Anime Box Club is an anime surprise box, with a twist. Unlike some other boxes, the contents remain very much a surprise, even if you find out what others get! While there are a lot of good points to the Anime Box Club, that it’s personalized to your tastes is the most unique one.
This article aims to give a brief overview of the Anime Box Club, along with a brief review of the Anime Box Club for October 2022.
It’s Made For Me?
When you sign up, whether it’s for a one-off box or a subscription, they ask you to choose your shirt size and three genres from the following:
- Action
- Adventure
- Sports
- Romance
- Comedy
- Slice of life
- Ecchi
- Surprise
While it’s never possible to make sure each item will be based on a character or series someone likes, narrowing it down by genre does seem to give Anime Box Club a good chance at success. It guarantees that at least three of the items in the box will match the preferences here. Subscribers can also vote in polls to influence some of the items chosen.
The other nice feature here is that the boxes aren’t a set standard for everyone. If I choose ‘ecchi’ and so does a friend, we may get different items. Between a variety of items and genre preferences, seeing an unboxing video or what items win a poll shouldn’t ruin the surprise.
What Are The Options?
Anime Box Club offers three options – a One-time Box, a Premium Plan, and a more budget-friendly Seasonal Plan.
The One-time Box ($59.99 USD) and Premium Plan ($54.99 USD per month) both contain 6-8 items, including a guaranteed vol. 1 manga and figure. The Premium Plan renews every month, though says you can unsubscribe whenever you like. It also advertises the inclusion of exclusive clothing apparel and membership rewards. The rewards for staying subscribed range from an extra item in the next box, all the way up to an extra custom box.
The Seasonal Plan ($44.99 USD per month) contains 5 items, including a guaranteed vol. 1 manga and wall scroll instead of a figure. Rather than being customized, it has seasonal exclusives picked by the Anime Box Club team. If you’re not picky about genre and like watching the latest seasonal anime, this could be a good pick. It also includes membership rewards.
How Was Your Experience?
When setting up my Anime Box Club delivery, I chose Ecchi, Comedy, and Romance. I like a wide variety of anime, but many of my favorites tend to fall into those areas. I wasn’t sure what to expect other than that.
It soon turned up on my doorstep. For those on a monthly plan, I imagine it’ll become a routine, with them being sent out around the 1st and arriving early in the month.
Unboxing Video
What’s In the Box?
The box contained 8 items, including the promised figure and volume 1 manga.
Kurumi Tokisaki -Swimsuit Figure
Anime Box Club made a strong first impression from the first item in this box. This figure of Kurumi Tokisaki – the best girl from Date a Live (along with Tobiichi) is a nicely detailed figure, in particular showing her unique eyes. It comes in several pieces and was quick to assemble. Notably, the bikini top is removable, with details beneath. There are some minor imperfections on the paintwork and a slight kink in the hair, along with a blob of extra plastic. It was nothing too serious. I managed to clean up the hair with some scissors. The headband had come away from the head, which isn’t supposed to happen though. I ended up super-gluing it back on.
📦Came in the mail today as part of #AnimeBoxClub
⏱️Kurumi Tokisaki from #DateALive
👀Swimsuit version with removable bikini top
🔗Details: https://t.co/57thcBCFYZ pic.twitter.com/vLYJjepfjn
— NookGaming.com | JRPGs, Visual Novels and More💕 (@NookSite) October 7, 2022
It’s actually a rather nice budget figure. This is why it was surprising when I realized that it wasn’t a genuine one. It’s the replica $10 Chinese Mifen version, rather than the $70+ Griffon/Team Genesis version that’s mentioned on the figure’s box. The bootleg version comes without two pieces from the official version (the base and dress), along with a different box. With that said, in terms of quality and for the price, a similar priced official figure would be much smaller and less detailed.
When we checked out The Otaku Box for August 2022, it also included a figure. There’s an interesting difference here in that the cloned figure included in Anime Box Club is bigger and more detailed, while the one in The Otaku Box is unlicensed but made exclusively for it.
I imagine that this was included due to the ecchi genre. It’s topical too, with the fourth season of Date a Live recently finishing. While my feelings were somewhat mixed about the Date a Live visual novel, I enjoyed the anime quite a bit. They certainly made the right choice of character too.
Komi Can’t Communicate – Vol 1 Manga
A sealed copy of Komi Can’t Communicate Vol.1 by Tomohito Oda was included.
The popularity of Komi can’t be underestimated, with her appearing on best girl lists and the recent anime ranking high. I really enjoyed watching it, so the chance to read the manga from the start is certainly appreciated. Anime Box Club certainly managed to match my tastes well here.
Yor Forger – Mini Wallscroll
Coming in slightly under 20cm x 30cm, this mini wallscroll has Yor Briar from SPYxFAMILY take quite a sexy pose, skirt hiked up. While small, it comes with rails along the top and hooks that slide across so it can easily be hung. The print quality is great too. The artwork appears to be by @Ginhahaart (NSFW), who has posted it online.
Again this is quite a popular and topical one, with SPYxFAMILY having recently resumed airing. It’s a great choice again, with the anime fitting into the comedy category and the wallscroll itself certainly learning towards ecchi.
🌟Behold! Starlight Anya!
💡Got a #SPYxFAMILY 3D LED lamp from #AnimeBoxClub (among several other things – stay tuned)
🕵️Very timely with the series resuming too! pic.twitter.com/jy1zpElQOD
— NookGaming.com | JRPGs, Visual Novels and More💕 (@NookSite) October 7, 2022
Anya Forger – Creative 3D Visualization Lamp
Another SPYxFAMILY item. It shows Anya in her confident hands-on-hips pose and stands at approximately 21cm tall, including the base. It lights up, clearly showing the image.
It’s a nice decoration and brings something a little different to my shelf. It can either run on 3x AA batteries or via a USB cable, which is included. It would make a nice one to sit on top of a PC.
Chika Fujiwara – Mousepad
Featuring Chika from Kaguya-sama: Love Is War in a variety of poses, this mousepad is a nice addition. It’s 30cm x 25cm. I certainly like the design. Searching online, it seems to use artwork by @KitaharaTomoe, though it’s not attributed here. The design itself has been used on quite a few unofficial goods, ranging from hoodies to messenger bags. Being printed on a cloth mousepad, it the art doesn’t come through as clearly as a plastic one would, but it certainly tracks better than one would.
I imagine this is where the romance genre selection comes in, along with the comedy one. It’s a great series and I appreciate they’ve hit multiple genres here.
Kaguya Shinomiya – Sleep Mask
While it didn’t mention it on the packaging, this sleep mask seems to be of Kaguya Shinomiya from Kaguya-sama: Love Is War. It’s comfortable and the image is clear. Not something I’d use, though a fun extra.
Chainsaw Man – Pin
This series is very topical at the moment, with the first episode of the anime adaption of this shonen manga releasing soon. I know a lot of people are excited about it, though I personally haven’t looked into it.
The pin itself looks quite nice. Even if I have no idea about the series, I like the design with its contrasting reds and blues. It has two attachment points on the back, so it won’t spin.
I did find it amusing that it comes on a light pink background saying ‘Sweet Love Just For You’ though, being a series about pacts with devils and known for violent scenes.
My Dress Up Darling – Stickers
Seven small stickers, mostly of Marin Kitagawa were included, though I did appreciate the one of Sajuna Inui. She’s not such a popular character, but I do like her. There’s a nice mix of Marin’s outfits too.
While the series ended back in March 2022, it was recently confirmed to have a season 2 coming out. It certainly fits in based on genre too, being a romantic comedy, with a touch of ecchi.
Verdict
For the most part, the Anime Box Club choices fit me really well in terms of anime included. Aside from Chainsaw Man, they’re all series that I enjoy. Most are also reasonably topical, airing currently or having finished airing recently. They do seem to go for the more popular series, which plays it safe.
The figure and manga are definitely the most notable here, but the artwork on the mini wallscroll and mousepad really stand out and the light-up Anya standee is one of those things I’d always liked the look of but never convinced myself to buy, so it was a welcome surprise. The others are fun little extras too.
In terms of value, it seems quite reasonable based on the contents I received and their quality, keeping their origins in mind and the price of the items I’ve been able to find on websites like AliExpress. The collection was an interesting mix of items, even if unofficial and I certainly enjoyed going through it all. There are certainly questions here though. The figure is very nice for the cost, but still a clone of a legitimate one, which is more dubious than the regular unofficial goods. I’d question whether the art on the wall scroll and mouse mat was paid for too, considering that I found the art for both online and in the case of the Chika art on a variety of items in various bootleg stores after some searching. With various opinions on what is okay and to what degree, I’ll leave it to the reader to decide how they feel about this.
Many thanks go to Anime Box Club for sending out a box for evaluation.
A gamer since the days of Amstrad and DOS and someone who has dabbled in a variety of professions. He enjoys a wide variety of genres, but has been focusing on visual novels and virtual reality in recent years. Head Editor of NookGaming. Follow him and the website on @NookSite.
