When did Pocky become associated with anime fans?

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mbanu
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When did Pocky become associated with anime fans?

Post by mbanu »

Maybe this is contemporary to me as an anime middle-schooler rather than an anime old-school question, but I appreciate the help of people who were maybe a bit more fandom-aware than me at the time. When the fun of anime fandom cooled enough for me to notice quirky details, I noticed that instead of a Twix, Kit-Kat or other bar-shaped cookie, Pocky always seemed to be the choice if it was available, despite there being a fairly wide variety of Japanese choco-junk-food. People weren't munching on Black Thunder bars, as far as I can remember. :) However, I have no idea how that happened. (I remember being a little surprised when Pocky became available at non-ethnic grocery stores, if that adds to the frame.)
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usamimi
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Re: When did Pocky become associated with anime fans?

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I think it became a North American otaku snack favorite when fans started seeing them pop up in the "Asian" sections of their grocery stores & recognizing the snack from its many cameos in anime & manga. I know the 1st time I ever saw it in my local grocery store was probably around....94 or 95? And I was surprised, because up until then, I'd only seen them specifically at Asian grocery stores. Easy access & brand recognition go a long way, so it's no wonder anime fans bought them by the arm load at the time, especially if they didn't live anywhere near an actual Asian grocery.
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George W
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Re: When did Pocky become associated with anime fans?

Post by George W »

Good question. I am without a clue on this. I think I have seen Pocky, but not in any of the anime I have.

Then again, I lean towards Science Fiction, so no surprise there.
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Re: When did Pocky become associated with anime fans?

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George W wrote: Tue Nov 09, 2021 7:34 am Good question. I am without a clue on this. I think I have seen Pocky, but not in any of the anime I have.

Then again, I lean towards Science Fiction, so no surprise there.
I specifically remember seeing it in CLAMP works, like X/1999 and such, tho I'm sure there's plenty of other examples I'm just not remembering at the moment. It still pops up in anime and manga fairly often, esp in rom-coms and slice-of-lifes, which is probably why it's still fairly big with anime fans. (You always seem to see it for sale at anime conventions, too!)
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Re: When did Pocky become associated with anime fans?

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Pocky was common enough among late 1980s anime fans - in my circles anyway - that people made referential jokes and cartoons about it. If you're having a bunch of friends over to watch anime, you'll probably stop off at the Japanese grocery store for snacks, and a box of Pocky usually finds itself into the basket.
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Re: When did Pocky become associated with anime fans?

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davemerrill wrote: Tue Nov 09, 2021 11:47 am Pocky was common enough among late 1980s anime fans - in my circles anyway - that people made referential jokes and cartoons about it. If you're having a bunch of friends over to watch anime, you'll probably stop off at the Japanese grocery store for snacks, and a box of Pocky usually finds itself into the basket.
Yeah, that makes sense, right? It's been around for so long, and it's a pretty simple snack that someone's bound to like it or eat it, so no surprise.
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Re: When did Pocky become associated with anime fans?

Post by George W »

I hit a lot of conventions between 85 and 90. Never saw Pocky there - at least as a far as I recall.

I did see a lot of dedicated fans there, sometimes translating (when subtitled products weren't available), sometimes conversing. It was all a great deal of fun.

I got to to a panel session with Toren Smith. If you recall Gunbuster, he appears as Smith Toren (and dies). That was a neat point of "Ah HA!" for me to run into.

We discussed Nausicca's disappearing bloomers while she was flying her wing.
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Re: When did Pocky become associated with anime fans?

Post by usamimi »

George W wrote: Sat Nov 13, 2021 7:38 pm I hit a lot of conventions between 85 and 90. Never saw Pocky there - at least as a far as I recall.
I DO know that you can see it (unwrapped, out of the package, at least) in that long pan shot of Noriko with all the snacks in Gunbuster, at least! :lol:
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Re: When did Pocky become associated with anime fans?

Post by George W »

Got me! I watched Gunbuster a bunch of times - damn near wore out the VHS tape.

The first two episodes went a bit slow as they built up the plot, but then it got more engaging.

You gave me a reason to go look. I'll have to figure out what Pocky looks like unwrapped, but I'm sure Google will provide that.

Thanks for the tip!
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Re: When did Pocky become associated with anime fans?

Post by mbanu »

Apparently the translator Richard Kim picked up the nickname Pocky sometime in the 90s -- still uses the nickname for his Twitch streams: https://www.twitch.tv/originalpocky (^_^)
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