New sandwiches look great even before you unwrap them.

In Japan, foodies don’t just want their food to taste good, they want it to look good too. Right now, though, McDonald’s Japan is adding an extra layer of visual appeal, literally, with the wrapping papers for its new Europe Burgers lineup.

What kind of visual appeal? Anime witch Kiki, from Kiki’s Delivery Service!

Though it’s most famous for its Studio Ghibli adaptation, Kiki’s Delivery Service isn’t a Ghibli original, and instead began as a series of children’s novels from author Eiko Kadano. The Kiki seen in McDonald’s short anime and ads for the Europe Burgers is a fresh design of the character from artist and animator Yoko Kuno.

All three Europe Burgers went on sale June 26, and each one comes with a different illustrated wrapper featuring Kiki and black cat Jiji mid-delivery.

Obviously, we had to have them all, so picked up a Bouillabaisse-Style Shrimp (470 yen [US$2.95])…

…a German Potato & Thick Beef (520 yen)…

…and a Peperone Juicy Hot Chicken (450 yen).

We started our taste test with the Bouillabaisse-Style Shrimp.

▼ Incidentally, the illustration’s background made us think of Marseille, the French seaside town where bouillabaisse originated.

Like all the Europe Burgers, the Bouillabaisse-Style Shrimp has a rustic-looking square bun.

Inside is a shrimp cutlet topped with lettuce. On top of the lettuce is black pepper aioli, and underneath the cutlet is a seafood sauce made from tomato, scallops, and clams. Despite all the different ingredients, though, all the flavors play surprisingly nicely together, with no harshness as they jockey for position on your taste buds, which all makes for a great sandwich.

Next up, the German Potato & Thick Beef, which comes in a farmland-scene wrapper.

As you can probably guess, this is the heaviest of the bunch. Not only do you have the beef patty, melted cheese, and grilled potatoes, there’s plenty of mustard too, so this is a great option if you’re feeling especially hungry.

And last, the Peperone Juicy Hot Chicken. The first flavor sensation here is the garlic and black pepper sauce, but while the red pepper spiciness takes a while to arrive, when it does it has a pretty strong kick.

So in the end, McDonald’s Japan’s Europe Burgers 3 for 3 in both cute packaging and great taste. Really, the only thing that would make them better is if we actually could get them delivered by Kiki.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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