Reviewed by
Mary
This month’s theme is Kawaii Summer. Japan’s rainy season is July, so August is when the sun really comes out! There’s plenty of sunshine in this month’s box.
Their shipping box is great. I love the colour and the branding. So cheerful and kawaii!
Opening the box, the first thing you see is their menu booklet.
It lists each item in the box, plus competitions, pictures, and bonus information about some aspect of Japanese kawaii culture.
Let’s look at all the kawaii goodies inside!
This cute little guy was sitting right on top.
He’s a Shinada Chigmo Plush, and is a little alien from the planet Chigmi! His long arms link together with a button so you can let him hang from a doorknob, or anything else you can think of!
He also has a little pocket on his belly to put tiny items in.
So adorable! This gorgeous little zippered pouch is an AMUSE Pote Isa Loppy Mini Pouch.
The zip on top opens up so you can hide tiny items inside. The chain can be used to hang the pouch on a bag or purse.
This is the debut appearance of the Pote Isa Loppy bunnies in YumeBox, and given how lovely they are I hope we’ll be seeing them again soon!
As summer heat has finally made an appearance in the UK, this next item will be very useful!
This Kawaii Summer Hand Fan is one of four possible options. It’s made of plastic, which at first I wasn’t sure about. However I quickly realised it is far more sturdy and suitable for chucking into your bag than the traditional paper fans.
This is a super-cool item!
This Gudetama Sanrio Bottle Cozy is one of four possible options, the others being MyMelody, Ariel, and Rapunzel. I’m really happy to get this one because I adore Gudetama.
It holds a 500ml bottle and is insulated to keep your drink warm or cold. The handy shoulder strap means you can carry it around with you.
Last but not least, this cute Rilakkuma Face Towel.
Again, this is one of four possible design options, but all featuring the lovely teddy bear Rilakkuma.
It’s 100% cotton, lightweight but surprisingly large. It’s not big enough to use after a bath, but it’s a decent enough size for a very large hand towel, and compact enough to pop in your bag on a day out.
Well, these things are once again fantastic!
The alien plush is a lot of fun, and very different from the usual Japanese kawaii style. It’s an extra fun dimension to be able to link the arms together to hang him up.
The bunny pouch is just adorable, and my daughter Little C has immediately claimed him for her own. I suspect he may end up on her school bag!
I love how no fewer than three of the five items are incredibly practical, as well as ridiculously kawaii.
I am keeping hold of the bottle cozy for myself! I like carrying around water bottles, and in this heat they often turn unpleasantly warm. Being able to keep them cold is a great bonus, as well as being one of my favourite kawaii characters!
The fan is a fun design, even if it’s not the most elegant of designs! And as I said, it’s sturdy enough to keep in your bag without damage.
As for the towel, this will be handy to take on days out. It can act as a mat for sitting, or serve its actual purpose as a towel, esepcially as small children have a remarkable ability to find a source of water and douse themselves in it!
On to value. Because these items come directly from Japan and are effectively unavailable outside Asia I’m not going to do a detailed breakdown.
I reckon the plush would be around a tenner. I found the Ariel bottle cozy for just over £10, but it didn’t include shipping from Japan. Just with those two things you’re nearly at the highest price for the box, so you’ve got way more than your money’s worth!
This is another fantastic box from YumeTwins. I’m especially pleased because I’ve been able to keep more items than usual out of my daughter’s eager hands, so it’s going to really kawaiify my life this month!
By Evelyn 
