In which we mix Sumikko, bakery goods and Re-ment for an unsurprisingly tasty treat.
I’m still puzzling through the realities of the relationship between Sumikko and Re-ment. I’ve mentioned in other blog entries that I’ve always assumed that licensed character Re-ment sets are of lower quality, but I’ve been going through a lot of Pokemon ones lately where it hasn’t been the case. There’s also the matter of price points, too, since some Re-ment sell for more per set than others. It’s complex and I don’t totally get it, and all of that was a long intro to say I was pretty pleased overall with this set, called Funwari Mocchiri Yakitate Panyasan.
Since funwari and mocchiri both mean types of softness (though I tend to think of mocchiri as more, er, springy?), I’m just going to call this Super Soft Fresh-Baked Bakery. And also I’ll admit that when I ordered this I didn’t look at the preorder image, and I thought there was at least some chance these could be a set of those, you know, squishy toys that were all the rage not long ago. I’m happier with how it turned out.
Here we have Set One, Penguin? no Kodawari Sozai, Penguin’s Special Ingredients. This has everything you need to bake, just like you’d expect. If you read this blog a lot, you might also expect that I really love the flour bag with Ebi Furai no Shippo and Aji Furai no Shippo. ^-^
I’m fond of all the little details here; despite the awful picture to the left, I wanted to highlight how cute the top of the scale is. If I have a gripe, it’s that the bowl is pretty plain, and Penguin? looks like he’s wielding the spoon above in a semi-threatening manner. (I’m mostly kidding, and you can twist the spoon around a bit, but it always looks a little strange with stubby little arms like these.)
Set Two, Neko ga Pankiji Kone-kone/Neko Kneads the Bread Dough, may seem a little plain at first despite containing a fair few number of pieces. I mean, the lump of bread dough and the rolling pin aren’t particularly exciting. But these are the real essential parts if you want to set up a bread shop, and as you’ll see below, the little table comes in very useful.
There’s a little more detailed view below — I really love how the table opens up!
Next we move on to Set Three, Ookina Shirokuma-gata Kamado, Big Shirokuma-Shaped Oven. I was going to write something on how kamado — stove, or, uh, oven, as you’ll see in a bit — has a bunch of symbolic meanings in Japanese, like how English uses “hearth,” but then I got into a big wiki hole of the difference between a stove (which is usually how kamado is translated) and an oven (which I think a kamado way more seems to be like, but what do I know). This is exactly how I end up not getting blog entries published, so I’m just going to point you toward this article on the language stuff and talk about the set itself.
Linguistics aside, this is a great centerpiece for the collection, even if, well, most of it is pretty boring (the paddle has a Sumikko face, though, so that’s rather awesome) The oven itself is just great, and I love the chef’s hat on Shirokuma’s head as the little chimney.
From Set Three, then, we segue directly into Set Four, Shirokuma no Yakitate no Pan, Shirokuma’s Fresh Baked Bread. Note that I’ve propped the items up here on the table from Set Two — there’s not another table included – you can see the parts included in the second picture.
With the focus here on helpful items for setting up a scene, like Set One, I end up liking this one a lot. The jar of marmalade and the loaf of Shirokuma bread are especial favorites.
I feel like this collection gets better as the numbers go bigger; I pretty much love everything from here on out. Set Five is called Minikko no Kawaii Yakigashi, or Cute Minikko Baked Sweets. With Ebi Furai no Shippo and Aji Furai no Shippo cookies as well as Suzume and Fukuro as cupcakes, I think this might be my favorite of all.
No, I don’t love the paint scuff on Aji Furai no Shippo’s foot either, but I guess often enough baked goods get chocolate or something on them, so it all seems pretty on-theme. Come to think of it, maybe that’s why I’m such a sucker for these sets where characters I like are candies or bread; it’s hard to make a character figure that looks on point, or at least relatively harder than making something that looks like a sweet designed after the character.
I just love the outfit Tokage is wearing in Set Six: Tokage no Okiniiri Pan, Tokage’s Favorite Breads. And really, there’s so much to like here, between the rack for tongs and all of the adorable breads.
(Note that the Neko table on the right isn’t included with the collection; I just used it to set off Nisetsumuri. Of course, Nisetsumuri doesn’t want you to notice anything very much about them. They’re just a regular snail, like you’d expect, with a bread roll for a shell. Nothing weird.)
Cute hats and cute breads continue in Set Seven: Tonkatsu no Osusume Ranchi Pan, Tonkatsu’s Lunch Bread Selection. Tonkatsu and Ebi Furai no Shippo look darling, because of course they do, and the selection of bread here is much cuter than my bad pictures show.
I especially like the Yama sandwich, and Black Tapioca makes for a fine chocolate cornet. (And the only reason I remember it’s called that is this Lucky Star scene, because I’ve wasted my life on anime.)
We wrap things up with Set Eight: Pan Tenchou no Osusume Pan, Bread Boss’s Bread Selection — yeah, that translation could sound better, but it’s been a long holiday weekend — which is really pretty deluxe, what with the character figure plus the sign plus all the character breads in their basket.
If you could have only one set, there are arguments to be made for a bunch of these. But I just might argue for this one, with its classic Sumikko selection (also, I just really like bread).
I tried to take a picture of the whole thing once I’d gotten it all set up on my shelf; I include the mediocre results below just to give the feeling of a great big complete playset the whole thing makes. I can’t imagine how thrilled I would have been as a kid to have these to play with Barbie or my Sylvanian Families.
It’s a great set overall, really worth the price of about $42 and still available on amiami. Highly recommended — and encouraging, too, after some underwhelming collections. It makes me excited for the next!
hello somebunny 