Megan Thee Stallion's Anime Fantasy Comes to Life in Los Angeles
Guests will dress in custom anime-inspired school uniforms, race through a team 'floor is lava" challenge, and go head-to-head in a Mortal Kombat 1 battle—all while collecting exclusive charms from Megan for their performance and flair. The day also includes a cooking session featuring Megan's personal ramen recipe, a taste of her signature tequila, and a final surprise loot box reveal that caps off the Otaku transformation. And yes, Megan will be there in person, hyping up her crew and handing out special rewards.
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Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
Around Town: London's famed Wagamama lands in Mumbai, here's what to expect at this ramen giant
Wagamama, the popular global ramen chain, made its India debut late last month. Located on the first floor of the restored Cambata Building — home to the iconic Eros Cinema and the newly launched Swadesh by Nita Ambani — the 136-seater in South Mumbai has opened to a warm reception, with queues even on a Tuesday evening. Born in London's Bloomsbury in 1992, Wagamama is said to have flipped the script on Asian dining with its fast-paced, no-rules approach, serving food inspired by Japan's buzzing ramen bars and Asia's boldest flavours. Since then, it has become something of a cult classic across Europe and the Middle East. Its India entry signals more than the arrival of another restaurant; it underscores the world's growing attention to India's rising, spending population. The Mumbai outpost, spread across 4,000 sqft, offers a space that's minimal yet warm, reflecting its signature design with concrete and wood textures, bench seating, and origami-style hanging lamps. At the community tables, young parents, suited-up colleagues, and elderly diners share elbow space. The live open kitchen stays true to its ramen-bar inspiration; everything is served the moment it is ready. As soon as we placed our order, staff scribbled table numbers and details onto our paper placemats, and within minutes, appetisers began arriving. The menu features Wagamama's global hits: gyozas, katsu curry, yasai yaki soba, kare burosu, donburi bowls, and baos (prawn, lamb, chicken, and vegetarian). Over half the menu is vegetarian or vegan. We began with steamed yasai gyoza — lightly pan-fried, though slightly undercooked. The sticky miso corn ribs came alive with a touch of chilli sauce. The teriyaki renkon, developed for the Indian market, leaned sweeter than expected. The standouts? Firecracker cauliflower tucked into pillowy soft baos, delivering both crunch and heat, and kare burosu ramen with shichimi-coated silken tofu, udon noodles, and vegetables in a spicy, curried broth. For dessert, banana katsu, a golden-fried indulgence, balanced sweetness and crunch beautifully. At the core of Wagamama is kaizen, the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement. When we mentioned the food leaning towards sweetness in some dishes, Chef Sunil Shetty acknowledged the feedback. 'Some guests are happy we've retained the London-style Wagamama. Others find it sweet. But we're working on it,' he said. Karan Kapur of K Hospitality Corp, the group that spent nearly two years bringing Wagamama to India, setting up the supply chain, and conducting exhaustive research and hundreds of trials, echoed the sentiment. Acknowledging India's diverse palate, he shared that they have added dishes for every palate, and they are also in the process of launching an India-specific chilli sauce for those who prefer a fiery kick. Kapur is also looking to take Wagamama across the country, with plans to launch 100 outlets over the next decade. Each opening, he says, will be deliberate and rooted in quality, not speed. Next stop: Delhi-NCR, where the second Wagamama is expected to open by April 2026, either in the heart of Delhi, the bustle of Gurgaon, or both.
Scroll.in
4 hours ago
- Scroll.in
A manga artist from Kyoto is winning praise for her delicate drawings of Goa's stately mansions
In 1990, when Japanese manga artist Akeru Barros Pereira visited her husband's ancestral village of Cansaulim in Goa, she was captivated by everything she saw. 'I'd walk around the quiet village with my baby on my back,' she said 'I had a camera and was fascinated by the village scenes – especially the houses around.' She was so charmed by stately Goan houses, she took pictures of them even as the family drove to the airport to return to Japan. A few years later, when their children had finished high school, her husband, Joao Barros Pereira, a university professor in Kyoto, encouraged her to start drawing again. In the 1970s and '80s, as an undergraduate at Nara University, Barros Pereira had drawn 13 books of manga – the distinctive Japanese style of comics and graphic novels. She had published them under the pen name Toto Akeru. She had stopped when their first child was born. But now, with more time on her hands, Akeru Barros Pereira decided to get going again. 'I remembered those pictures taken all those years ago, and based on those pictures, I began drawing Goan houses,' she said. Using colour pencils, water colours and fountain pen, sitting in an apartment in Kyoto, Barros Pereira began to make her drawings on Japanese paper. In her work, she recreated all the graceful elements of the Goan house – the elegance of cornices and pilasters, plinths and pediments, ornate stucco work, arched doorways, sloping red-tiled roofs, finials, balcaos, decorative gate posts, oyster shell windows, eaves boards, corbels and wrought iron railings. The contrast between the homes in Japan and Goa could not be more striking, the artist said. Rural homes in earthquake-prone Japan are built of wood and paper screens, while the apartment blocks in space-starved Japanese cities are compact. They are quite different from the stone and lime plaster structures of Goa. Her pictures are enveloped with coconut trees and dense foliage. They attest to her fascination with Goan flora and give her works an ethereal, mysterious air. The drawings were so atmospheric, architect Gerard da Cunha decided to publish them as a book in 2013. The Indo-Portuguese House, with text by da Cunha, features 50 of Barros Pereira's works. 'The Indo-Portuguese house is the richest legacy of Goan society,' the book declares. 'It is the result of European rule and all its cultural influences melding with its Indian subjects and their sensibilities, creating an extraordinary house. A house which is neither Western nor Indian, but having the attributes of a well-developed style, as rich and independent as any in this world.' Da Cunha's professional association with Barros Pereira predates the book. In 2008, he bought some of her drawings at an exhibition at the Kala Academy in Panjim to display in his highly regarded Houses of Goa Museum in village of Torda. In the preface to the book, da Cunha explains why he admires Barros Pereira's work. 'Here was somebody who really understood the nuances of the Indo-Portuguese house and could capture its many forms,' he writes. '…Akeru's paintings of the Goan house have been taking up an important corner of my Museum for the last five years and it has helped explain this wonderful house in a way I never could. It has also brought great pleasure and understanding to all who visit.' What makes her work so remarkable? Perhaps it is because she has the keener eye of the outside observer? Sitting in the airy, light-filled antique drawing room of the Barros Pereira mansion in Cansaulim, with an array of French windows opening onto a wrap-around verandah, it is easy to understand Barros Pereira's enchantment with the architectural style. All around are similar manors, all equally grand, all seeped in centuries of family histories in rural Cansaulim. Barros Pereira, who studied mathematics and philosophy, is a self-taught artist. Publishing manga at university honed her skills, she said, though those comics used only pen and ink. The 1970s and '80s were considered the Golden Age of manga, with dozens of magazines being published in a range of genres, aimed at a variety of demographics. 'In every elementary, junior high school, there'd be one or two manga writers or anime style artists,' Barros Pereira said. 'Everybody wanted to become a manga writer…' Her own fantasy genre manga novels were set in a fictional country, definitely Eastern. 'I wanted to introduce Japanese young women and girls to countries other than Europe and the US, which held steady appeal at that time,' Barros Pereira said. Since she began drawing Goan houses around 2005, she almost never created her work in Goa. Two- or three-week annual vacations to the state after a 24-hour journey there made it too hectic for anything more than site visits, she said. Instead, she would take lots of photographs and begin work when she was back in Kyoto, as time permitted. Her work is lent some of its uniqueness from the ultra-thin Japanese paper she uses: it crumbles when wet and is usually mounted on board or cloth or ready purchased as pre-mounted shikishi boards. There are many varieties of Japanese calligraphy paper, each of which gives the work a different effect, she said. 'Japanese calligraphy paper works amazingly well with colour pencils,' Barros Pereira said. She says it adds a soft tone to the colouring that gives it the stand-out effect that characterises her work. She has experimented with pens, using a fountain pen earlier, and more recently switching to a calligraphy pen that does not fade as easily. Over the years, Barros Pereira has drawn more than 200 Goan houses. But she avoids drawing derelict houses, or ruins – preferring to present houses as they are meant to be, renovating them in her paintings, even if the structures she has shot require a little maintenance. 'These houses are living entities, heaving with the family histories and dramas of generations past,' said Barros Pereira. 'I like to capture the hope and promise that they will live on, with new generations.'
Time of India
14 hours ago
- Time of India
19-year-old Japanese idol Shuna Amamiya allegedly raped and secretly filmed by her producer's boyfriend; reportedly pregnant
A disturbing controversy has shaken Japan's idol industry, as 19-year-old rookie idol Shuna Amamiya of the group Pretty Chuu has accused Taichi Saito - the longtime boyfriend and business partner of the group's producer, Yurinya - of serious misconduct. According to Japanese media reports on August 1, Shuna was secretly photographed while sleeping at Yurinya's house and was later sexually assaulted. The situation allegedly resulted in a pregnancy. Although Saito initially apologized, he reportedly assaulted her again. Following the incident, Shuna stepped away from group activities, with the agency citing health concerns. However, it has since come to light that she was allegedly threatened by Saito, who warned her to stay silent or risk having Pretty Chuu destroyed. He also reportedly attempted to buy her silence. How did the controversy come to light? Feeling trapped and unsure of what to do, Shuna reached out to a YouTuber for help and eventually reported the incident to the police. A recorded conversation between her and Taichi Saito later leaked online, sparking massive public outrage and drawing widespread backlash from fans and the general public. A brief history of Yurinya's boyfriend (Taichi)'s sexual Shuna, a member of the idol group "Pretty Chuu" produced by Yurinya and Taichi, was stripped and secretly photographed by Taichi while sleeping at Yurinya's home.↓Taichi apologized over the phone (proof… How did Yurinya, Taichi Saito's partner and Pretty Chuu's producer, respond? Yurinya confirmed the reports and publicly expressed her support for Shuna. She urged people to give the young idol space and time to recover, emphasizing that Shuna should not feel pressured to be active online while dealing with the aftermath. Yurinya took to Instagram and made it clear that she has cut all personal and business ties with Saito. "Recently, information has been circulated on social media that my partner in both public and private life, Saito Taichi, has impregnated Amamiya Shuna, a member of the idol group "Pretty Chuu" that I produce. I myself first learned of this matter through this message, and after confirming with the people involved, I found that the content was generally true," she wrote in Japanese which is roughly translated to English. "Currently, my top priority is her physical and mental care, and as a producer, I am doing my best to respond to her needs. Furthermore, as a producer and as Mr. Saito's partner, I would like to offer my deepest and sincere apologies to Shuna Amamiya, who is a dear colleague of mine, for causing her such distress. We would also like to offer our deepest apologies to the other members of Pretty Chuu, the fans who support the group on a daily basis, and all the people involved who have looked after us, for causing so much concern and inconvenience, she added. "Pretty Chuu is something I have grown and cherished my whole life. We feel strong indignation and deep disappointment in Mr. Saito for committing such an irrational act against such a valued colleague. We believe that Mr. Saito's actions were extremely irresponsible and despicable, both as a person and as a member of society. His words and actions, which lacked trust and respect, deeply hurt Ms. Shuna Amamiya's feelings and threatened the credibility and safety of the group, which cannot be overlooked. "Not only as a producer, but as a human being, I strongly condemn the actions of Saito Taichi and hereby clearly declare that I will have no further ties with him. It was an extremely difficult and painful decision to make, as we had spent a long time together over five and a half years and had become partners we trusted, but from now on I would like to look forward little by little and live life as myself. "Going forward, we will do our utmost to prevent recurrence, including reviewing our group and management structures, so that all members of Pretty Chuu can work safely and positively. Once again, we would like to offer our deepest and sincere apologies to all our fans and all those involved for the great inconvenience and concern caused. As a producer, I intend to continue to devote my life to my work, as I have done until now, so that Pretty Chuu can continue to be loved by everyone," she concluded. More about Shuna Amamiya Shuna Amamiya had only just debuted with Pretty Chuu in May 2025, making the news even more shocking for fans. The scandal has sparked wider discussions online about how well idols are protected, the power dynamics behind the scenes, and the toll such situations take on their mental health. Many fans have rallied around Shuna, calling for justice and urging the industry to put stronger protections in place for young idols. To stay updated on the stories that are going viral, follow Indiatimes Trending.
