The current state of Raizin, which has continued since the dawn of energy drinks in Japan

The Raizin Energy Drink series by Taisho Pharmaceutical, which has been around since the early days of Japanese energy drinks.

There have been many twists and turns along the way, such as stopping energy drinks for a while and turning it into a mini-sized high-end mystery drink, changing the design, and pushing less-recognized ingredients after removing caffeine... It has become a brand that feels like it’s lost its way, but a new product was released in 2022.

This is RAIZIN TROPICAL CRUSH. It hasn't been much of a topic on social media, which is sad for someone who has followed it since the early days... Also, when you think of "Raizin," most people probably now associate it with martial arts, not energy drinks. Even I typed "RIZIN" when typing about it after a long time.

The taste of RAIZIN TROPICAL CRUSH will probably divide opinions. Raizin is a product that goes against the current domestic trend of just putting out fruit juice-flavored drinks. Personally, I don’t think fruit juice content is the ultimate, and there are far more non-fruit juice products that are clearly tastier than fruit juice-based energy drinks. There are also many surprisingly delicious energy drinks in the world, even without fruit juice or zero-calorie options, that taste incredible.

⇒ List of top-rated energy drinks

There are a few non-fruit juice energy drinks abroad that are shockingly delicious, even in zero-calorie versions, so I hope they continue to research and create tasty energy drinks in the future.

Now that energy drinks under 250ml have become high-priced, I think it’s clear that size increases will need to be considered, or it will be tough. The era of paying 200 yen for a mini-sized drink under 250ml is over. By the way, Red Bull could obviously lower its prices further, but they probably don't want to do that due to brand reasons. The dilemma is probably huge even globally. Maybe that's why, or maybe not, but Red Bull 473ml was released in Japan.

I didn’t see that one coming.

In any case, in Japan today, if an energy drink isn’t good, people won’t buy a second one, and mini-sized high-priced products are no longer an option for purchase.

It’s likely that a new wave will come to domestic energy drinks in the future (I’m sure companies like Taisho Pharmaceutical already have information on it, but I wonder). Until then, I hope they take some countermeasures to ensure long-term sales.