It’s a collaboration that seemed destined to happen, but will the real deal meet the high expectations–and high calories–of the popular manga? 

7-Eleven Japan’s collaboration with gourmet-focused manga Dokagui Daisuki! Mochizuki-san (ドカ食いダイスキ！ もちづきさん) began on February 18. The trendy comic follows a young woman named Mochizuki-san who loves engaging in dokagui, or binge-eating, especially of high-calorie foods late at night to reach a high blood sugar-induced supreme state of bliss. It’s something that our Japanese-language reporter Ahiruneko has also already tried before based on a different manga. As he quickly realized, there’s a thin line between gastronomic bliss and pain when real humans, and not just characters on a page, are the ones doing it.

The campaign will feature five foodstuffs in total, with a demi-glace hamburger and egg rice ball planned to join the lineup as its fifth and final item on February 25. While Ahiruneko was aware of the current promotional food items, he really, truly didn’t intend to buy them at all…but they were there on a recent trip to the local convenience store, and he ended up walking out with the whole lot of them.

▼ Even the look of the bag on the way home betrayed its heavy weight.

Here are the four items that were available in the campaign at his time of purchase:

● Hearty rice ball: Pork and curry (300 yen [US$2.01])
● Hearty rice ball: Oyakodon [chicken and egg rice bowl] (300 yen)
● Butter pilaf and rich demi-glace chicken cutlet napolitan bento (754 yen)
● Fatty garlic mayo karaage [Japanese-style fried chicken] and peperoncino bento (754 yen)

▼ Pictured in the above order, clockwise from top left

Cutting right to the chase, Ahiruneko decided to sample the rice balls first. The oyakodon variety weighed 185 grams (6.6 ounces).

Sadly, it was nothing to write home about. Its filling really just resembled a regular oyakodon dish, with chunks of chicken that were far too large for the center of a rice ball.

Meanwhile, the pork and curry rice ball was a tiny bit smaller, weighing 169.5 grams.

It tasted like a curry-flavored spam rice ball, and was perhaps a bit better. At the end of the day, for a collaboration with Mochizuki-san, he was hoping for foods that packed a little more of a double flavor and volume punch.

Therefore, he was eager to try out the bento to see if they would save the day. First up was the butter pilaf and rich demi-glace chicken cutlet napolitan bento. Including the container, it weighed 610 grams.

It certainly packed an energy wallop at 1,111 calories.

It was also 4 centimeters (1.6 inches) in height.

As Ahiruneko microwaved the dish, he watched as the clump of butter resting on the pilaf began to melt and seep into the rice like some kind of holy rain. The other half was covered with the napolitan spaghetti and fried chicken cutlets with a spoonful of demi-glace sauce on top.

He poked around to see if the container contained a raised bottom, but it was really just full of pasta. He didn’t need this much!

It tasted exactly as you’d expect a convenience store-bento to taste. He also got the impression that it was a lawless dish that didn’t permit anything other than delicious carbs and fats to take up residence inside. As a result, Ahiruneko felt himself beginning to move towards a level of gastronomic bliss.

Of course, he still had the fatty garlic mayo karaage and peperoncino bento waiting for him as well. It clocked in at a lighter 577 grams…

…but with an even higher 1,298-kilocalorie count.

He cautions readers to be careful about where you heat this one up, since a cloud of intense garlicky aromas will envelop your immediate surroundings as soon as you open the microwave door.

The fatty garlic mayo topping was possibly the best thing to come out of this whole collaboration. It tasted very similar to the addicting flavor of Jiro-style ramen.

However, Ahiruneko quickly realized that the garlic wasn’t just emanating from the condiment, as it was also mixed in with the peperoncino pasta.

And how rich it was–almost as if the garlic had been kneaded into the very pasta dough itself. He had no idea how he could make the same dish so rich at home.

Out of all four of the collaboration items, the peperoncino pasta bento was Ahiruneko’s clear winner. He could easily picture Mochizuki-san reaching her heavenly food coma bliss after consuming this one.

While Ahiruneko’s frequent fixation with late-night food binges may leave some readers with nothing but heartburn, we endorse the pursuit of gastronomic happiness–at least, when it’s usually in moderation, and especially when there are limited, seasonal treats to indulge in.

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