japanese candy friday: koakuma peach-rose gummies (giant jeans parlor!)

This candy is an oddly fascinating mix of gothic darkness and sunny cuteness. The name (koakuma means "little devil"), the color scheme (shiny pink and black) and the mascots (a tiny she-devil and a heart with bat wings) all add up to a candy that would make the perfect accessory for the gothic Lolita girls roaming Japan's big-city streets. Even the taste somehow evokes this: the peach flavor tastes young and fresh, while the rose reminds me of dusty funeral parlors. Cheerful and morbid!

The peach-flavored gummy center bulges out of its striped, rose-flavored taffy covering. The rose taffy is soft, not too sticky and a disturbingly bright color. It also leaves a lingering aftertaste of old lady perfume, which is somehow not altogether unpleasant. The peach gummy adds a good chew and cuts through the granny taste.

I'll probably never buy pink glitter fishnet stockings or black lipstick, and I'll probably never buy these again; they're just a little too much for me. Still, it makes me happy to know they are out there, that maybe there are some black-crinoline-clad girls walking around with peach-rose gummies in their purses, breathing their flowery granny breath all over the place.