I have to be very careful about reviewing this bar. I have to be careful because there are some people in the world that really love this bar. In fact, there's someone in my life who really likes this bar... Someone very close to me. The problem is how to say something critical about a bar that people love. Nostalgia is a dangerous thing to play with on the internet, and cross the “some people” and there can be a bit of a storm.
I'll start with the good. The ratio of tiny rice crisps to chocolate is perfect. I'm not exaggerating either, there's nothing you could do to make the ratio of ingredients in this bar any better. While it's a simple concept, rice crisps in chocolate, they balance it perfectly. The crisps are also perfect in themselves. They feel smaller than average rice crisps (or they're broken up), but either way it creates a really nice texture that goes well with chocolate.
I also like the way this bar is delivered. Small, individually wrapped chocolate pieces in an easy to open box. It lets you enjoy this bar over time without overdoing it. Already I've said a lot of positive things about this bar, so you might imagine that I think it's perfect, but it's not. The biggest problem with this bar is the chocolate.
Unfortunately, bad chocolate in a chocolate bar can be (and in this case is) a big problem. This chocolate tastes okay, but there's something kind of fake about the flavour. It tastes like it was reconstituted from hot chocolate mix and not really like fine milk chocolate. The texture is also a little dry as well. That's not something very common in milk chocolate, but it's the case here.
I'd really like to say that this bar is perfect, that it blew my socks off all the way through. I'd like to say that because this is a classic Japanese treat, and many people really love it (including someone I know). The problems I have with bar can be fixed, but since it's such a classic bar the way it is, I doubt that will ever happen.