ZIMA - It's the shit here

This is going to be the first in a group of ongoing posts known as "Shit That Sucks in the U.S, but is Somehow Popular in Japan." (trust me, there is plenty of this to have an ongoing segment about it) Today's topic: motherfuckin Zima.

Anyone who was alive in the 90's in the U.S. knows what Zima is, but probably hasn't thought about it since the 00's rolled around. Despite being the first drink of it's kind ever, spawning the creation of many more like it (e.g. Smirnoff Ice), it failed and U.S. production was halted. However, that hip, new alcoholic beverage that was pushed so heavily but was more of a joke than a drink in the U.S. is alive and fully kicking in Japan. Yeah, that's right, people love Zima here. When I say "kicking," I mean fucking thriving; there isn't a bar, club, or convenient store that doesn't sell Zima. They love it so much they they have different TYPES of Zima (such as Orange Zima), much like Smirnoff Ice.

Zima..... ORANGE

If you didn't know, the big joke about Zima in the U.S. is that it was the girliest possible drink (as I mentioned earlier, it WAS the first drink of it's kind ever, preceding Smirnoff Ice and all the others that are now quite popular). This somewhat explains its popularity here. For the most part, people in Japan love their sugary/light (i.e. "girly") drinks. Love. And not just girls by any means, men love them and drink them just as much (this is in general of course, not every Japanese person is like this). So, I have a feeling this is why Zima has been able to do so well here. But honestly, who cares? It's god damn Zima. It's a mystery.

I, for one, still haven't tried the clear beverage. But, I guess I have to now that I live here, I'm actually extremely curious but also a little scared of what might happen. I'll post an update with the review. To leave you, here's a pretty sweet advertisement for Zima I came across in an izakaya (basically all drinking establishments in Japan are known as "izakayas." Learn it well.)

Yeah, that's a monkey holding up 300 yen (in order to buy himself a Zima). Hope this really drives my point home of how popular Zima is here.