Final Fantasy XIV-Themed Fried Chicken Is Now A Thing In Japan

Final Fantasy XIV-themed fried chicken has gone on sale in Japan at the Lawson convenience store chain. It's got the enigmatically described flavor of "the Crystal of Light and Darkness," which translates to pepper and tartar sauce plus a strange-looking color scheme.

Fried chicken, called karaage, is a popular snack at convenience stores in Japan, and it will often come in flavors that are far afield from what Americans might find at their local KFC or Zaxby's. But this particular flavor is likely strange relative to Lawson's normal lineup. Strikingly, the meat--not its breading--is colored black and white.

It definitely looks odd and maybe not particularly appetizing, but YouTube user Captain Torajiro reports that it actually tastes good (via Kotaku's report and YouTube's auto-translate function). The flavor was produced as a close collaboration between Final Fantasy composer Masayoshi Soken and Lawson, as explained by Game Watch Impress. The composer actually teamed up with the store for the first time a couple of years ago in order to produce an FFXIV-themed burnt garlic oil chicken flavor.

As for the game itself, FFXIV continues to increase in popularity despite releasing several years ago. Driven in large part by Twitch streamers, FFXIV has recently hit a record for concurrent player numbers. This surge in interest has been a double-edged sword for publisher Square Enix, though, as the global semiconductor shortage has forced the company to restrict its most popular data center. Square Enix is still on track to release the next expansion for the game, called Endwalker, on November 19.