2023 JAPAN CUTS: FESTIVAL OF NEW JAPANESE FILM REVIEW!
Haru Omesaki (Cristina Valenzuela) was born and raised in Japan, but has recently moved to Los Angeles hoping for a brighter future. She and her brother work for Okamoto Kitchen, a Japanese food truck competing for customers on the busy LA streets. With a food truck festival just around the corner, Okamoto Kitchen must do all that they can to win the hearts, and money, of the locals.
This is the most Japanese thing that I’ve ever seen. I understand how that might sound distasteful, but the reality is that this film fully accepts that it’s part of Japanese culture and it wants to bring every bit of it to life. Okamoto Kitchen is very aware of itself, and the team behind the pilot episode of this series (one that definitely deserves a chance) knows exactly what they are creating. Sure, they feed into some stereotypes of anime and Japanese culture, but I think the way that they attack the subject matter allows viewers to appreciate it. When viewers can get a bit of a chuckle out of what they are watching it helps them to connect with the content–and that’s the case here. Viewers may laugh at the content a little bit throughout the course of this episode, but we are never denigrating it–we are becoming emotionally attached, and that attachment extends itself throughout the entirety of the episode.
There’s a piece of this show that dabbles in the idea of the American dream just enough that it becomes familiar to a wide range of viewers. Anyone that has moved to America looking for a better life, for an opportunity can appreciate how Okamoto Kitchen plays out. And for anyone born and raised here, we understand the hustle and bustle nature of the narrative. Okamoto Kitchen speaks to its viewers in a very real way.
Okamoto Kitchen is hypersexualized, often finding sex in unique places throughout the course of its run. It plays with this idea, though, never taking itself too serious in this regard. The episode isn’t encouraging sex, but rather using it in a playful way. We all know the saying “sex sells,” and that’s absolutely the case here. There are playful sexual nuances strewn throughout, and it adds a layer to the film that isn’t necessary, but incredibly helpful when it comes to building an audience.
This episode (and likely the series as a whole) will likely find success on a larger scale as a result of its fun and sexual nature–however, the true, relatable aspects that exist throughout as well will allow it hit home and reach viewers emotionally. Okamoto Kitchen seems like a silly anime at first glance, something without a message or any real meaning–but there is so much more to the show than initially meets the eye. The show is a touching tribute to both Japanese and American culture, and a genuinely fun time to boot.
Directed by Gerald Abraham & Cristina Vee.
Written by Mykal Williams & Rafael Hernán Gamboa.
Starring Cristina Valenzuela, P.M. Seymour, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐½/10
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