Does best girl taste best, too?
The intense competition in the Japanese snack market means that all sorts of different sweets are introduced or phased out every month. Kanroame, though, has been a consistent hit for decades, thanks to the hard candy’s unique sweetness with a touch of salty soy flavor.
But manufacturer Kanro is looking to change things up a bit with a new flavor of Kanroame: anime girl kiss.
Kanro is partnering with the producers of Girlfriend Beta to celebrate the third anniversary of the romance simulator and anime franchise. Thanks to the upcoming collaboration, soon you’ll be able to purchase Kanroame that’s specially flavored to recreate the flavor of an indirect kiss.
“Why not a direct kiss?” you might be asking, but the product’s website actually has kind of a sweet backstory for the doubly unusual flavor:
“Our newly developed Indirect Kiss’ flavor recreates the sensation of sharing a hot drink with a girl on cold day, with the two of you sipping from the same cup.”
▼ Each container of the special Kanroame features artwork of one of Girlfriend Beta’s cast members, with additional illustrated cards inside the tin.
Still, the flavor description is a little vague on specifics. Is that warm drink supposed to be green tea? Coffee? Cocoa? Lemonade with honey and oshiruko (a drink made with sweet red beans) are also popular wintertime beverages in Japan that are served warm. And just what differentiates the “indirect kiss” version of such drinks from their normal flavors? Is there an added pinch of salt to simulate a trace of sweat or saliva?
Then again, perhaps like with those boob-scented keychains that were released in Japan before, Kanro believes it has a lot of leeway regarding the exact flavor, stemming from the assumption that the expected user base of these kiss candies has limited experience with the real thing, direct or otherwise.
There’s also no word as to whether or not the candies taste different depending on which girl is on the package, but we’re guessing the placebo effect will be in full force for the series’ fans.
Source: Kanro
Top image: Kanro
Insert images: Girlfriend Beta anime official website, Kanro
[ Read in Japanese ]