One of the biggest memes surrounding Genshin Impact’s mascot character Paimon is that the Traveller (your main playable character) regularly is given dialogue options that put forward jokingly that they see her as their ‘Emergency Food’ supply. If you have ever thought about how exactly one might eat Paimon, fortunately, MiHoYo (Now Hoyoverse) has answered that question in China with the release of a series of six capsule toys. Known by its full name, “Paimon’s Not Emergency Food!” Paimon Food Theme Capsule Toys, you can now see what Paimon might look like if fused into six of Genshin Impact’s popular in-game food options.
-Pause for Angry Paimon Noises-
With six figures to a box, you can see Paimon featured in in-game food options, including the “Pile ‘Em Up” hamburger stack, Flaming Red Bolognese, Qingce Stirfry, Tea Break Pancake, Paimon’s beloved Fisherman Toast and, for those with a divine taste palette, the Adeptus’ Temptation. Each of these come bundled in individual boxes with the same design on the front (so no peeking). They each also come bundled with both a redemption code (I presume only for the Chinese version of Genshin Impact) and a second small card featuring the official artwork of Paimon in the dish.
Coming in at only a few centimetres in height each, these figures are best displayed among a comprehensive collection of similar capsule toys, rather than on their own. As someone who has been turned off such toys due to such a sheer variance in quality of such toys over the years and doesn’t have such a display, all six came together nicely among a small collection of other Genshin Impact merchandise I have. Yes… they were all being looked over by the giant Klee. None have been harmed or turned into Jumpty-Dumpty weapons through this arrangement. Fortunately for those dubious about capsule toy quality, all six designs have meticulous attention to detail despite their small size.
Just as importantly, there is an excellent variety between each design, with no two Paimon looking exactly alike. Each food item is completely different from one another, with each Paimon also depicted in a different position, action, and/or facial expression. Paimon, for example, is seen with a very different expression when put in the almost treasure-like Adeptus’ Temptation vs being layed out as the ‘fish’ on Fisherman Toast (But perhaps this is just after the Traveller just caught her at the beginning of the game) vs being your precious source of maple syrup (??) on some delicious pancakes. Each figure is just as memorable as the last and are small trinkets I can see myself happily displaying both now and into the future.
My only qualm with the selection on offer comes down to the Fisherman Toast figure. While the other five feature Paimon either sitting upright or laying down on an elevated food item while facing forwards, this figure has her lying down on a mostly unelevated slice of bread, facing the back of the figure. This means that if she is placed just above eye level (as was the case with my figures), all you can really see is a slice of bread. Sure, bread is a nice thing but isn’t really something I would have displayed in my figure collection. It would have been nice to see the toast placed on a plate as well, perhaps having it slightly elevated onto an angle.
While the voucher codes that come with the figures appear to be useless for the international market, what you do get are these cute little cards highlighting official artwork of Paimon has that in-game culinary creation. They may be small and something that are easy to lose, but are they gosh darn cute? Yes, yes they are.
Whether you are for or against seeing Paimon as ‘Emergency Food’, each of these capsule toy figures are incredibly adorable, and if you manage to find them for a good enough price given their size, is well worth nabbing while you can. While capsule toys can be of varying build and design quality from good to terribly bad, the “Paimon’s Not Emergency Food!” Paimon Food Theme Capsule Toys is solidly in the good category.
Warning: You can have your Paimon, but you under no circumstances should try to eat it. These are PVC-ABS minature toys, not food, no matter how delicious they may look.
Thank you to MiHoYo/Hoyoverse for providing me with a boxed set of these figures.
