Unboxing My Habanero Boyfriend [Guest Post]

DSCN0957 — I chose to grow Habanero, the tsundere guy with a bad mouth.

Let me start this post off by saying: sometimes when you’re pals with Anne, she will ask you to be a surrogate plant parent to a vegetable ikemen boyfriend. She will ask you what your vegetable boyfriend type will be. Don’t resist. Give her your address. Receive the above box in the mail. This is my duty as official Tokyo correspondent to Chic Pixel, and I will take up any and all responsibilities, be it sampling various themed cafés or tenderly growing an anime boyfriend.

DSCN0958 — Back of the box includes a cut-out for the plant box.

DSCN0959 — Contents: growing pamphlet, soil, parts to make the plant box, insert, little netting and seeds.

DSCN0964 — Close up of the seeds and little netting that goes on the bottom of the box. The seeds originated from Israel.

DSCN0965 — Added the netting. I’ve never used one of these before, but it seems common in Japanese potted gardening. I wonder if it makes it easier to uproot the plant to a bigger pot?

DSCN0966 — Added the soil, which looks surprisingly rich and full of food and minerals.

I suppose I shouldn’t be, but I was surprised at the quality of the set, which sells for less than $10USD. The thought and effort put into the concept and execution is astounding. They could have easily let the novelty factor carry the product, but everything feels legit, and I love the inclusion of the full-color booklet.

DSCN0969 — Soil after planting. Per the instructions, I used disposable chopsticks to create holes for the seeds.

DSCN0970 — One boyfriend, all planted and ready to grow.

DSCN0971 — First couple pages of the pamphlet. The left side contains general instructions and tips, and the right side reads like an intro to a visual novel.

The pamphlet contains an introduction with the premise that you are a new student in a rural area with a lot of farmlands. The only way you can graduate high school is if you raise these ikemen vegetables to a point where they can be eaten! Which boy will you grow?

DSCN0972 — Petit Tomato and Baby Eggplant.

The vegetable boyfriends not only came with little bios, but also specific growing instructions according to their respective vegetable.

DSCN0973 — Arugula, Mint, Mini Carrot, and Habanero.

There’s also a difficulty level of 1-3 hearts, of which I naturally picked the highest one. My second pick would have been the baby eggplant which is equally as difficult, so I guess I’m just a glutton for punishment.

DSCN0974 — Box folding instructions on the back.

finally planted this sucker! http://t.co/xzYyrUWXfV pic.twitter.com/XFYHOqNXPq

— Sarah O’Donnell (@everydayfoxlife) May 11, 2015

The instructions suggested loosely putting some cling wrap on top to keep moisture in and to water with a spray bottle. Once it starts to sprout, I’ll discard the wrap and put move it to my balcony, where it can receive sunlight for at least half a day.

If everything goes well (read: my cats don’t destroy it & it actually grows), eventually I’ll grab a bigger container from a ¥100 store with some stakes for support. It can take several days for anything to happen, so at this point it’s just a waiting game.

Will it end in disaster? Or will I be able to graduate high school? Stay tuned!

Is not the greatest thing?! Thanks to Sarah for being such a great sport and adopting a seed boyfriend so I can live vicariously through her! Be sure to follow her on Twitter for updates! – Anne

About Sarah O'Donnell