Only in Japan Go — Transcripts
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2020-11-13 · Ep 852 · 22m

Japanese Monster Donuts hit Tokyo

Tokyofood reviewlimited collaborationPokémonMister Donut
Summary

Japanese Monster Donuts hit Tokyo

Overview

In this live stream episode, John Daub visits a Mister Donut shop in Monzen-Nakacho, Tokyo, to review a special limited-time collaboration with Nintendo's Pokémon franchise. Released on Friday the 13th, the campaign features adorable donuts shaped like Pikachu, Eevee, and Poké Balls. John unboxes the treats on the street, providing a playful and detailed taste test while interacting with his live audience.

The video captures the excitement surrounding limited-edition food collaborations in Japan, a cultural phenomenon where convenience stores and chains frequently partner with popular media franchises. John humorously "destroys" the cute characters to eat them, commenting on the flavors, textures, and cream fillings. He also highlights the local neighborhood of Monzen-Nakacho as a great off-the-beaten-path destination for visitors to Tokyo.

Throughout the stream, John engages with viewers through like challenges and super chat acknowledgments, creating an interactive experience. He concludes by promising to bring some donuts home to his wife, Kanae Daub, and teasing future travel content to Tohoku. The episode is a lighthearted look at Japanese snack culture and the joy of seasonal treats.

Highlights

  • 00:01 John introduces the Pikachu and Eevee donuts behind glass at Mister Donut.
  • 01:23 Unboxing the donuts on Friday the 13th; noting the cream filling.
  • 03:12 Acknowledging live stream viewers and preparing to eat Pikachu.
  • 04:25 Close-up inspection of the Pikachu donut details (chocolate dip, M&M cheeks).
  • 05:33 John humorously rips Pikachu's face off to eat it.
  • 09:29 Revealing the Eevee donut structure with a mini donut inside.
  • 10:40 Setting a like challenge (555 likes) to eat the Poké Ball donut.
  • 13:42 Discovering the Eevee donut contains a Ponde Ring (mochi donut).
  • 15:10 Eating the Poké Ball donut after reaching the like goal.
  • 19:29 Showing the Mister Donut shop window and recommending Monzen-Nakacho.

Timeline / Chapters

  • 00:00 Intro & Purchase at Mister Donut
  • 01:23 Unboxing the Pokémon Donuts
  • 03:12 Live Stream Interactions
  • 04:25 Pikachu Donut Review
  • 09:29 Eevee Donut Inspection
  • 10:40 The Poké Ball Like Challenge
  • 13:42 Eating the Eevee Donut
  • 15:10 Eating the Poké Ball Donut
  • 19:29 Location Recommendations & Outro

Japan Travel Tips

  • Where to buy: Mister Donut shops across Japan often host limited collaborations. Check their website or social media for campaign dates.
  • Location: Monzen-Nakacho is recommended as a less touristy area in Tokyo with a traditional shrine and nice walking streets.
  • Timing: Limited collaborations sell out quickly. John notes the campaign started on Friday the 13th.
  • Transport: John mentions riding a bicycle back, indicating the area is bike-friendly.
  • Etiquette: Eating on the street is generally acceptable in parks or near shops, but clean up after yourself. John finds a spot near traffic to eat.
  • Likes/Engagement: During live streams, John often sets like goals to trigger actions (like eating a specific item).

Japanese Language & Culture Notes

  • Mister Donut: A very popular donut chain in Japan, known for frequent collaborations with characters (Pokémon, Sanrio, etc.).
  • Ponde Ring: A specific Mister Donut product name for their mochi-style donut. Mochi-mochi describes the chewy, sticky texture.
  • Collaboration Culture: Japan has a strong culture of kyara (character) collaborations where food items are themed for limited periods.
  • 555 Likes: John mentions 555 is a lucky number in Japan, using it as a threshold for his challenge.
  • Mata ne: A common casual way to say "See you later" in Japanese.

Food & Drink Guide

  • Pikachu Donut: Yellow donut shaped like Pikachu's head. Dipped slightly in chocolate on the back. Cheeks made of candy similar to M&Ms. Cream filling.
  • Eevee Donut: Strawberry donut with a mini Ponde Ring (mochi donut) shoved inside the hole. Double dipped. Cream filling.
  • Poké Ball Donut: Round donut resembling a Poké Ball. Compared to oliebollen (Dutch donut). Cream filling on the bottom.
  • French Cruller: Mentioned as what Kanae requested. A light, airy donut type.
  • Price: Not explicitly stated, but implied to be affordable standard Mister Donut pricing.

People

  • John Daub: Host. Enthusiastic about food collaborations. Interacts heavily with live stream viewers.
  • Kanae Daub: John's wife. Mentioned frequently; John buys donuts to bring home to her.
  • Viewers (Jed, Tony P, etc.): Acknowledged via super chats and comments during the live stream.

Key Takeaways

  • Mister Donut frequently releases high-quality character collaboration donuts that are limited edition.
  • Monzen-Nakacho is a worthwhile neighborhood to visit in Tokyo for a local feel.
  • The Eevee donut features a unique texture combination with the Ponde Ring inside.
  • Live streaming allows for real-time interaction and challenges with the audience.

Notable Quotes

  • 04:25 "As Brad Pitt says in the movie Fight Club—sorry, as Ed Norton—I wanted to destroy something beautiful."
  • 07:14 "Somebody on the internet is going to deface them and do a Hannibal Lecter walk around the city of Tokyo."
  • 10:40 "555 likes, I eat this. If you fail, community, Poké Ball will never see the light of day."
  • 13:42 "That was not a munchkin. That was a Ponde Ring. Ponde Ring is this mochi-mochi donut."
  • 15:10 "Thankfully in Japan this will never happen, which is why these are only in Japan."

Related Topics

  • Mister Donut Reviews
  • Pokémon Food Collaborations
  • Tokyo Neighborhood Guides
  • Japanese Convenience Store Food
  • Live Stream Food Challenges

Search Tags

#only-in-japan-go #tokyo #travel #mister-donut #pokemon #pikachu #donuts #food-review #monzen-nakacho #japanese-food #limited-edition


Full Transcript

00:01 John Daub: Whoa, look at these. This is what it's all about. Pikachu behind glass. How you doing everybody? I just purchased some of these delicious Pikachu and Eevee donuts. I'm going to go over there and eat them. But starting today, Mister Donut has this really amazing campaign. Look, she's bringing some more Pikachu. Oh, someone's going to eat those. And guess what? I have one with me in this bag. Right here. Welcome everybody. I hope you're hungry. You can't eat this, but if I could, I would push this through the glass to you to enjoy as well. Let's go over here to my usual Mister Donut spot and have a little meal. This is Monzen-Nakacho. And I'm kind of hungry. And yes, I'm bringing some back for Kanae Daub.

01:23 John Daub: I was so excited. I saw the announcements for this about four, five days ago. And I knew that I was going to come here on Friday the 13th. It's funny that they don't have more horror donuts on Friday the 13th every time. But I'll take these Pikachu ones. Check it out. I have unboxed them. I'm surprised they don't just jump out. Whoa, he's got some cream springing out of his head. Pikachu? I had no idea. We're going to have to perform some surgery on you, buddy. I choose you. And check it out. I like this strawberry one. So we're going to have a little bit of a feast here. And there was a Poké Ball here. It's kind of upside down. We'll try this too. That's kind of neat. Oh, look, there's a cream injection spot. Pretty cool.

02:20 John Daub: Are we going to go with Pikachu? Oh, no. Oh, what? I'm so sorry. Is it because I was bringing the bag? Oh, Pikachu. Oh, no. Please stay intact. How do I fix you? Look, you got a little bead up there. My wife's instructions. She knows better than me. I feel really bad for Pikachu right now. Maybe if I leave him in the sun right here in 30 minutes, he will repair himself. But I have a pretty good feeling that in about 30 seconds, he's not going to make it anyways.

03:12 John Daub: Irvin Irvine, grab some more Impact Pikachu. Jeff Ang is here. Marty. Pika Pika Bite. Brendan Walker. Some Pikachu coffee. Cobra Bebop. Hey, Eugene Holbert. You guys are ready for this. Put this over here. It's time. Our friend Pikachu is going to be getting a facelift. It's not the kind that he was looking for. I do like the box here. Just a little shout out to Mister Donut. They've collaborated again with Nintendo to make this. And this is not the first time they've done this before. I just hope it's not the last time. Initial smell. Oh, it's sweet. This is not going to be healthy.

04:25 John Daub: Oh, inside a little wink. Smells like maple. That's awesome. Just a little deep. Oh, in the bottom. Look at that. A little Eevee. All right. Let's get down to business. So this is it. This is the Pikachu donut. Let me twirl it in my hand here on the street. This could be considered street food. On the back, dipped just ever so slightly in chocolate. Feels like a donut. I don't know what that yellow is made out of, but it's got to be natural, right? Nothing but the best. I like the eyes. What are those M&Ms for cheeks? I'm kind of curious about that. All right, let's dig in here. Of course I'm not going to be digging in the normal way. We have to rip Pikachu's face off. I've been wanting to do this for the longest time. As Brad Pitt says in the movie Fight Club—sorry, as Ed Norton—I wanted to destroy something beautiful.

05:33 John Daub: First, let's eat his cheek. Interesting. That is an M&M type of M&M. Well, you're so happy. How about now? Huh? Not so happy, huh? Oh, you think you're so special, huh, Mr. Nintendo? Hot shot. Yeah, well, how about this? Oh, no. All you Nintendo fans out there screaming, "Oh, what'd you do to my Pikachu?" I'm joking. It's not real. That's not really Pikachu. Just kidding. Pikachu Van Gogh. I like that. Tony P's here. Tony, for that super chat, I shall now rip his face in half. Thank you. This is for Tony, leader of the Toby crew.

07:14 John Daub: A part of me thought that this was going to be like a lemon. Silence of the... That'd be pretty funny. I could just wear Pikachu's face on my face if I cut it in half. Somebody on the internet is going to deface them and do a Hannibal Lecter walk around the city of Tokyo. I know it. It's going to happen. It's not going to be me. I'm not going to Hannibal Lecter walk Pikachu around the city of Tokyo.

08:32 John Daub: Look at the side of the box here. It's a collaboration. Speaking of collaborations, has anyone watched the video that me and Greg from Life Where I'm From just uploaded? Like, two hours ago? Video uploaded on the new Only in Japan channel. We go to a secret onsen. There's nobody there. Just the river is spouting hot water and it's blue and white. Weird. Have to watch it. I'll put a link in the description here. Go check it out.

09:29 John Daub: Check this out. I think I will go hit the vending machine right after this. I should have actually gotten some coffee. You're actually right. This is Eevee, I believe. Oh, that's my Trevor Food Ranger. Oh, Mister Donut Pokémon. I love this collaboration. This is so cool. Do you see what they've done here? They've taken just a strawberry donut and a little munchkin hole and they shoved it back inside the donut. That is so cruel and yet so awesome. Stand here amongst the traffic for everybody to admire you. They've shoved a mini donut in your hole, then dipped you again. It's double dipped. I love this.

10:40 John Daub: I'm sorry. You must be eaten. I know you're looking at me. You're looking at all of us. You're looking at a thousand people on the other side going, "Please don't eat me. I'm just a little donut. I don't deserve such an ending." But that was actually what you were made for. Not to be put in a museum. I'm just being honest with you. You're not actually a Pokémon. You're a donut. And by the way, just so you know, I'm not going to be eating this Poké Ball until we get to 555 likes. I want 555. It's a lucky number in Japan. 555 likes, I eat this. If you fail, community, Poké Ball will never see the light of day.

11:46 John Daub: Oh, look at the little egg. That's supposed to be the leg. How do you see what they did? I think it's done here on the bottom is Pikachu. It's inversed compared to the other box. I like that QR code for those who do that there. Oh, check it out. Let's put him over here so he can melt in the sun. But the little flippers they gave him on the side or is that his arms here? Hello. I've come to save the world. Where is Pikachu? What have you done with my friend? This man on the other side has eaten the Pikachu. That is my friend. Oh, there is some cream coming out. I'm sorry. I'm nervous. This is the first time on television.

12:48 John Daub: Look, even these waxy papers have me on it. Sorry. I was not prepared for this. It's a must wipe here. I'm a little bit cleaner. Sorry about this. Okay. Now he's not going to be eating me because I am not just a threat. I am a Pokémon. I've got flippers. I've got some kind of ball inside of my hole. John, just whatever you do, do not eat me. You know, part of me wishes this were true. But you, as I see from your cream, are just a donut. Goodbye. And sorry, that guy's looking at me. Goodbye. And good travel. Happy travels.

13:42 John Daub: How do you eat this? Do you go for the ball first? Let me help you out with that. Shall we? That was not a munchkin. That was a Ponde Ring. Ponde Ring is this mochi-mochi donut. And they slapped it on top of there to cover up its cream. Its happy insides. The guts. It's got cream all over me. It's the revenge. John, you will be creamed. My face. What have you done? Turned you to my hands. They are not delicious.

14:40 John Daub: For those of you who do not know, I have been—I spent the first seven years of my life in Japan, teaching children. It's a hard habit to break. I think it keeps me young. And if you're still watching this, you're probably kind of young, too. We are 100 likes short of the Poké Ball. And you have half an Eevee. Click that like button.

15:10 John Daub: If I were breaking the law, I'd be in trouble. Apparently, I'm not. Now it's completely up to you people. For now I'm going to be waiting until we can get to 500 likes at least. Minimum. Come on. Do I ask for too much? No, I'm a reasonable man. Now I'm going to be eating this here, which is a Poké Ball. So let's give this a try. 521 is pretty good. Um, I like the container that they put it in. But obviously this is just like an oliebollen. Oliebollen is Dutch for a little round donut. Oliebollen I used to eat these when I was younger, but I realized that they are not healthy for you at all. They just taste really good. So on the bottom is some cream. As you can see there's nothing really extraordinary about this one. It does look kind of like an oliebollen.

16:45 John Daub: I guess if I threw it what would happen besides the officer behind me coming to charge me and fine me? I'm not gonna throw this. I'm gonna eat this. Okay, you know what? There's probably gonna be people going around the city throwing this at other people, but thankfully in Japan this will never happen, which is why these are only in Japan. We're too likes short. I knew we were gonna get there. All right, the first thing that I do once we hit 550 likes—well somebody took their like away. I'm so sorry. Somebody took the like away. I just saw that. Jed, thank you and welcome to the travelers. I want everybody to thank Jed for this here. Jed, thanks for joining.

17:41 John Daub: Check that out. It's really—oh oh, the cream is right here. There's not much inside actually. It's not an oliebollen. It's kind of just more like processed dough. It's really good. That cream is different. No, it's mostly air. The cream I think I ate it all. I was a little on there but you know what? It's not that bad actually. You know if this was just a cream ball that wouldn't be very good. But I think that would be good. I don't think this is going to be very good but I do know—really good balance. It's not too much, it's not too little, it's just enough. And most of it is on my fingers. And that, my friends, is how it's done. That was so good. I'm gonna have this sugar high all day long.

19:29 John Daub: Masks on. So I want to show you one more time uh the Mister Donut that I got it from. I'm in Monzen-Nakacho and uh it's a really beautiful area to walk around. There's a lovely traditional shrine here that everybody comes to. It's not a very touristy place so if you do come to Tokyo this is a great place to get a little bit off the beaten path here in the city. But there they are on the other side of this window separated by glass from my friends. Well I don't think they see me as friends anymore since I just completely devoured both of them. But don't worry there's a whole army of them and they have strawberry Poké Balls which are right there. Do you see? And they have a lot of them. And I'm going to show you a little bit of the other Poké Balls which are right over there. And the selection of donuts today is really good. I got to get Kanae some as well. Oh wow that was so good. John Kimura John, you got it. I'm gonna go in right now as soon as this stream ends and get Kanae some donuts. She asked for the French crullers. She asked for the French crullers. Kanae is gonna get a Pikachu too. Ha ha, Kanae, if you're watching I'm bringing you a Pikachu.

21:07 John Daub: Sounds really authoritative there. But you all know I love her. All right folks that's it from Tokyo, uh Japan. Just hide behind these trees. I wish I picked a bigger tree. Uh and watch out for Pikachu because and the Pokémon because they're around and they may find you or you may find them. But if you do find them make sure you eat them before they eat you because I've run out of things to say because I ate it all. That's great. So these will be for a limited time at Mister Donut and I don't know how long these are running but they started this campaign today Friday the 13th. I hope you and all of your loved ones have a really safe and wonderful weekend. I will be live streaming again and next week I'll be going back up to Tohoku for um for another episode that I'm filming. Uh so you're gonna get some live streams from around the country all weekend. So make sure you subscribe to this channel. And don't forget I have a new Only in Japan channel called Only in Japan by Me John Daub. It's going to be a little bit different than the channel that I used to have. A little by little I do think that it's a better channel than the past. Have a good day. See you later. Spend the last 10 seconds looking at an empty box that once held Pikachu and his friend which is now in my stomach. I'm going to be riding on a bicycle back. Thanks everyone for watching. Mata ne. In the tree. Oh look it's in the tree my little bird feeder.

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