SoraNews24 —Japan News—

Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.

TOP

» Japan
» Pokémon doughnuts pop up at Mister Donut, with a new gathering that’s bigger than ever

Featured

Weird
Studio Ghibli
Jobs

Pokémon doughnuts pop up at Mister Donut, with a new gathering that’s bigger than ever

Oona McGee a few minute ago
Tweet

The “Everyone Gather Together! Winter Pokémon Campaign” goes all out for the 30th anniversary celebrations.

It’s become something of an annual tradition for Mister Donut to release a new Pokémon collection at the end of the year, with a different pocket monster taking centre stage as the star of the show. This year, however, for Pokémon’s 30th anniversary, the chain is going all out with the celebrations, putting not just one Pokémon in the spotlight, but a whole gathering from past campaigns.

▼ The promo image reads “Atsumare! Minna!” (“Gather! Everyone!”)

Image: Press release

With this being the ninth Pokémon x Mister Donut collaboration collection, there are a lot of characters returning for the celebrations, and Mister Donut says every Pokémon that has appeared in previous collaborations will be coming together for this year’s collection. Leading the charge on the doughnut front is Alolan Diglett, who differs from the Diglett that appeared previously with a different coating and a gummy nose instead of a chocolate one.

▼ Oh, and a chocolate rendering of its head tuft, seeing as it’s Alolan.

The theme for this year’s collaboration is “Alolan Diglett Brings Everyone Together!” and while the doughnuts are limited to Alolan Diglett and fan favourite Pikachu, the Pokémon gathering takes place on the limited-edition merchandise that can be bought as a set with the doughnuts. There’s also a cream-filled choux doughnut called “Pokémon Friends Gather! Angel & Custard“, which comes in one of four randomly selected sleeves featuring the Pokémon characters.

The “Goods Set” (2,200 yen for takeout, 2,217 yen for dine-in) gets you two Pokémon doughnuts of your choice, one doughnut from a choice of two “Pon de Wreath” varieties, a choice of one of two blankets, and an original paper bag. The “Kids Goods Set” gets you one Pokémon doughnut, one doughnut from the choice of two “Pon de Wreath” varieties, a limited-edition Pokémon glass and an original paper bag.

▼ We stopped by to get our hands on the “Goods Set”, which came in this gorgeous bag.

When we returned home, we laid out our haul, and couldn’t help but admire the cute characters that sat in front of use, including on the doughnut box.

Taking a closer look at the blanket, there are two to choose from, blue and orange, and we went for the orange one, which features plenty of Grass-type Pokémon and other warm-coloured characters. Each blanket has a different selection of Pokémon, so you can either choose the one that has your favourite characters, or purchase two sets to catch ’em all.

The blankets look much the same as they do every year, but this time they seem to have been made slightly bigger. They’ve increased in height, making them closer to square than the horizontally elongated rectangles of previous years, giving you more coverage for use as a lap blanket, which is a welcome improvement. It is rather thin, though, and amounts to around 1,200 yen of the price of the set so it’s not entirely a bargain, but it is an exclusive you won’t find anywhere else so it’s still a sought-after item for fans.

▼ Last year’s blanket on top, compared to this year’s slightly larger version below.

As for the doughnuts, they looked as cute as ever, and Alolan Diglett was particularly delicious, thanks to its chocolate-coated doughnut base and whipped-cream-filled centre.

This year, Pikachu appears in its fluffy form for the second year running, and is still filled with the same whipped cream, with custard-flavoured flakes sprinkled across its surface.

▼ Like last year, Pikachu has rosy pink cheeks, even though they really ought to be red, if we’re going to be true to the character.

Both doughnuts were as cute as they were delicious, but the party doesn’t end there, as Mister Donut says it will be bringing out a Slowpoke doughnut to join the collection from 25 November.

▼ Online reservations for the new doughnut begin on 18 November.

Image: Press release

The current Pokémon collection went on sale across Japan from 4 November, but only in limited stocks so you’ll want to head out early to find them or reserve them through Mister Donut’s online ordering service to ensure you don’t miss out.

Photos ©SoraNews24 unless otherwise mentioned
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!