This ain’t your kids’ strawberry candy.

Around this time last year, educational candy maker Kracie released their first “adult” version of their popular candy Nerunerunerune (if you get a headache trying to read that, just remember “neru” three times followed by a “ne”). For those unfamiliar, Nerunerunerune consists of packets of powder that when mixed with water, create candy pastes that change colors and flavors when mixed together.

They’ve been popular with kids for generations, but the older one gets, the more awkward it becomes to go to a candy store and buy a pack. Perhaps Kracie created Adult Nerunerunerune for that reason while also endowing it with premium flavors at premium prices that productive members of society can afford.

And speaking of productive members of society, our reporter Haruka Takagi just happened to grab their newest adult flavor, Premium Freshly Picked Strawberry. Candy flavored like strawberries is certainly nothing new, but Nerunerunerune is making a pretty bold claim by saying their candy had the taste of “freshly picked” strawberries, especially since it’s clearly just made from packets of powder.

Haruka opened the Adult Nerunerunerune that she bought for 193 yen (US$1.29), which is relatively steep for this kind of candy. It had all the powder packets and plastic trays that Nerunerunerune is known for and one of the trays was even adorably shaped like the Kracie mascot.

She first opened packet Number 1 and poured the powder into the designated tray.

After adding the specified amount of water, the powder turned into a rather un-strawberry-like purple paste.

Next, she added the powder from packet Number 2 to the purple ooze.

After a little mixing it took on the appearance of a very strawberry-like pink cream. It also had a distinct scent of strawberries. Haruka wouldn’t go as far as saying it tasted like “fresh” strawberries, but it was still very convincing for something that was a pile of powder a few seconds before.

The next step was to make the strawberry sauce, which also starts off as a packet of powder. Haruka emptied it into the mascot tray and had a very delightful surprise…

The sauce powder had actual strawberry seeds in it!

After mixing in the water, it became a jam-like substance. Again, it wasn’t identical to real strawberries, but had a feeling like a puree and was much more sophisticated than the Nerunerunerune she had as a child.

There’s also a packet of toppings made up of flavor crystals. The red ones were made from actual strawberry juice to add a touch of reality to the overall product.

And when all was said and mixed, Haruka had her first spoonful of Adult Nerunerunerune Premium Freshly Picked Strawberry Flavor.

The taste was also above and beyond normal Nerunerunerune, with a surprisingly juicy strawberry taste. Clearly, attention was paid to the subtle textures too to give a sense of real strawberries. Haruka felt that this really could pass for a treat made from strawberries rather than just a strawberry-flavored candy.

Kracie did a very impressive job with this. If there was one criticism, it’s that, much like with their adult grape flavors last year, sweet and sour tastes are already firmly in Nerunerunerune’s wheelhouse. If they try for something like freshly roasted coffee or potato stew next, then they’d really be on some next level stuff.

Haruka would also like to add that, despite the name, kids would like this flavor just as much as adults. However, parents should be warned that if their kids eat one, they might not be able to go back to the normal, cheaper version of Nerunerunerune.

Photos © SoraNews24
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