Right, as you all know, PockyPalooza 2006 was last Friday. My friend, The Librarian, came over to The Pond and after a dinner of Chinese carryout, we popped in World of Narue and began our assault on the stack of pocky. Our assessment of each type follows:

*Purple Sweet Mousse (or Mouse as it's listed on the receipt): By far the least favorite of the assembled masses. The odor was off-putting, the texture odd, and the flavor may as well have BEEN Purple Sweet Mouse... lets draw a veil over this one and move on.

*Mont Blanc Decorer: Why they just didn't call it "mocha" and get it over with is beyond me, it'd probably sell better. Smells like coffee, tastes like coffee... I can understand why the Official Overseas Reader thinks it's great for dunking. The Librarian liked this one more than myself, as I'm not a coffee fan.

*Winter Special: The Pocky version of Hershey's 'Special Dark' chocolate... in other words, mmm-MMM! Nummymuffincoocolbutter! Like normal chocolate pocky but a little more bitter, and with a thicker coating than the norm.

*Peach & Strawberry Decorer: Another strong smeller. This is not a selling point unless you like the smell of chemicals. The peach flavor is barely discernable. The decorating stripes are a nice look, though.

*White Chocolate Decorer: ...for Teh Winn! White chocolate with white chocolate decorating stripes, perfect texture, great taste, though a little bit unnatural. #2 on my list of the "Pocky I Want To Eat Again."

*Custard Fondu Mousse: #1 on my list of "Pocky I Want To Eat Again." Soft sweet coating, tasted like I was eating vanilla pudding on a cookie. Wow, this was good stuff!

*Choco Mousse: Also really good. Same as above, except chocolate pudding on a cookie.

The winner of PockyPalooza 2006, as voted upon by the Duck and The Librarian: White Chocolate Decorer by a nose!

(Note: the Caplico Cone Sticks were not judged to be worthy of the contest. They weren't awful, particularly if you like the taste of ice-cream cones without the ice cream, but I'm not going to buy them again.)

Posted by: Wonderduck at 06:52 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 357 words, total size 2 kb.

So as y'all know, this is aiming to be a rough week for everyone's favorite duck. As a reward for surviving, my friend The Librarian and I are going to have a special event on Friday night:

POCKYPALOOZA 2006!

Now, 'round The Pond, you can only get Pocky at three places: a Japanese teppan/sushi house (great food, but a little pricy), a Wal-Mart, and a "World Market." But in all three cases, all you can get is the original chocolate Pocky and Strawberry Pocky.

But for this to be POCKYPALOOZA 2006, we had to have more than just those! So I fired up Robert's Anime Corner Store on the ol' computer and placed an order for some different types of the yummy snack!

Purple Sweet Mousse Pocky (amusingly called "Purple Sweet MOUSE" on the receipt)! Mont Blanc Decorer Pocky! Winter Special Pocky! Peach & Strawberry Decorer Pocky! White Chocolate Pocky! Custard Fondu Mousse Pocky! Choco Mousse Pocky! Even some Caplico Cone Sticks, just for the heck of it.

It's POCKYPALOOZA!

(edit: Forgot to mention just how great Robert's Anime Corner Store is! I placed the order late on Wednesday, and it shipped early on Friday. There was a delay in getting it here, but that was on UPS's end, not RACS'. When it arrived, it was VERY well packaged, no damage to any of the pockyboxes, nor to the other stuff I ordered. I've found a new place to get my anime fix from, that's for darn sure... and they do overseas orders, too!)

Posted by: Wonderduck at 04:28 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 256 words, total size 2 kb.

1 So, I read about Pocky on wikipedia, realize I'm pronouncing it wrong, and think about how it could easily be a staple of anime. Not being an anime-phile, I have to leave it to my imagination how Japanese school girls would enjoy the treat.

Or is this wrong?

Posted by: SkarTisu at April 18, 2006 04:40 PM (FVDkH)

2 Man, I love the Pocky! I have a source in London that I get it from ( a wonderful shop called Cybercandy). I've had the Mont Blanc Pocky before, so I know you are in for a treat there. As a Brit, Pocky is a perfect snack for tea dunking, indeed it almost seems designed for it.

Posted by: flotsky at April 18, 2006 07:29 PM (6T2ID)

3 Two words: Please Teacher.

That is all.

Posted by: Wonderduck at April 19, 2006 06:06 PM (Ffvoi)

4 One great thing about Pixy Central Flash (the successor to New Pixy Central) is that there are four pocky sources within easy walk, and all have a good variety. And there's another three within two blocks of my offices.

Strawberry pocky forever!

Posted by: Pixy Misa at April 25, 2006 08:45 PM (FRalS)

5 What comes after "Pixy Central Flash," Re: Pixy Central?

Posted by: Wonderduck at April 26, 2006 05:03 PM (y6n8O)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

So, a couple of months ago, I'm downloading things from AnimeMusicVideos.org, and I find a viddy called "Otaku Anthem", from Electric Leech Productions.

And I'm blown away. It makes me chuckle, it makes me laugh out loud, it makes me happy! And I've NEVER HEARD of the anime it's based on: "World of Narue." I check it out, and it's CHEAP! I pick it up for something like $25 (for 4 DVDs), and settle in to watch...

...and it's light, fluffy, incessantly cheerful, and an awful lot of fun. It's the usual 'Boy meets Girl, Girl is half-alien but nobody believes her, and she knocks out a Space Ninja in the first episode' type of show.

It's a hoot, at least thru the first six episodes (I got sidetracked by DNA^2 for a while). There's some tiny amounts of drama, but it's mostly comedy... our hero is an anime fan, too.

The best thing about all of this? "Otaku Anthem" has a Direct Download link, so if you're not a member of AMV.org, you can still d/l it. Do it, see what you think, then BUY THE SHOW!

Tell 'em the Duck sent ya!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 04:37 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 202 words, total size 1 kb.