You’ve probably seen plenty of anime surprise boxes. There’s no real shortage of options out there. But what if you’d prefer one that is a little more… lewd? The Otaku Box aims to fill this niche while including figures and even letting you vote on what comes next.
This article aims to give a brief overview of The Otaku Box, along with a brief review of The Otaku Box for August 2022.
How Lewd Are We Talking?
This definitely isn’t one for the kids. It comes in two versions. One is fairly lewd, with plenty on display. The other is outright 18+ with nudity. For those of you who play their visual novels with the adult patches on, you may appreciate the latter.
I received the slightly safer for work version, which I’ll be sharing some photos of throughout this post.
💗Thought I'd share a video of this #AnimeFigure of #RiasGremory from #HighSchoolDxD
🎁Thanks to @TheOtakuBox for sending it over as part of the #anime crate! pic.twitter.com/wzL6RXVUho
— NookGaming.com | JRPGs, Visual Novels and More💕 (@NookSite) September 23, 2022
What Can I Choose?
It’s a surprise box – it wouldn’t be a surprise if you could choose! But you do get a lot of influence over it and make a couple of choices.
At the time of writing, you can choose a Rias (High School DxD) or Albedo (Overlord) figure as a bonus. Both are good choices, despite not being Shalltear (Overlord).
Next up you can choose to include a surprise Mini-Figure or a Scale 1:12 figure.
An optional T-Shirt is next. No hints on the design, but you can choose your size. The medium is actually bigger than some Large shirts, so sizes do seem generous.
Then there’s the choice of censored or uncensored, as discussed already.
The scale figure upgrade and including a T-shirt do increase the cost by about $20 and $15 respectively. That means the box can increase from around $30 USD to around $65 USD. Considering what the contents would cost elsewhere, this is actually really good, even if the items aren’t brand name ones and aren’t official; I believe they work with artists directly to create some of these items.
Having bought the occasional mystery box, I always feel ripped off, but this was absolutely packed full of stuff for the price. There are bonuses for staying subscribed for a certain amount of time too to add to the value.
How Does It Work?
This is a monthly box, with different surprise items each month, but always has a figure and cloth poster/wall scroll. The same items are sent out to all subscribers, which I imagine is how they keep costs relatively low. While it’s monthly, there’s certainly no problem just picking one up and canceling if you want to test the waters.
The box full of anime goodies gets sent out from China, so the first box might take a few weeks to get there. It’ll be less noticeable if it’s one per month though. I personally had no issues with customs or anything along those lines. The box did look like it had been through some less than delicate handling along the way, but it’s quite thick cardboard so none of the items inside were harmed.
Didn’t You Mention Voting?
When you’re all signed up to The Otaku Box, you get the right to voice your opinion on what comes next. I thought this was a nice idea, both to get involved and to improve the chances of receiving something in my interests.
It sends out a poll that lets you vote on series (about 80 of them) and waifus (about 30 of them). Admittedly I’m not sure who voted for Malty from Shield Hero as their waifu, but even she’s there! Write-ins are an option too, so I can not choose Ann from Persona 5, but write-in that I like Futaba or Haru more.
Beyond the more general interest voting, there are the options to vote between four possible future model options, two designs of T-shirts and two designs of wall scrolls.
Show Me The Goods!
I’ve explained how it works in general, so here’s a brief review of The Otaku Box for August 2022. After unpacking a very stuffed box, I found the following:
- 1/12 scale figure
- Bonus Rias figure
- T-Shirt
- Cloth Poster / Wall Scroll
- Luggage Tags
- Fan
- Glasses Case
- Badge
- Waifu Card
- Anime News from Liz
- Information Sheet
Starting off with the 1/12 scale figure, it notes that it’s exclusive, made just for the Otaku Box. This also does mean that it’s not official, but isn’t a fake copy like some boxes include. It’s off the well-known Zero Two from Darling in the Franxx. I’ve not fully watched this one myself, but I saw the constant memes online and just how popular she is. For those who didn’t upgrade to the scale figure, a CardCaptor Sakura mini figure is the prize, which looks rather cute from the picture in the box.
It seems like a few details differ from the anime screencaps I can find of Zero Two to simplify things a bit, but overall it’s a very nice figure – in both meanings. There’s a good amount of detail keeping the low price in mind. It doesn’t capture her sharp eyes though, using a more standard rounded shape. Some parts have been highlighted with a metallic appearance. On the topic of metal, there are no cheap plastic pegs here. The base is reasonably heavy with metal pegs in that attached Zero Two well enough that I could hold it upside-down. I’ve included a video of it below if you’d like to click and watch it take a spin.
💗Here's the August 2022 #AnimeFigure of #ZeroTwo from #DarlingInTheFranXX
🎁Thanks to @TheOtakuBox for sending it over as part of the #anime crate! pic.twitter.com/RWaeVIhz51
— NookGaming.com | JRPGs, Visual Novels and More💕 (@NookSite) September 23, 2022
This slightly busty figure in what seems to be a skintight outfit definitely fits the ecchi theme of the box, if nowhere near as much as the next one.
Rias Gremory from High School DxD is the bonus figure mentioned above. On showing a picture to one of our Discord members, he directly pointed out how out cold it was. The nipples clearly poke through on this one, there’s a slight line in the outfit between the legs, and the word ‘thicc’ certainly comes to mind when looking at this figure.
As a personal preference, I like figures in a very stable shape like this. If nothing else, because I’m terrible for losing or breaking bases.
The Otaku Box t-shirt for August 2022 features Yor from Spy X Family, which is a lot of fun and perhaps not coincidentally is due to start airing its second part soon. Everyone online is still thirsty for Yor and this t-shirt delivers.
The design is great, using striking red highlights against a black, gray, and white image. It uses two shades of red, both of which are incredibly vivid, especially the hairpiece. Next to it is some Japanese writing, which I believe states いばら姫 (Ibarahime), which is her code name of ‘Thorn Princess’.
It’s 100% cotton and seems reasonably thick. As noted, the medium is actually quite large.
Long-time readers will know that we love visual novels here at NookGaming and the cloth poster certainly plays into those interests. This one features Coconut from Nekopara. Much like any cloth poster, it requires a quick iron on low heat to get the creases out, and then it was good to go up on the wall.
It’s a beautiful piece of art and definitely fits into the lewd area. This is one of the items that is available in an 18+ version too. It’s 39cm x 59cm, which is certainly a respectable size for it.
The Luggage Tags feature Miia and Lorelei from Monster Musume. They’re certainly eye-catching and I imagine it’d not take long to find my luggage at the airport with these on. It’s a nice choice with Japan opening up soon in particular, but as travel becomes more open generally.
We’ve actually just started to have cold weather here in the UK, so the fan is a bit unseasonable. That said, I do really like the design that both stands up on its own and can be held easily.
I’ve never seen a glasses case like the one included here before. It unfolds into a triangle shape and the glasses can fit inside. It feels like mild magnetism keeps it closed. Unlike many of the other items based on anime, it features a character from ‘Demon Trick’, which is a manga that The Otaku Box produces. That’s another bonus that you get with the subscription. I’ve actually found it really useful to store my glasses in. It stands up nicely like a display on my desk and my cats can’t get into it to get fur all over my lens.
The badge (or button as they call it) features Yasaka, another character from High School DxD. It’s got a nice amount of detail on it, a standard safety pin on the back and it comes in an 18+ version too. The information leaflet mentions that Coconut won over her, which might be why this foxy lady was relegated to the badge, while the lovely catpanion is on the poster.
The waifu card is a shiny card that features Elie, the main character from Rave Master. This is the final physical item and the final one where it comes in an 18+ option.
Other than these, there are some papers. The information sheet which explains the items and mentions the characters was very useful. There is also a couple of short manga panels and some thoughts about anime.
As a bonus, my cat has fallen in love with the box itself.
😺Quick #Caturday post of one of the #CatsOfTwitter
😂I think the box that @TheOtakuBox comes in is a little too small for this rather large cat, but he likes it anyway pic.twitter.com/ACREl6yNHu
— NookGaming.com | JRPGs, Visual Novels and More💕 (@NookSite) September 24, 2022
Verdict
Overall it’s a great collection of items and The Otaku Box is amazing for what you get for the price, as long as you don’t mind the unofficial nature of it. As someone who likes ecchi anime, it fit my tastes well, though I appreciated that the Family X Spy shirt was a little more socially acceptable to go outside with than the Coconut cloth poster. Beyond that, it’s sparked my interest in checking out the couple of things I haven’t watched yet.
I particularly liked the Rias figure, Yor T-shirt, and Coconut cloth poster. Items like the glasses case and luggage tags were certainly interesting surprises too! A collector of Zero Two figures I know seemingly liked the one from The Otaku Box so much that he went straight to go see if he could grab it for himself.
In terms of what’s next, I did see a hint on their social media about a future box including a figure of Suu from Monster Musume. I don’t think I’m the only Suu fan here.
Many thanks go to The Otaku Box 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.
