Before we begin this week's review, there is some business to take care of.

First, the winner of the First Ever Giant Jeans Parlor Japanese Candy Friday Candy Giveaway is...Sabra (a.k.a. Chocovore)! She will soon be receiving a package of three types of Japanese candy to eat and ponder at her leisure (not necessarily in that order). Thanks to everyone who left a comment and look for more candy giveaways in the future!

Second, this week's Japanese Candy Friday was written by a special guest reviewer. Enjoy!

JAPANESE CANDY FRIDAY: Capt. Tenderheart Edition

First of all, it is an honor to be the first official guest Japanese Candy Reviewer. I can only hope that I come even a little bit close to continuing the great tradition started by Anjali, who is my girlfriend and is cute and smart and cute and awesome.

Apollo. Greek god of the sun and music. Top notch pilot in Battlestar Galactica. And most importantly, a fine Japanese candy.

However, I might be a bit biased. As a tiny tot growing up in the harsh wilderness of coastal Massachusetts, I automatically assumed that anything pink was delicious. And not to toot my own horn, but many times I was right. Frankenberry cereal… Strawberry Pudding Pops… Pink Starbursts… Ham. All correct assessments.

Sometimes I was wrong, though. Like the time I got pneumonia, yet did somersaults of joy when I was prescribed a bottle of creamy, pink, antibiotic fluid, fluid that turned out to be the worst tasting liquid on the face of the earth. (The type of thing that when you first swallow it, you say, “Huh. Did I just die? Is that the taste of death?” Kinda like when you drink Jagermeister…) And why I thought a bottle of pneumonia medicine would be delicious is beyond me. At that point, the pneumonia must have already reached my brain.

It’s worth noting that some people would say my predilection for pink foods makes me secretly gay. Smarter people would say that I just like strawberry.

Anyway, my pink bias kicked into full effect when I gazed upon the box for Apollo. It went into overdrive when I discovered that the box opened via a tiny door in the front. Upon opening the door, I discovered an entire family of individually wrapped candies welcoming me into their home, inviting me to devour them. Which I promptly did.

There are two different types of Apollo. Both are tiny Reese’s cup shaped discs of chocolate topped with strawberry cream. However, one variation has tiny, Nestle crunch-inspired bits in it. I found myself alternating between the two, but you may be the type to blow through one kind to get to the other. That way’s cool too, if you want to be wrong.

Bottom line, Apollo is creamy. And delicious! Why it’s called “Apollo” is still a little bit beyond me. Maybe, after pursuing one of the many nymphs he was infatuated with until they eventually committed suicide, Apollo turned towards Mt. Olympus and bellowed at Zeus, “Father! These nymphs keep killing themselves by diving into springs and turning into laurel trees and shit! Make them remember me! Let it be that I am forever associated with tiny, conical fruity chocolate things in Japan! Cause that just really screams, ‘ME’!!”

But I think, the most important thing to learn from the Apollo candy is that It continues to add more credence to my theory that pink things (with the notable exception of antibiotics) are inherently delicious. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go try some of this mouth-watering “Pep-to Bis-mol”.

Captain Tenderheart, who typically answers to the name "Rob," spends his days playing video games for money and his nights being funny for free (but hopefully not for long). He likes black raspberry ice cream, nerdery and making mix CDs with a commitment to excellence. If you like his writing, please visit his blog and hound him about updating it more often.

Engaged in important research at a toy store in Tokyo.