Love Week

In the early morning of September 25th Japan Time, Jinguji Ren appeared on Twitter to promote Rose Rose Romance. That night, I called my mom on the phone. We talked about a few things, some small and some serious, and then she said she’d send some money for me to book a flight for winter break.

Ladies & Gentlemen! 神宮寺レンLoveWeekの始まりだよ！

— 神宮寺 レン (@Ren_J_SH) September 24, 2019

I found out later that it was National Daughters Day in the U.S., which made the phone call even more special. But...





...three days later, my mother died. The money she had given me to fly home for the holidays was instead used to book a flight for her funeral. She was only 60 years old.



I had a few things to take my mind off of the trauma. I managed to visit the Shining Store. I went to see Starish Secret Party with one of my closest friends as originally planned, which really helped. Tokiya was the MC for the show. Nonetheless, for the first few days I didn’t even know if I’d be able to make it through the day without having a breakdown.



And so on Twitter, when I said that I really needed Ren, it was because I was away from my family for several days while grieving and anxiously waiting to see my mother’s face again, knowing she had already passed away.

I still remember the moment I fell in love with you, Ren.

I couldn't have asked for a better time for your album's release.

I wish I wasn't on a plane right now but believe me when I say that I really need you for the next few days, so I'm glad you're here.

I love you. 🧡

— Bitchface Tokiya (🌹🧡LoveWeek🧡🌹) (@bitchfacetokiya) October 1, 2019

Throughout the next two weeks, I thought not only about my final conversation with her, but I also watched Ren’s tweets. He never got to know his mother face-to-face, but he knows that her spirit lives in him, much like my mother’s spirit lives in me.



Those messages may have come from a fictional character, but the love--and the roses--were more than real for me. As I cried everyday, missing her and trying to figure out how to adjust to life without her being on this earth, Ren provided a comfort so fitting and well-timed that my love and appreciation for him grew even stronger than I could have ever thought possible.



The poster advertisement for Rose Rose Romance was posted in Ikebukuro Station the day before my flight to the USA.



The album was released while I was on the plane, trying to hold myself together.



The day after my mother’s funeral and burial, Ren sent his last bouquet of roses with the message, “I love you.”

愛してる。

I love you. pic.twitter.com/vaEhmSAmBv

— 神宮寺 レン (@Ren_J_SH) October 9, 2019

As I am still awaiting my upcoming return to Japan and readjustment to everyday life, I want to remember not only my mother’s life and the joy, inspiration, and wisdom she gave me, but also the joy, inspiration, and affection that Ren and UtaPri gives me while I grieve over her death.



Of course, I haven’t forgotten all of the love and support I received from social media followers and group order members, even when I didn’t give specifics of what was going on. I was somewhat afraid that people wouldn’t trust me, after I had already suffered mental anguish earlier this year which affected my ability to do what I enjoyed doing for UtaPri fans. This year has been incredibly rough, and though I knew I was capable of handling it, you all encouraged me to put my well-being first, which I have been doing especially for the past few weeks.



Thank you, and I really appreciate you. And that’s why I will continue to do whatever I can for the UtaPri community, even if it’s a little bit.

October 2019 Special Update

Thank you to everyone who saw and answered my update on Twitter. For those who haven't, I finally have some time to provide information concerning the next few weeks.


I have flown to the USA for family-related reasons and plan to be there for at least two weeks. Needless to say, this affects a few things concerning sales and pre-orders, so I'll try to outline everything as best as I can.


I am in the process of completing orders for the Shining Web Store. I've ordered all of the Q-Pot items and I also picked up some items at the pop-up shop. I will be completing the rest of the order online in the next few days, so everything should be going as planned. If you haven't paid your invoice yet, please do so. Sadly I won't be able to trade anything until I get back to Japan, but hopefully there will be a chance to get something done when I do.


The order for Dream Star Live (the UtaPri x EnStars collaboration) was marked as "Preparing Shipment" so I'm expecting that order to be delivered while I'm away. Depending on the ship date, I may need to have it rerouted to a friend's address, and if that happens it may take a little time to go through everything.


I should be back before Secret Garden Party items arrive, so those should remain unaffected.


If you recently paid for shipping on an order, made a purchase or asked to purchase something recently, I will handle that as soon as I get back.


Concerning the recent post I made on the 6th stage Ring Lights that some of you have asked about, I completed the purchase from seller on Yahoo Auctions and the rings have arrived at my friend's place. Pretty much all of the rings have potential buyers at this point, I just need to get back to each person and finalize the cost.


I think that should cover everything. If there's something that I've forgotten, please don't hesitate to remind me, I'll be looking at messages, though it's a possibility I won't answer right away.


Lastly, thank you very much to everyone who sent well wishes, and please don't worry about me. Continuing to work on anything UtaPri-related puts my mind at ease, so I'll do my best.

Fall 2019 Update

Finally, some time to sit down and give a proper update!

Group Orders

This time I'll be covering all information about the Shining Store, from the first Shopping Service in August to the current group pre-orders. So if you signed up for any of these, the information probably applies to you!

• Shining Store Shopping Service (from August): If you had any "sold out" items in your invoice, I'm retiring store pickups so that I can focus on the online group orders and trading items. If there's anything you didn't get that you still want to buy and don't mind waiting until February/March of next year, please sign up for the Shining Web Store group order!
• Shining Web Store Trading Item Group Order: If you signed up before September 10th, I've picked up some trading items from the store already so I can have more time to exchange for requested characters. My next visit will probably not be until the end of this month, but I aim to pick up more at that time. If you only ordered trading items and I finished getting everything you asked for, I can send it sooner than the posted February/March release.
• Shining Web Store General Item Group Order: I'll start sending invoices this weekend. If you pay before the end of September, I may be able to pick up items from the pop-up store. If I get everything from your sign-up, I can send it early; if not, I'll hold what I have and combine it with the online order. If you ordered trading items, it may take extra time if I haven't finished trading.
• Other Group Orders: Broccoli Girls Shop (Color Ribbon series),  anime Japan, and Heavens Garden items came in a while ago. I'm holding orders for anyone who also bought merch from Dream Star Live and Secret Garden Party, which isn't in yet. All of these orders are NOT eligible to be combined with Shining Web Store, as I'm trying to send everything out by the end of the year.

If you haven't signed up for the above group orders, you can find the sign-up forms in my Group Order Information page. The deadline is coming up soon on Wednesday, September 25th.

I don't know what UtaPri will come up with next, but right now I don't plan to host another group order for the rest of this year. If I do, the new combined shipping period will start AFTER I ship all of the Shining Store stuff to everyone.

Other News

• I've just recently set up a Google Pay account and I'm looking into how the payment procedure works. So far I want group orders and shipping invoices to go to PayPal, and general sales (items in my inventory for instant purchase) to go to Google Pay or some other payment method. I had one person test this so far and they ended up downloading the app, but I would prefer for people to be able to pay the invoice without having to download anything new. Hopefully I can figure things out by the end of the year!
• Congratulations to those who were able to see Maji Love Kingdom in North America (or are seeing it soon)! I've seen a few tweets from people who want to petition for a UK screening, I hope that happens!
• I recently went to Tokyo Game Show, and sadly there wasn't anything other than a display for (yet another) release of Repeat for the Nintendo Switch. I was there for other reasons anyway but I did take a picture (seen above).
• Some of you may remember a post I made on my Tumblr last year about popularity rankings when it comes to trading. I've been doing a lot of trading this year and noticed some changes ever since Maji Love Kingdom, and I found it very interesting so I hope to write about it soon!

For now that's all I have to report! With only two pre-orders left this year I'm hoping to have time to reorganize everything for next year, but for now it looks like I won't have to quit hosting group orders completely!☆