Meiji Pucca Chocolate-Filled Crunchy Sea Creatures

Meiji Pucca not-quite-pretzely sea creatures with chocolate.

The Snack

Meiji has been quietly shaping Japan’s sweet tooth for over a century. Founded in 1917 (after its confectionery roots began a year earlier as the Tokyo Confectionery Company), the company built its reputation on caramels, biscuits, and the idea that everyday treats could be both reliable and a little bit delightful. Over time, Meiji expanded beyond sweets into yogurt, dairy, and even pharmaceuticals, becoming one of Japan’s major food and health companies. Internationally, its reach shows up in the snack aisle: Hello Panda, Yan Yan, and Chocorooms, small, friendly packages built around the same formula of crispy biscuit and smooth filling.

Pucca fits neatly into that lineage. Each piece is molded into a tiny sea creature, all suspiciously octopus-like and Pac-Man Ghost adjacent. Inside the box: hollow, baked shells filled with milk chocolate, designed for handful eating rather than careful appreciation.

It’s a simple promise: something crisp, something creamy, and something small enough that you don’t notice how many you’ve eaten until the box feels suspiciously light.

Tiny chocolate sea creatures that could double as Pac-Man Ghosts.

The Review

Despite the “pretzel” label, Pucca doesn’t arrive with the glossy, deep-brown sheen or snap you might expect. The shells look matte and more like sturdy crackers than twisted pretzels, and the texture follows suit: firm, a little dry, and substantial rather than airy or brittle.

The shapes, however, do most of the work. Tiny adorable squid and octopus forms make the experience feel playful in a way that encourages mindless eating. These are not delicate snacks. But they’re easy to pour into your palm, examine briefly, and then eat in clusters.

Inside, the milk chocolate is solid rather than melty, holding its shape and delivering a milk chocolate sweetness that will feel instantly recognizable to anyone who grew up with Lotte’s Koala’s March or Meiji’s own Hello Panda. Those treats, however, lean more cookie-and-cream than cracker-and-chocolate.

Pucca isn’t trying to reinvent the chocolate snack. It’s doing something Meiji does well: a dependable combination of crunchy shell, sweet filling, and just enough charm to make the box disappear faster than you expected.