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The most awesome anime fan art is fan art that’s also traditional Japanese sweets【Photos】

From Pop Team Epic to Cowboy Bebop, this professional confectioner’s anime and video game dojin works are edible!

When talking about food in Japan, it’s often said that presentation is so important that meals are practically works of art. That’s true of snacks, too, as we’ve seen even convenience store-bought sweets that are achingly beautiful.

But today we’re looking at confectioneries made with traditional Japanese recipes that draw inspiration from a thoroughly contemporary form of visual art: anime and video game character design.

うずまきボルト#BORUTO#和菓子で作ってみたZ pic.twitter.com/a8EgtDBNSt

— オ匠＠キャラ菓子 (@otakumi_wagasi) November 3, 2017

Japanese Twitter user Otakumi gets his name from a mashup of otaku and takumi, the Japanese word for a master of a specific skill. In his case that skill is making traditional nerikiri sweets, which are made from sweet bean paste, sugar and sticky rice flour.

▼ Currently airing breakout comedy hit Pop Team Epic continues to inspire dessert makers.

ポプ子&ピピ美#ポプテピピック#和菓子で作ってみたZ pic.twitter.com/SkfSIGaoDJ

— オ匠＠キャラ菓子 (@otakumi_wagasi) January 10, 2018

Because nerikiri is a paste with a fairly stable consistency, it can be shaped into a variety of forms. Flowers are common motifs, but Otakumi instead chooses to recreate characters from anime and games. While he’s not averse to modern muses, like Pop Team Epic’s surreal schoolgirls, he’s also got an appreciation for the classics, with icons from Cowboy Bebop and Studio Ghibli films among his creations.

▼ The last time Spike and Vicious got together, it didn’t end well for either of them.

天国を追い出された天使は和菓子になるしかないんだ…

まだ天国にいるつもりのお前は狂った駄菓子だよ

そうだろう？スパイク…

スパイク・スピーゲル&ヴィシャス#カウボーイビバップ #COWBOYBEBOP #和菓子で作ってみたZ pic.twitter.com/EngMimXvBe

— オ匠＠キャラ菓子 (@otakumi_wagasi) December 23, 2014

▼ Ironically, Spirited Away’s No-Face has one of the most memorable mugs in anime.

カオナシ#千と千尋の神隠し#和菓子で作ってみたZ pic.twitter.com/kEvXK0dkMo

— オ匠＠キャラ菓子 (@otakumi_wagasi) January 20, 2017

When asked how he got started making anime candies, Otakumi says he was already a confectioner who’d been thinking about what sort of fan art project he could do to show his love for his favorite franchises. Then it dawned on him that he could simply meld that passion into his existing work making nerikiri. He estimates each takes about an hour for him to make, including the time spent thinking about the design, which seems like incredibly fast work to us.

▼ Even the complex hairstyling of characters such as Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress’ Ikoma, Free’s Makoto, and titular leading man Gintama pose no problem.

貴様！ヒトか？カバネか？！

どちらでもない！
俺は和菓子だぁぁ！！

生駒#甲鉄城のカバネリ#和菓子で作ってみたZ pic.twitter.com/7TxkEzCuFt

— オ匠＠キャラ菓子 (@otakumi_wagasi) June 16, 2016

橘真琴#Free! #和菓子で作ってみたZ pic.twitter.com/kDmLB9Q1Bs

— オ匠＠キャラ菓子 (@otakumi_wagasi) November 13, 2014

坂田銀時#銀魂#和菓子で作ってみたZ pic.twitter.com/OolRk8sduc

— オ匠＠キャラ菓子 (@otakumi_wagasi) November 13, 2017

While he sometimes gets caught up in current trends and makes nerikiri of whoever the fan favorite of the current TV season is, Otakumi primarily makes candies of characters he personally likes.

▼ Otakumi was into Devilman before the thoroughly unexpected Devilman Crybaby made the series cool again, as this tweet from 2014 proves.

デビル和菓子は練り切り製♪

デビルマン(アニメ版)#デビルマン #和菓子で作ってみたZ pic.twitter.com/tdrGMFWnwA

— オ匠＠キャラ菓子 (@otakumi_wagasi) November 20, 2014

▼ Mascot-type characters get a lot of love from Otakumi, with Rayearth’s Mokona, Kodomo no Omocha’s Babbit, and Kemomo Friends’ Lucky Beast having gotten the nerikiri treatment.

ぷぅー♪

モコナ#魔法騎士レイアース #和菓子で作ってみたZ pic.twitter.com/LCqjG08zbQ

— オ匠＠キャラ菓子 (@otakumi_wagasi) October 13, 2014

バビット#こどものおもちゃ#和菓子で作ってみたZ pic.twitter.com/M7VP1XtHnv

— オ匠＠キャラ菓子 (@otakumi_wagasi) September 21, 2017

ラッキービースト#けものフレンズ#和菓子で作ってみたZ pic.twitter.com/PjD2uL6nnX

— オ匠＠キャラ菓子 (@otakumi_wagasi) June 10, 2017

▼ This looks like the tastiest Pokémon Magikarp since the taiyaki sweet bean cakes they sell in Yokohama and Akihabara.

コイキング#ポケモン#ポケットモンスター#和菓子で作ってみたZ pic.twitter.com/L90RuuX8mA

— オ匠＠キャラ菓子 (@otakumi_wagasi) February 23, 2017

▼ Fellow Pocket Monster Mimikyu is here too.

ミミッキュ#ポケモン#ポケットモンスターサンムーン #和菓子で作ってみたZ pic.twitter.com/eiNt5nVjAN

— オ匠＠キャラ菓子 (@otakumi_wagasi) January 5, 2017

Oddly enough, Otakumi hasn’t used his talents to salute Nintendo’s Super Mario, but he has saluted Mario’s once formidable rival Sonic the Hedgehog…

ソニック#ソニックザヘッジホッグ#和菓子で作ってみたZ pic.twitter.com/YI93PTHdOn

— オ匠＠キャラ菓子 (@otakumi_wagasi) November 7, 2017

…as well as lapsed face-of-the-Playstation-brand Parappa the Rapper.

パラッパ#パラッパラッパー#和菓子で作ってみたZ pic.twitter.com/OGozpCVioK

— オ匠＠キャラ菓子 (@otakumi_wagasi) March 13, 2017

Ordinarily, this is where we’d direct you to where you can buy these candies online. Unfortunately, while Otakumi may be a candy-making pro, these are strictly a hobby, as they’re not officially licensed, and therefore not for sale. Maybe that’s for the best, though, because we don’t think any fan of these characters would actually be able to bring themselves to eat their lovingly recreated heroes.

Top image: Twitter/@otakumi_wagasi
[ Read in Japanese ]

Follow Casey on Twitter, where he can’t think of Cowboy Bebop without getting an intense craving for stir-fried pork and peppers.

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