, I'll tell you that much!