In which the magazine is nice, but the furoku is a veritable pile of Sumikko amazingness.
Here’s yet another kids’ magazine from Japan with yet another set of Sumikko Gurashi furoku that still manages to stick out from the competition just by being so plentiful. First, though, let’s discuss the magazine content for the September 2020 Oekaki Hime!
Inside, the contents are fairly typical, compared to what we found the last time we went over an issue, with a lot of Sumikko Gurashi content — nicely spanning across different designs, including my favorites Bread Class and Dagashiya, so that’s pretty great. Below we have little papers and advice on making cute letters:
And there’s also a decent showing from other characters, including Koupen-chan in full matsuri mode and Hoppe-chan, who I had to include if for no other reason than the crane game theme.
I was also pleased by the breadth of Sanrio characters and designs, including the Hello Kitty designs that make me extra nostalgic for those from my childhood, and Mewkledreamy, which I’m fond of even if I’ve never watched the anime series. On the right, there’s a papercraft project to make little ice cream cones.
I was confused initially by these pretty paper dolls (they’re basically a free sample of the kit advertised on the far left) — I couldn’t locate any clothes for Them! At first I thought that was a pretty harsh selling technique until I remembered–
–There are dresses for them on the sticker sheet! Not to mention two different designs of Sumikko (including even more dagashi, which is awesome) but also some Sanrio goodness.
And you can learn to tell time with Rilakkuma — I just can’t resist him in his little otter getup, so I had to include this here.
To wrap things up, the back cover has furoku info for some related publications. Up above is the November Oekaki Hime, branded as Deluxe no less, which comes with a light box and costs about $11.50; below is a Sanrio-heavy Love Chara Vol. 34, with furoku of Sanrio-cosmetics-themed stationery including a pen, marker, bag and memo pad, at about $8.50.
But let’s quit stalling and get to the furoku! It’s not that this is the most unique furoku, or my very favorite design of Sumikko on every single item, or anything like that, but it’s just that everything here is just so nice, and there’s so much of it!
Isn’t it cute? The case, about the size and shape of your average cell phone, features the Handmade by Shirokuma Plush design. Inside, there’s a box with a sliding lid. The idea is that you can put the phone screen-like sticker on the cover and then store all the other things in it, but I think I can find a better use for both that sticker and the case, so I left it as is.
And there is a lot to put inside! There’s a pen, a Neko stamp, a bunch of looseleaf little notepad pages with the same plush theme, and then stickers in several recent Sumikko designs: PenPen Ice Cream, Slumber Party Together, and We Met the Neko Siblings. I love how these magazines bring back things other than the current lineup, especially those from two plus years ago. (The Dagashiya Sumikko line started in 2016, even.)
And….wait for it….
How can I complain? It’s the best-working pen I’ve gotten as furoku in a while and probably the best furoku stamp ever. The mix of characters and the generosity of the furoku makes this a great purchase — it’s sold out now, but if you’re looking to get future issues, I highly recommend CD Japan, where this one came from in another perfect transaction. Come to think of it, I’ve got more to unbox from there too….check back soon!
hello somebunny 