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Nobu Needs a Little Wasabi

A thoughtful look at Nobuyuki Matsuhisa reveals more than a culinary journey, it questions whether the global Nobu brand can still reflect the man behind it.

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Anyone heading into the documentary Nobu should eat first. This intimate look at Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, his restaurant empire, and his rise as a celebrity chef is filled with mouth-watering food cinematography. The visuals alone can make anyone hungry for Japanese food. For viewers unfamiliar with his past, the film offers a solid overview of how he navigated life in post-war Japan. He was born in 1949, a time when certain cultural sentiments still lingered beneath the surface. The film touches on this, though digging deeper might have distracted from its main focus, his life, both the highs and the hardships.

I won’t go into every detail, but one of the most important threads is who shaped him. Running alongside that is a quieter subplot involving his close friend Sakai. I’ll leave most of that unspoiled, but what matters is the unwavering support Sakai gave him, up until a tragedy changed everything.

The film also brushes against the philosophy behind the food. Precision matters. If the cut isn’t right or the aroma doesn’t draw you in, the dish falls flat. Sometimes it’s about freshness, other times restraint, like how much wasabi is used, if any at all. Even nigiri depends on balance; the exact mix of vinegar, salt, and sugar in the rice, and how long it’s been sitting after being cooked, can make or break the experience. Even the crispiness of the nori matters. I’ve experimented with recrisping it in a smoker, and it changes the texture. Continue reading “Nobu Needs a Little Wasabi”

TokyoPOP’s Disney Manga Calender is Hot This Spring

Disney manga fans have a few collected editions to consider, which are mostly reprints, but for those who haven’t read them yet, these new editions are hardcover editions.

Disney Stitch! The Manga Collection — Available to order on Amazon USA

New hardcover and translated editions of TokyoPOP‘s Disney Manga are coming to bookstores, featuring some of this studio’s beloved characters in manga-style format. Whether it’s a certain Jack Sparrow or a certain blue fuzzy wuzzy, these editions are worth considering if those softcover copies are looking worn from repeated reading. Two of the three are available now, with the third coming soon.

While my money is on the upgrade path for Stitch! The Manga Collection, that’s because the two volumes that make up this set are now in one package. Even though Best Friends Forever! is not part of the collection, maybe it’ll be added in due time. Stitch and the Samurai has its own compiled collection (Amazon link), so that’s what fans need to know when comparing this upcoming release to past editions.

As for the other titles, they include:

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When Hotori Doesn’t Have To Sing Along to Billy Joel’s “Pressure”

Hotori: Simply Wishing for Hope is a short anime about a girl losing herself to an unknown condition and the android built to inherit a dead child’s memories, and their unlikely bond asks the most essential questions about what makes us human.

Hotori Wishing for Hope The quest for memories is the focus in Hotori: Simply Wishing for Hope, a short film about a girl who can’t have a tomorrow. She’s struggling with an unknown condition that’s steadily erasing who she is. She’ll become a shell of what she was, and in contrast, she meets an android built to inherit the memories of a deceased child. His parents know Suzu is no replacement, but when a life is cut too short, is it a fair trade to gain what another has lost? That’s the existential crisis at the heart of this heartbreaking (or is that warming?) story about why life is precious, and why we shouldn’t take every day for granted.

Hotori originally aired as a Japanese television special and was directed by Takashi Anno (Maison Ikkoku, Blood Reign: Curse of the Yoma). It won third place at the 2004 Animax Grand Prix awards and although this release comes very late, the themes feel timely when you consider what defines an AI, its personality, and what exactly constitutes a soul. Memories aren’t the only piece of the puzzle. There’s “Personality,” which can apparently be extracted and put into code. We’re not meant to unpack how all of that works, and what’s genuinely poignant is the relationship these two tweens share.

Continue reading “When Hotori Doesn’t Have To Sing Along to Billy Joel’s “Pressure””

Is It Souls Chapel or Soule’s Chapel? Even Kentucky’s Ghosts Can’t Decide.

Souls Chapel builds on real-world folklore but struggles to ground its story in Appalachian roots. Strong ideas and atmosphere are there, but uneven pacing and missed cultural depth keep it from fully landing.

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Jack C. Young and D.W. Daring’s Souls Chapel has its heart in the right place. It draws from what they present as a real-life legend, with Young directing and Daring digging through urban legends to shape the story. I suspect just where the writer found inspiration is from the Lake Cumberland Tactical Innovations LLC website.

What is confirmed is that a chapel once stood there, and that the American Civil War fractured its congregation. Those are noted in historical records. Beyond that, the details which included who was the pastor fade into speculation. That isn’t necessarily a flaw. Folklore often fills gaps where history falls silent. When stories pass through enough voices, they shift and take on a life of their own, especially when tied to a burned site and that there’s a cemetary nearby.

Continue reading “Is It Souls Chapel or Soule’s Chapel? Even Kentucky’s Ghosts Can’t Decide.”

The Best Animated Short Films To Remember From The 2026 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival offered a strong slate of animated short films this year, with stories ranging from quiet science fiction to cultural memory, climate anxiety, and personal identity.

After certain events, sometimes it’s hard to get all my thoughts compressed down fast, especially after watching some short films. The time even spent remotely becomes a blur. And for events that span less than a week, it can feel like a weekend. As a result, it’s hard to believe the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival is over. May the Fourth brought its own challenges for obvious reasons, so offering the last day online was a smart call. Not only can those not able to attend catch a selection from home, but also, what’s offered isn’t always geolocked.

This year, I opted to focus almost entirely on animated works, and the shorts since they rarely get their due. And what’s covered here are my thoughts on those pieces that really impressed me:

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Who’s the Boss? Can Lee Cronin’s The Mummy or Universal’s Sand the Test of Time?

When Lee Cronin’s The Mummy leaves theatres as fast at arrived, what’s presented is better off set to unwind as a pulp piece to put in the VCR.

Lee Cronin's The Mummy Movie Poster Lee Cronin‘s The Mummy sits in an unusual place. It isn’t wholly inspired by the mythology of Ancient Egypt, and that’s a problem. When the spirit that possesses Katie (Natalie Grace) does not hail from this world, this filmmaker misses what makes the very word meaningful. The word alone carries weight, and most people will connect it to legends of yore, ancient curses, and maybe hope Anubis makes a cameo to fix what’s wrong.

What this writer/director offers feels more in tune with Evil Dead Rise than a true reinvention of the genre. For fans of the Universal and Hammer cycles, these films usually centre on the resurrected’s longing for a reincarnated soul. This storyteller pivots entirely away from that romance because Blumhouse gives him complete creative freedom. Instead, the result is a mashup that blends The Exorcist with Evil Dead, with a dash of Hausu for good measure. When the action takes place in an enclosed space and gets almost comedically gross, that Japanese film came to mind.

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