Japanese Doughnut Chain Pulls Pikachu Doughnuts for Being Too Creepy

Controversial opinion, but I think furry Pikachu is cute as fuck. If you don’t yet have an opinion on hairy Pokémon, the trailer for the upcoming live-action Detective Pikachu movie is the source of this widely maligned depiction. Twitter users, of course, are divided: he’s “gross” to some, and “JUST PLAIN ASS ADORABLE” to others. (I can’t say the same for furry Jigglypuff, who reminds me of Spencer Pratt and his flesh-colored beard, and that makes me a little uncomfortable.)

But no matter how heated you feel about Pokémon textures in either camp, we can probably agree that an even more grotesque Pokémon rendering is this attempt at a Pikachu doughnut. Seriously, there’s no way you can stare this thing in the eyes and not feel at least a little squicked out.

The creation comes to us from Japan, where cute foods generally tend to actually be adorable and rarely as deranged as the shifty-eyed Pikachu doughnut, which is made by the Mister Donut chain, one of the country’s most beloved fast food institutions.

The appearance of the Pokédoughnuts varied wildly, with some looking appropriately cute, and others… well, you’ve seen it, but we’ll show you again.

According to SoraNews24, customers passed on the doughnuts because they weren’t of the quality Japanese consumers have come to expect from their kawaii desserts. Their disappointment seems justified—after all, here’s an expectation vs. reality check of Mister Donut’s creation:

As one Twitter user points out, the problem is all in the eyes. Placing the cartoonish white dot in the center of each eye makes Pikachu look high or haunted; move them upward and inward, and Pikachu’s cuteness is recognizable yet again.

Though Mister Donut had scheduled the pastry Pikachu for nationwide release on November 16, select locations made it available on the 9th. An extra week of practicing would probably have benefited the chain’s doughnut makers, who are, according to SoraNews24, actual humans and not machines.

Pikachu has since been pulled from the market for a few more days, so Mister Donut can focus on its quality control. I’d still eat the scary doughnut, though.