This is a reblog of my site http://geekysweetie.com – Other stuff may appear here such as reblogs from other wordpress.com sites. I blog and reblog about anime, video games, kdrama, toys, technology, and kawaii fashion and decor.
A Doki Doki Representative reached out to me and offered me a choice of Doki Doki, Japan Crate, or Gacha Gacha Crate to review for my audience at Geeky Sweetie. I had subscribed to Doki Doki a few years ago and I was curious if it had improved any since then. So I selected to receive Doki Doki Crate. It just arrived the other day and I have mixed feelings about this crate.
If you like what you see here, you can sign up to receive this May Sweet Dreams Crate on Doki Doki’s website at https://japancrate.com/dokidoki
As always, it was packed super well. The entire crate was stuffed full of kawaii cute items. The crate itself is bright pink and always includes a full color booklet showing the items inside the crate, and showing the lucky crate that one subscriber receives each month. Also if you share photos of your crate on social media you might be featured in the book next month and receive a special item as a thank you.
I’m sure most of you have seen the official Doki Doki promo movie for this Month’s Crate. It has a Slumber Party theme and is packed full of cute items that you might need for your next slumber party.
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Let Kirby join your dreams with one of these adorable night lamps & sleep masks! Kirby & Waddle Dee will help guide you to the land of dreams for some good Z’s. Both Kirby Lamp & Sleep Mask are featured in May’s Crate! Get yours now, link in bio. . . . . . #Kirby #WaddleDee #DreamLand #SleepMask #Lamp #Kawaii #Cute #SweetDreams #Nightlight #Adorable
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The Kirby lamp and Kirby eye mask were my favorite parts of May’s Doki Doki Crate. They were super cute. I wish I would have gotten the pink Kirby lamp but the blue/white one is cute too! I feel like the lamp alone is well worth the costs of the subscription box itself. It’s fairly large and gives off a lot of light.
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A Kirby Lamp, Kirby Sleep Mask, and a plushie comfy shark are all coming in May’s Crate to help you have sweet dreams! Get your crate today, link in bio. . . . . . #Kirby #Kawaii #Shark #BabyShark #Plushie #Plush #Lamp #Adorable
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The Kirby Eye Mask is soft and comfortable, and a fun photo prop too. I did notice that the back of the eye mask packaging says it is made in China, and I have my suspicions that it may be counterfeit goods. My views of counterfeit goods are kinda changing though. In the last year or so I’ve started purchasing a lot of items from China myself and I find the quality difference between the original to be negligible in most cases. So I dunno if I would rule out subscribing to Doki Doki because of that.
But it is important to note that the Doki Doki website claims all of the products are from Japan – not China – and officially licensed – Here is the quote from their website: “Each Doki Doki Crate features genuine, licensed Japanese products of the highest quality. Each monthly subscription box features a new collection of fun toys, cute plushies and other items that will help you live your kawaii lifestyle.” – Personally I think this is false advertising since it says right on some of the items “Made in China”. Unless Japan is outsourcing production to China (which may be possible). Either way, in the case of the Kirby Eye Mask, the item is very high quality and has no lose threads, super soft fabric, and seems well constructed.
The box also had a My Melody bag. I’m assuming it’s like a makeup bag, or pencil case bag. I was a little disappointed in this item. It is very low quality. It’s extremely thin, cheap feeling, and flimsy. It’s mostly white mesh, with a small strip of “fabric” ??? “plastic”??? With a pastel tiny printed my melody design at the bottom of the bag. I’ve gotten cuter/nicer bags from Japan and China before, and this just isn’t up to the quality I would have expected of a $35 subscription crate.
I had a hard time photographing it. My flash wasn’t on, but the lights in the room were reflecting off the plastic-like material. I do love the pink zipper though, it is cute and gives the bag a delicate kawaii touch.
The next item was a hand towel. I love this item. I wish it was a body towel so I could take it to the beach or to the pool. But I loved the design I received on mine. Sumiko Gurashi characters are so cute. It’s pink too which matches the pink theme so far. It’s soft and thick and very well made.
The final item was a cute rainbow plush shark who is adorable and extremely comfortable to cuddle with. The baby shark can be your best friend for all of your slumber parties.
So in the end it was a mix of some nice very high quality items, and some rather disappointing lower quality items. I do still feel it would be worth the $35 subscription cost. The kirby lamp alone probably cost around $25 or more. There’s a similar lamp on ebay for about $32. https://www.ebay.com/i/173868369074?chn=ps
The crate is very cute and always packaged so attractively. My only complaint or concern would be that some of the items may be counterfeit – but the items are still high quality, so for me personally, I don’t mind if the items are counterfeit or not.
But I know some people are completely against counterfeit items. I know in the past Doki Doki had a lot of reports and reviews about counterfeit items, and personally from what I can see with “Made in China”, I am guessing that they have not resolved these issues. So if you absolutely hate counterfeit items, I would say Doki Doki is not the crate for you.
But if you just want to have some cute items with a cute theme and your favorite characters, I would encourage you to take a look at Doki Doki Crate. You still have 10 days left to sign up to get the May Crate at Doki Doki’s Website. https://japancrate.com/dokidoki
Pusheen box continues to impress with large, big ticket items, and tons of exclusives. Pusheen 2017 Spring Box marks one year of my receiving this quarterly subscription crate, which first debuted in Winter 2015 (I missed out on the first box, boo). Ever since I joined in Spring 2016, I’ve never once been disappointed by the contents of my box, making it by far, the best subscription box for girls.
I received my box in May, which happens to be my birthday, and inside, there’s tons of birthday / party related goods – awesome coincidence. I could throw myself a Pusheen party, but don’t have anyone to invite except for my cats lol.
It came packaged in a cute Bunny / Easter themed Pusheen faced box.
It included things like Photo Booth Props (some assembly required):
Spring 2017 Pusheen Subscription Box
Also some cute banner decorations and party balloons. 🙂
Spring 2017 Pusheen Subscription BoxSpring 2017 Pusheen Subscription Box
You can already see the next item in the above pics, a Pusheen Tshirt, here’s another look. Mine is a wee bit big. I think it will probably shrink though when washed? lol. The colors are so cute and the lil birthday hat Pusheens kill me lol.
Spring 2017 Pusheen Subscription BoxSpring 2017 Pusheen Subscription Box
This month’s exclusive vinyl figure is an Easter bunny Pusheen with a spring chick on her back.
The next big ticket item is the adorable and useful Pusheen Bento Box and Utensil set. Perfect to pair with the Pusheen thermos from the Pusheen 2016 Winter Box.
All that food is going to make you super thirsty, so they’ve given you a bottle opener shaped like our favorite feline.
Spring 2017 Pusheen Subscription Box
What party would be complete without some tunes? Enter this adorable Pusheen Wireless Speaker to solve all your party music needs.
Spring 2017 Pusheen Subscription Box
Last, but certainly not least, a cute Pusheen selfie stick to capture memories of your party with your friends!
Spring 2017 Pusheen Subscription BoxSpring 2017 Pusheen Subscription Box
My phone case doesn’t really fit too well in here, and it was a lil difficult to operate, it didn’t seem to support the weight of my phone (or case) too well. Did slightly better when I removed the case. Maybe I just don’t know how to use a selfie stick lol. It seemed “loose” and wanted to flop “forward” from the “square” part that holds the phone… Still cute, but dunno if I’d trust it to hold my expensive Iphone lol.
Also speaking of things flopping forward, Some of the Photo Booth Props seemed floppy – but maybe I’m just a derp and didn’t assemble them correctly. That is about my only complaint in this month’s box.
As always is the case with my Pusheen Box reviews, this is in no way a paid review. They do not even have a referral program. I’m merely sharing photos of all the cuteness because I know it will appeal to my readers.
If you’re interested in getting your own Pusheen Box you can sign up at PusheenBox.com
Final Score:
Packaging: 10/10 – The box is even shaped like Pusheen, the bottom of the box even has jelly bean toes – can’t handle the cuteness.
Quantity of Items: 10/10 – Packed to the top with tons of Pusheen stuff
Quality of Items: 7/10 – this month had a lot of “cheap” “paper goods” such as the photo booth props, banners, balloons, etc. While I was still happy with those (especially given that my birthday is next week lol), I am not used to seeing these lower quality items. Also as mentioned the selfie stick didn’t seem very sturdy to me. — The other items are all super high quality though. And compared to other boxes where you get mostly “cheap” plushies and stationary items, this box still feels higher quality overall.
Size of Items: 8/10 – Many nice larger items such as the Bento, Wireless Speaker, Vinyl Figure, Tshirt, and etc. Offset by a few cheaper/smaller items (mentioned above). Overall, compared to other boxes, Pusheen box consistently delivers more “big ticket” items. Compared to past Pusheen Boxes, the Spring 2017 box has a lot more smaller items as well. Hope this is not a continuing trend in the Summer box. Still mostly satisfied and surprised by the number of expensive, large, nice items. I feel it is well worth the cost of subscription and not just trinkets and baubles.
Variety of Items: 10/10 As always, a nice variety of items, ranging from fashion, to home goods, to toys, to stationary, to even electronics.
Rarity of Items: 10/10 The exclusivity of the items – being only available in this crate and not in any stores, makes this box one of my all time favorites for collector value.
Items Fit Theme: 9/10 Everything is 100% licensed Pusheen Goods. This month’s theme seemed to be a “party” theme and almost all of the items fit this theme, you have food and drink, party decor, music, and memories. It also seemed to have a vague easter theme with the box having bunny ears and the vinyl exclusive this month matching that. Perhaps a better match would have been a party hat Pusheen box and vinyl figure. But that’s a minor thing :).
Overall Value: 64/70 91% A- “Excellent Subscription Box For Girls”
I signed up for Yume Twins in May, 2017. The May box had a cat theme with lots of cute (but ultimately “cheap feeling”) plushies. As a cat lover, and kawaii collector, it was too good to pass up.
I took a lot of pictures as I unpacked my May 2017 Yume Twins box. Facebook assembled this slide show for me from some of the pics I took. This gives you a good idea of the size, variety, and quality of the items inside the May Yume Twins box.
My favorite part of the May cat themed Yume Twins box was a plushie that’s also a purse. I didn’t realize at first, until turning it over. His tail is a zipper and his tummy opens to let you put items in. Super cute!
There was also a water bottle with cat decals.
One of the most popular items in this crate is the Yokai Watch plushie from the hit anime and video game.
It all comes neatly packed in a bright purple box and includes a several page book, not only highlighting the items in your box, but showing interesting places and things around Japan that tie directly into that month’s theme. This was a really nice touch, one of the nicest packagings I have seen for these sorts of things.
I think they need some larger/nicer items such as T-shirts, home goods, and other items, similar to Pusheen Box to make it worth the cost of subscription.
Next month’s theme is Studio Ghibli. I meant to cancel after the cat theme, but forgot — and still haven’t cancelled (and my Ghibli box has already been sent). So we shall see how that box goes. 100 lucky subscribers in June will receive a Studio Ghibli thermos and chopsticks featuring Jiji from Kiki’s Delivery Service.
Items like this should come standard in every box though. I mean if Pusheen can do it, why can’t they? I received Pusheen thermos, lunch box / bento set, and many other exclusive cute big ticket items. Pusheen box still makes all these other subscription boxes seem cheap to me.
I rather pay (approximately) $10 more a month (cost comparison of Pusheen Box vs Yume Twins) and get nicer items.
Perhaps they could start offering different subscription plans with larger items in the higher priced plans.
Still overall, Yume Twins is a very cute box – especially for plushie lovers.
I also really like that not everyone receives the same items. For example, the cat purse as well as cat charm that I received were black cats. In the book that came with the box, as well as on the tags, it shows different colors and styles, from spotted to striped to fantasy color kitties.
Overall will I keep or cancel the subscription? I haven’t cancelled yet, mainly because I do love Studio Ghibli and am interested in seeing what cute Ghibli plushies and goodies are in the June Yume Twins box. However, after that, I will likely cancel until a new theme comes along that piques my interest.
Japanese plushies are cute, and these are officially licensed goods, not counterfeit toys and plushies like many other boxes I’ve reviewed. That does add to their value. The large cat purse plushie probably retails for $15-20 alone. So the smaller plushies are just “bonus” items.
Therefore, I do think that the Yume Twins subscription is fairly priced and worth the cost in terms of the value of the goods you receive.
If Plushie Collecting is your thing, I think you’ll love Yume Twins. I just mostly rather put the $26 a month towards other things.. though I do love cute plushies – I don’t have a ton of room, and the plushies always seem to pick up cat hairs from my real life kitties lol.
Final Score:
Packaging: 10/10
Quantity of Items: 7/10
Quality of Items: 8/10
Size of Items: 3/10
Variety of Items: 3/10
Rarity of Items: 5/10
Items Fit Theme: 10/10
Overall Value: 46/70 66% D “Average Subscription Box for Girls”
Qbox is a mystery box that features a different kawaii theme each month. The theme for February is Sailor Moon! They did another Sailormoon Qbox back in 2015.
To me the quality of the items in previous Qbox seems low – just judging from other peoples’ box opening photos and videos I’ve seen online.
If the Sailormoon Qbox was around 18-23 bucks (including shipping and handling) I’d probably pick this up myself. However, sadly, that’s not the case.
The Sailormoon Qbox is around $32 (with shipping), for 8 (or more) sailormoon items. They say the items are officially licensed and from Japan. So that may add some value. But judging from what I’ve seen it seems like small cheap plush, stationary, scrapbook materials, and etc. — While all of those things are kawaii, to me they aren’t enough to justify the price of the box which I feel is about $10 overpriced right now.
Pusheen Box has now been around for 1 full year – with the first box appearing in Winter 2015. The box is a quarterly subscription service full of cute officially licensed and exclusive Pusheen merchandise. It is by far my favorite Kawaii Subscription Box and I’ve been a subscriber since the Spring Pusheen Box. Each box includes a wide variety of items ranging from home goods, to toys, to clothing and wearable items.
The Winter 2016 Pusheen Box features a ton of cute items. Take a look at my photos below!
First look at the cute packaging which was changed slightly this month to include a “bow”.
It’s winter, which means for many of us, myself included, it’s cold outside, and also cold and flu season. What better way to find warmth and comfort than with a cup of warm tea! The cute Pusheen tea infuser is perfect for this.
Next up, cute fingerless gloves with a pusheen face that can be buttoned back or worn over your fingers. This is handy because it lets you operate your smartphone etc without taking your gloves off.
The next item goes along with the Tea or Hot Cocoa theme or maybe even great for taking soup to work or school in a cute Stainless Steel Pusheen shaped thermos. The only downside is it is not dishwasher safe and must be washed by hand.
A set of Pusheen shaped Christmas lights – I need to get batteries for mine so I can put them up today before Christmas tomorrow. So cute! After Christmas they’ll be going in my doll room and decorating the window year round 🙂 Would have been better if they could be plugged in instead of battery operated though.
And that’s a wrap! 🙂 Thanks for reading – if you’d like to get your own Pusheen Box, the next one will ship in March 2017 and you can sign up at www.Pusheenbox.com
This is not a paid review – I purchased the Pusheenbox on my own with my own money, and am always extremely satisfied with the quality and quantity and wide variety of items inside.
Another month, another awesome box of anime and manga goodies from www.boxychan.com – You can check out some of my other boxychan reviews here, and here. – I’ve been subscribed since May, but haven’t reviewed every box. I do put pics of every box on my instagram though which you can find here instagram.com/xenokitten – Boxychan and Pusheenbox remain my top two favorite subscription crates. I subscribe to both with my own money and am in no way compensated for blogging about them. They don’t even have a referral program – I just love boxychan so much, and I think it is far less widely known than similar boxes such as Geek Fuel and Doki Doki.
This month’s Boxychan has a beautiful figure from Madoka Magica O_O!! It’s by far my favorite figure I’ve received in one of these subscription crates. The box also includes 1 manga and 1 anime dvd EVERY month – This month my box included Kite Remastered (It’s a little bit too violent for my tastes, I recall watching this one back in the 90s and not liking it too much), and VS Aliens – which I have never heard of and haven’t read just yet. This month’s box also included a post card and cute little charm thing.
Everything in boxychan is officially licensed merchandise. So many other anime boxes such as Doki Doki which I reviewed here and Betoyo which I reviewed here have had problems with counterfeit merchandise. This also sets boxychan apart from all the rest.
The anime box is $25 a month – The Madoka Magica figure they sent me retails for just under $20 alone. (Which you can verify on Amazon here, or pick one up for yourself if you feel so inclined – it’s a beautiful figure!) When you add in the cost of the manga (amazon has it for $9.95), and the anime dvd ($8.27 on amazon) that brings the value of the box up to just under $40. Which means you get the items for almost 50% Off. Plus there’s the fun element of surprise. Not knowing what will be in each box every month. It’s like having a birthday or christmas 12 times a year lol.
Here are some pics I took from the October Boxychan Anime box.
And the pièce de résistance, the Madoka Magica SQ figure by Banpresto. My pics do not even begin to do this figure justice. She is painted SO well. Her knees are blushed a slightly darker color, her tiny almost microscopic fingernails have a manicure in a pale soft pink, her little wrists are adorned with tiny pearls. the painting goes all the way up, even underneath the skirt where nothing shows. Her eyes are stunning, and her cheeks have a cute blush. I can’t believe she’s only $20 – in my opinion her paint job is 100 times better than the Death Note figure that I got in last month’s Boxychan box which costs more than double the price of this figure. She is lovely! I’m just so thrilled with her.
Fairly large figure, slightly smaller than a Barbie Omg look at #madokamagica #doll #figure I got in #october #boxychan #subscriptionbox #monthlysubscriptionbox #anime #manga #kawaii #cute #mysterybox #subscription
Just as pretty as the pic on the box Omg look at #madokamagica #doll #figure I got in #october #boxychan #subscriptionbox #monthlysubscriptionbox #anime #manga #kawaii #cute #mysterybox #subscription
Kinda wish I'd gotten the pigtailed girl but still really happy to add this beautiful figure to my collection. It's madoka magika right? I think 🙂 still haven't watched it yet, though it seems right up my alley. Omg look at #madokamagica #doll #figure I got in #october #boxychan #subscriptionbox #monthlysubscriptionbox #anime #manga #kawaii #cute #mysterybox #subscription
(more pics are on my instagram, but this gives you a good idea of how darn cute this figure is! I think when I get paid this week I’m going to pic up the other figure now that I know they’re only about $20 on amazon, and now that I know the quality of these cuties!)
All of the items above come packaged in an adorable smiling box with pink wrapping paper.
My Death Note Amane Misa Jun Planning Figure that I received in my September Boxychan Subscription Box is worth almost $50. According to http://myfigurecollection.net/item/1497 – I’m so happy with Boxychan. Read my other Boxychan review here I hope the company stays around forever. Not only did I get this expensive figure, but I got a manga worth $9.95 and an anime DVD worth probably $20-ish and a few other small toys. Total box value at least $80. Cost me only $25. They have many other themes too not just “anime” but the anime one is my favorite! I’ve been thrilled every month by this box. It’s the best subscription box ever! 🙂
Everything is 100% Legit and Officially Licensed and high quality. Not cheap or pirated stuff. I’ve been with Boxychan since June, and this is the first month that I’ve not received a funko-pop figure. Instead it had the high-quality Death Note figure mentioned above. Jun Planning also makes Pullips. I wish they’d include a Pullip in the next box LOL. I want to collect them but haven’t had time/money yet :).
I put pics up on my instagram every month – but I’m sometimes too lazy to do a full review. You can check out http://instagram.com/xenokitten for more info and pics.
This month’s box also had a REALLY cute looking DVD (which I haven’t had a chance to watch yet as the box just arrived yesterday) and a Manga (titled “Translucent”) which seems right up my alley. Past boxes have had a lot of cute shoujo stuff too such as Studio Ghibli, Sailor Moon, Miku Hatsune, and a manga called Nui about stuffed animals that come to life, and lots of cute things. It also has some shonen things too, I’ve gotten a lot of Naruto, Tokyo Ghoul, and Death Note Merchandise over the last few months.
It’s the perfect box for any anime fan. I’m just saying this out of my own enjoyment and excitement. As far as I know, boxychan doesn’t have any kind of referal program, so I benefit nothing by giving a review for them. I buy the boxes with my own money, and I really enjoy them every month!
If you’re curious you can learn more at boxychan.com
I received this Japan Mini Funbox full of yummy Japanese snacks in exchange for providing an honest review on my site. All of the opinions below are my own. Thank you Japan Funbox for allowing me to review your monthly subscription crate! You can learn more or sign up for your own Japan Funbox at http://www.japanfunbox.com
One of my favorite treats in the mini funbox were these fruity grape hard candies. When you blow through the center of the candy it makes a fun whistle sound (hence the name “Whistle Candy”). But really my fave part was the surprise toy box that’s included with the candy.
Next up, Ume-pachi, this fun and super sour plum flavored snack. It’s quite similar to “Pop Rocks” and the plum flavor is super good.
One of the only snacks I’d heard of before or familiar with before receiving this box. Pretz are light thin pretzel sticks that come in a lot of different flavors. This box contained Tomato Pretz. I’ll be honest, I didn’t really care for the tomato flavored ones. But it was neat to get to try a new flavor. My favorite Pretz are still the strawberry ones though which I’ve had a few times before.
Shuwabo – In terms of chewy texture and appearance, these cream filled rope-like treats reminded me of an American sweet called “Cow Tales”. If you like “Cow Tales”, you’ll probably like these too.
YUM!!!! Pizza flavored potato chips called simply “Pizza Potato”. Does anyone remember pizza flavored doritos here in the States? 🙂 These are like that, only better.
The item at the top of this list of things to be included was actually not in my box 🙁 Sadness. I assume it was a packing mistake. My box also arrived kinda disheveled so it could have been lost in the post I guess. It’s called Alfort and it’s supposed to be a chocolate “biscuit” which I assume would be similar to Milano cookies – a type of hard biscuit cracker in the states which people soak in tea or coffee.
One of the best things about Japan Funbox is it comes in 3 unique sizes to fit your needs and budget. The minibox which we reviewed here starts at $14.99 a month. The original is $32.99 a month and has 15-20 items (compared to 5-7 items in the mini). The original box also garuntees at least 1 DIY type candy and 1 “special item” (like a toy or “Adult candy” (whatever that may mean?)) The largest subscription is designed to be enjoyed by your whole family and costs $49.99 a month. In the family box you will get at least 2 DIY type candies and 2 special items and a total of 25-30 items. If you’re buying it just to enjoy by yourself this gives you a different candy every day! that’s pretty neat.
Overall, I think Japan Funbox has plans to fit any budget, and their price is fair when you consider how expensive shipping and importing Japanese snacks can be! There are some things in each box which are hit or miss in terms of flavor, but it definitely is one way to expand your horizons if you’re feeling adventurous! If you love trying new Japanese snacks you can get introduced to new flavors and new brands that you may not order for yourself normally. Or if you’re new to Japanese sweets and don’t know what you might like it’s a good way to introduce yourself to some new snacks. I also like that the box contained a pretty even balance of salty and sweet snacks to please both those who crave sweets and those who like salty flavors.
I just finished my review for Betoyo Bento here. In this review I mentioned how I just had a birthday a few weeks ago and my best friend gifted me with 2 subscription boxes. Here is the 2nd of those subscriptions – Boxychan Anime Box. I liked this box so well that I subscribed myself after opening this awesome box. I’m also going to update my top ten list of subscription boxes for geeky girls to reflect my love of Boxychan. What makes Boxychan so great in my opinion are two things – 1.) It has stuff you’ll actually use. I don’t know if “every” box is like this, but I’m assuming each box contains one manga and one dvd. – that’s actually stuff I want! stuff I’m already buying. Yes, little figures and posters and candy and other things are good – but this is stuff that’s expensive, manga is usually around $10-$15 a pop, Dvds around $15-20 a pop. Speaking of the word “Pop” that brings me to point 2.) This box is full of officially licensed products! Including the VERY popular “Funko Pops” YES! 🙂
When signing up for Boxychan you can choose many different “themes” – anime is just one of MANY geeky themes, they have comics, gamer, toys, geek, themes and more!! — I stuck with the anime theme, because I loved almost everything in this box!! I loved it so much I signed up for the longest subscription, the 9 month option. This is not a paid post or sponsored post. My friend bought me the one month box as a birthday gift, with her own money. I then used my own money to subscribe to the 9 month option – I just want to be very CLEAR that I GENUINELY love Boxychan. It is my favorite box. Oh by the way, interesting little tidbit for you – the 9 month option, only takes your first month’s payment of $28 up front – unlike MANY of these boxes where if you want the year subscription you’re paying hundreds of dollars – but I assume if you try to cancel before the 9 months are up they “clip you” for the remaining months then. But I like that they don’t want the whole fees up front – very kind! You also get discounts for longer subscriptions (I believe, but can’t remember for sure, that a single box is $35 a month), so it was a no brainer to me to sign up for the full deal.
The other things you do when signing up are indicate your gender, and your “age” (child, teen, or adult) – I think they may customize the box to fit this demographic info! I say this, because the manga I received was VERY girly (GOOD Just what I like!! SHOUJO!! It’s very hard to find Shoujo stuff in these monthly boxes because most of them just focus on “mainstream” shounen stuff.) It also had sailor moon! (another “girly” shoujo item). And Totoro – which appeals to both male and female, but probably more towards girls for the kawaii factor. It had Tokyo Ghoul too which I think is more popular with boys, but probably one of the most popular anime series in recent years.
Lastly, when you sign up, you are asked your shirt and shoe sizes. The June box did not have any wearable items, but it’s good to know they have from Extra Small up to 2XL.
They call themselves the “original” themed mystery box – I’m not sure if that’s accurate. I’d not heard of them before – but to me they’re “claiming” to be the first anime subscription box available on the net. Which if it’s true, gives them some “street kred” and reliability.
Anyways I know what all you lovely people want to see, the box opening photos! So let’s get to it!
The outside box is rather plain compared to some of the competitors, for example, Doki Doki, which I reviewed here, uses a flashy bright pink attractive box. While Pusheen Box uses a box that looks like a cat on all 4 sides, which I’ve reviewed here. However, Boxychan keeps it very simple, with just a smile on one side of the box, and their logo on another side. Similar almost to amazon’s familiar packaging. The paint was also rubbing off of the outside of the box. – Not a big deal, but seeing it didn’t leave me with high expectations for the opening lol.
However, once cut open, this little box is just crammed full all the way with awesomeness. Also pink wrapping paper – which again to me seems to indicate that they probably select the items based on your gender and age group. The beautiful wrapping paper and seeing how FULL the box was started to lift my spirits and I started feeling excited.
OMG SAILOR MOON!!!!!!! I was even more excited removing the wrapping paper to see the Sailor Moon Blind Box Figure. 🙂 So let’s start the review with that item. My only “complaint” is Damn that’s a big ass box for a tiny fingertip sized lil guy! LOL. The packaging of the figure was exciting though! Although it also sort of defeated the purpose of it being a “blind” box. The figure itself is painted well although it does have rough “edges” – I am used to this though since I collect “Asian balljointed dolls” which often have unfinished seams and I’m not bothered by this, but for some people who are unacustomed to seeing a figure or doll with rough seams showing, it may look cheap but this is actually quite common for toys from asian countries. Either way, tiny lil Artemis is so kawaii (bonus points for me since I love cats lol) and the base is engraved with the moon rod and beautiful scrollwork. Once again, this item says “For Girls” on it, which is another indicator that Boxychan may select items taking your gender and age group into account – I cannot prove this, but am impressed by how many “girly” items were in the June box which leads me to wonder if it is in fact shipping out different items tailored to your demographics which it requests upon signing up. – I would be interested to hear from any men out there if they also received the same items in their June Boxychan box in the comments below.
Next up, we have the Totoro lanyard from Studio Ghibli. It’s cute and bright blue. You’ll probably see it in several other photos in this review since I slipped it on to take pictures and then didn’t take it off until after the review.
Totoro Studio Ghibli Lanyard in June Boxychan Anime Mystery BoxTotoro Studio Ghibli Lanyard in June Boxychan Anime Mystery BoxTotoro Studio Ghibli Lanyard in June Boxychan Anime Mystery Box
The anime that I received is Kirameki Project – I have not seen it or heard of it before — and I haven’t watched it yet, because my cats broke my TV and my laptop has no dvd player… 🙁 orz. I’m saving up (and waiting hopefully for a sale) to replace my TV. I need to mount it on my wall because my cats are so naughty.
Anyways though, it looks cute? It also looks like it has huge amounts of fan service though which is a bit of a put off – There’s a pretty prominent “Panty Shot” on the back of the packaging.
It’s a “giant robo” or “mecha” anime however, one of the mecha looks like a “doll” (from wikipedia). Wikipedia also says it’s a quirky and cute show, although they are also quick to point out that it has a huge amount of fanservice – most of which comes from said doll-like robot. They also note that it has a lot of drama (which to me is a plus as that’s my preferred genre for anime).
Kirameki Anime DVD inside June Boxychan Anime Subscription ServiceKirameki Anime DVD inside June Boxychan Anime Subscription ServiceKirameki Anime DVD inside June Boxychan Anime Subscription Service
The manga, “Nui!”, on the other hand, that I received is ADORABLE – I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Fruits Basket or well a fan of Shoujo in general. It’s about a girl who loves her stuffed animals so much that they become human. Sometimes they can’t always control when or where this transformation will happen, and of course, all of them are in love with their owner. I really loved this manga – and once again had never heard of it before. Which is a pretty impressive feat since I’m usually “in the know” when it comes to all things shoujo.
Note that despite the pics below, the manga is in black and white (as most manga are), it just had a few colored pages inside.
Nui Manga by Broccoli Books inside June Boxychan Anime Mystery Box. I love this manga about a girl who loves her stuffed animals so much that they come to life.Nui Manga by Broccoli Books inside June Boxychan Anime Mystery Box. I love this manga about a girl who loves her stuffed animals so much that they come to life.Nui Manga by Broccoli Books inside June Boxychan Anime Mystery Box. I love this manga about a girl who loves her stuffed animals so much that they come to life.Nui Manga by Broccoli Books inside June Boxychan Anime Mystery Box. I love this manga about a girl who loves her stuffed animals so much that they come to life.Nui Manga by Broccoli Books inside June Boxychan Anime Mystery Box. I love this manga about a girl who loves her stuffed animals so much that they come to life.Nui Manga by Broccoli Books inside June Boxychan Anime Mystery Box. I love this manga about a girl who loves her stuffed animals so much that they come to life.Nui Manga by Broccoli Books inside June Boxychan Anime Mystery Box. I love this manga about a girl who loves her stuffed animals so much that they come to life.
There was also this weird (but kinda cute in it’s own way) “Pin” you know the kind you place on a hat, purse, backpack, jacket, etc – Of a baindaid (a popular “fashion” item in “Decora Fashion” which is a fashion trend in Japan where you wear as many accessories as humanly possible. This lil baindaid has a face and greenish blush on it’s “cheeks”. There was also a rubber, black Tokyo Ghoul bracelet (not pictured).
Decora Japanese Fashion Pin in June’s Boxychan crate.
And last, but certainly not least, the Funko Pop Tokyo Ghoul figure. It’s Funko Pop, and Tokyo Ghoul, two of the hottest, most popular things in geek culture. There’s 2 versions, a girl, and a guy (forgive me, I’ve actually not yet watched Tokyo Ghoul so not real familiar with the characters) in this series. I received the girl figure. It’s cute, and I love Funko Pops! – Secretly wish it would have been one of the sailor moon funko pops instead – but still happy with this lol.
Tokyo Ghoul Funko Pop Vinyl Figure inside June’s Anime Boxychan Subscription CrateTokyo Ghoul Funko Pop Vinyl Figure inside June’s Anime Boxychan Subscription CrateTokyo Ghoul Funko Pop Vinyl Figure inside June’s Anime Boxychan Subscription Crate
Once again, I can’t tell you just how impressed I am with this box – for $28 (for the 9 month plan) every month, I will get manga, anime dvds, funko pops and officially licensed anime goods! This stuff would probably easily cost over $65 if buying everything separately.
Hands down, Boxychan gets my vote for best anime subscription box – WAY better than Doki Doki – and slightly better than Betoyo.
I still also really like Pusheen Box because it’s so damn kawaii — but Boxychan has more “universal appeal” — even if you don’t like anime, they have other themes too – seriously, go check them out :). http://www.boxychan.com
PS: I signed up and my box has already been sent – which means I MAY get another June Box – if that is the case I may end up giving away a few duplicate items in a future blog post(s) – stay tuned :).
As you can see from my instagram posts – I got my DokiDoki Crate today. My final verdict is do not subscribe to this crate — It has cute stuff, but the stuff inside was worth MAYBE 10 bucks, and that’s REALLY fricken stretching it lol. — I’d say its worth about 5 bucks. I paid $15 with a coupon. Regularly they charge $30 — which is almost criminal if you ask me. It was FULL of TINY teeny tiny JUNK. I subscribe ALSO to Pusheen Crate which is the same price and full of SUPER high quality, wonderful, LARGE items. — This is like literally full of 25 cent trinkets, no lie.— Some of them are adorable of course — but I feel they are charging too much. This box should be about 10 a month, tops. maybe 15 to count for shipping and handling, max.
It does have some exclusives (the yellow plush) and some nice and cute things (the snoopy blindbox figure is brand new in Japan and hard to find or so I’m told. – and since it’s “Series One” it’ll probably go up in price). I even really like some of the lil “trinkets” and “cheap items” – the pink “blob” charm “bracelet” or purse/cell phone charm thing is really cute and feminine. I also like the panda “button” pin a lot. But really I’m not seeing much worth the high subscription price here. — The snoopy figure is REALLY well made, A+++. It’s heavy, articulated, bends, poses, and is really cute. — I think he alone is probably worth 10 bucks, which then justifies I guess the other stuff being cheaper — For the price I paid which is half off of what they normally charge. I even wrote in the cancellation request when they asked, I said value not worth price and told them if it was around $18 I’d probably have stayed on board. Which Just FYI, is about the cost of Kawaii Box, and I feel their items are of similar quality. Just not worth $30 when there’s better boxes out there in terms of quality for that price.
The next crate I get will be Betoyo, a subscription box just for figurines for $28 a month, – I will sign up probably next month. Stay tuned for more box openings and reviews. Summer Pusheen Box will also be shipping out soon so stay tuned for that as well.
Here are the pictures from my Doki Doki June 2016 Crate. If you’d like to see comments (both my own and others’ replies to them) about each item please check out my instagram account here. thanks. http://instagram.com/xenokitten
Edit: On my instagram on the notes about the snoopy figure, I totally had a brainfart moment. My snoopy is actually one of the most rare. The chances of finding him are 1 out of 60. For some reason I was reading it as there were 60 available lol. (when really there’s thousands of them but yeah, brainfart) While the others are like 1 out of 3 odds, etc. So My snoopy kicks ass and happy with that – I’d be happy with him even if he was “common” cuz he’s cute and well made. 🙂
kawaiifluff 