Fall 2021 Update

The past few months have been chock full of events, although I don't feel as busy or suffocated as I felt earlier in the year.

Since the 10th Anniversary event, I went through the third installment of HE★VENS GARDEN, the Shining Store, Shining Star Stage, and Metamorphose. The Grand Shining Hotel cafe collaboration with Sweets Paradise just started a few days ago, and then there's 7th Stage coming up...

I guess I can start with a very short summary of my impressions of the last few events:

BLACK GARDEN has been my favorite HE★VENS event by far. I fell in love with the visual novel on April Fool's and couldn't wait for actual merch to be released. It really solidified my love for Shion and I really enjoyed the illustrations for each member, especially Van who almost always has a grin on his face. His ending in the novel left such a strong impression on me. I'm really curious as to what they'll do next year!

Shining Star Stage was amazing. I did have my slight gripes about seating which I'll get out of the way now--it's not as enjoyable if you're watching the show from the far ends, because the visual becomes somewhat distorted. But the first show I saw was from the center block and it blew me away! It felt like they were alive, in that their movements were so incredibly smooth and realistic. The set list was also a mix of old and new songs so that was nice as well. And I know I talk about merch a lot but it's absolutely gorgeous and made me want to buy everything! Since then there's been an announcement of a DVD (thank goodness!) and an encore show in March. I don't know if the country will be open to tourists by then, but I think the success of the first round means this won't be the last time they do these virtual shows!

Metamorphose was like another dream come true! Seeing the idols in makeup made me feel a way about them (especially Ren), but also about myself. I wish they had done just a little more with the theme but since it's such a different concept from what they've done in the past (not including Magical Ichiko from the visual novel which was done for humor), maybe they didn't wanna take a big risk.

Now that the Shining Store is finished (excluding the pop-up shops moving around the country for the next few months), I can give my honest thoughts about it: I'm not sure that it was very successful compared to previous years. I know the All-Star Shop set a high bar, but the themes this year didn't really spark my interest. I was confused by the "Delicious & Tasty" theme which had no real food or drink collaborations with it. Instead it was somewhat randomly matched with a wristwatch collab--which was an okay concept--but not everyone wears watches, and some of the designs seem a little too elaborate. None of them sold out at any point during the shop's opening in Harajuku, unlike the Room Wear from last winter and the perfumes from All-Star Shop. "Classy Sailor" had a color scheme that was very easy on the eyes, and I admit I bought more curry than I expected to buy, despite not eating curry that often.

The other evidence that the Shining Store may not have been so popular this year was that they had three different promotions going on encouraging purchases, such as presenting a ticket from SSS to get a free novelty card with a purchase of at least 1000 yen. I had never seen such a push to buy merch before, so it may have been a last minute campaign after low sales the first weekend. Also didn't help that a third wave of 7th Stage merch had been released AND the SSS merch was gorgeous. Hopefully next year will be more successful!

Finally, I've visited Sweets Paradise once already, and the food is actually pretty nice! However, the visit overall is expensive, considering you have to purchase the buffet along with the collaboration items. I couldn't order Ren and Tokiya's drinks at the same time because all of the sugar AND having coffee in the evening seemed like a bad idea ^^;

Speaking of which, I'm taking requests for Sweets Paradise merch right now, and soon I'll finally take a look at the Grand Shining Hotel items that will be sold in December so I can prepare a group order for that as well!

On the translation front, which is why this blog exists in the first place: I'm finally back to translating pretty regularly now that the 10th Anniversary Book is out! I have most of STARISH's Q&A's done and will continue to release them over the next few weeks. After that I'll take a look at what else I can translate without taking too much time. Unfortunately I've pushed the Beautiful Memories translations aside for now but hopefully I can continue those at some point late this year or early next year. 

So with that said, my new Ko-fi goal is to earn enough for about half the cost of a new computer (or a tablet, haven't decided yet) to buy sometime next year!

My Ko-fi with goal details is here: https://t.co/b5OXftJ8Ft

(Yes even the keys come off when I type 😭) pic.twitter.com/nwToCBGM3P

— 🎤💜Sooyong🧡🎷 (@bitchfacetokiya) November 15, 2021

As mentioned on Twitter, my new donation goal is to raise money to help pay for a new computer or tablet! I bought my MacBook in 2012 and have been resisting an upgrade for the last few years, but I think it's finally time to let go and invest in a new device before I suffer some irreversible loss of work or security risks! You can see the details of my goal and my work on Ko-fi!

What an incredible year it's been, I can't believe 2021 is almost over! Hopefully I'll have one last update before the year is over! ☆

UtaPri Expo 10th Anniversary Report

I shouldn't be surprised that UtaPri's 10th Anniversary has kept me busy all the way into their 11th Anniversary...this blog gets less and less active every year but I'm still devoted to keeping it up. Even Twitter doesn't give me the room to write out my thoughts like this.

I can't believe 2021 marks five years since I started this blog. I still can't believe that a random decision to start watching the anime about seven years ago turned into this. UtaPri is my life now, and I don't say that in a bad way at all. I'm so happy that I came across this series, not just for what it is but what I've been able to learn through it.

While I can't say that things are back to "normal" here in Japan, UtaPri Expo really made me feel a sense of nostalgia with all of the events that I've experienced in the past. To be able to see so many UtaPri fans walking around Ikebukuro again made me so happy. I also saw some friends again for the first time in months. One of them I've known for about as long as I've been doing this blog, and it was nice to reminisce about how we met by chance as cosplayers (though we call it 'fate' ^^), then how we had the whole 6th Stage experience and went to the Legend Star Animate Cafe, and how I went from being clueless about trading items to becoming a near pro.

About the Expo itself--perhaps "Expo" is a grand word in comparison to what it actually was--it was a nice to see the timeline of UtaPri's history and all of the campaigns and events done over time. The exhibit didn't come anywhere close to actually displaying all of what's been done but they covered pretty much the entire history.

The highlight was really the Keita Maruyama x Utapri collaborations and seeing the costumes on display with my own eyes. I was a bit emotional because Shining Dream Festa in 2016 was my first UtaPri event. I didn't really know what I was getting into and the CD had pretty much been released as I was preparing to fly to Japan. Of course I loved many of the UtaPri songs that had been released up to that point, but NIGHT DREAM captivated me like no other. I never thought I would be able to see those costumes or the Setsugetsuka costumes in person ever again, and certainly not as close as I did at Expo!

After the Festa and Setsugetsuka room, there was a waiting room where visitors could watch an interview with Maruyama-sensei talk about the newest costumes for STAR WISH, QUARTET CROWN and ENDLESS SCORE. He really put in a lot of thought into each group's concept and even says that he's become a bit of a fan himself ^^

What followed was a room where you could view shorts of the music videos for each song. The 10th Anniversary CD and music videos had already been released by that point, but I didn't want spoilers leading up to Expo. Some people had brought their penlights as if they were at a live show, which I almost wish I had thought of doing myself (but I had a mountain of merch to pick up later so that wouldn't have been possible). I was absolutely floored when I watched STAR WISH for the first time and watched the duet between Tokiya and Ren...I couldn't believe it. I feel like UtaPri has been putting those two together quite often recently--there's no denying that they share some qualities in common that make them an interesting, opposite-yet-similar pair...and Ren refuses to leave Tokiya alone so there's that as well. I wish the lighting had allowed for better pictures, but at least I could take a photo of my two favorites together.

QUARTET CROWN, while not my favorite genre, also got stuck in my head at one point. For one, everyone lost it when they saw that the members weren't wearing shirts under their jackets. But the video is also incredibly suggestive and I'm really pleased, not in a horny way (lol) but in that I love the idea of QN continuing to evolve in their role as the "mature" group. How far will they take it, I wonder...

It was also nice to see a more friendly, brighter side of HEAVENS in ENDLESS SCORE! Their paint can theme reminded me of Shining Art several years ago, and it was cute to continue seeing their "family" dynamic as a group. I'm really happy that this group also got designs from Maruyama-sensei and I hope it continues in the future!

Some people may not care for fashion or fashion designers and might be wondering, "Why does this collab get the most attention for 10th Anniversary when there's so much other content?" And the reason is for the same reason why many people want to go to Maji Love Live and see the seiyuu perform on stage: it creates a sense of the idols being real, living and breathing people. UtaPri idols are more than just "characters" at this point; thanks to a huge team of designers, composers, performers, staff, and even us fans, these "characters" have taken on whole personalities and identities.

Finally, there were congratulatory messages from the voice actors, Kurahana-sensei, Elements Garden, and the producers. Pictures weren't permitted, but you can see Kurahana-sensei's drawing of Haruka on her official Twitter.

There were also samples of the 10th Anniversary Memorial Portraits for each member. They're each signed by hand and are available for pre-order until around July (and they're also included in my latest group order for UtaPri Expo merch).

Even though I was only able to see the exhibit once, it will stay in my memory the way Shining Dream Festa and Setsugetsuka -Eternal Moment- has stayed with me.

Outside of the exhibit was a display open to anyone to take photos. Even after my own visit to the exhibit, I returned several times to take more pictures!

One of the uncommon features for this event was a pre-order of merch for pickup. People who won the first ticket lottery (I was one of them) were eligible to pre-order KMUP goods as well as the 10th Anniversary Book ahead, and then pick up their order at the event. While it wasn't possible to see photos of the actual merch, I absolutely loved the idea of not having to worry about these items being sold out. Often times it was difficult for people to enjoy an event because they were anxious to get in the merch line, so even though this pickup feature didn't apply to all merch, it was nice to be able to relax knowing that a fair amount of items were already ordered and waiting for me. 

This event has really made me think about how much has changed in the several years that I've been a fan of UtaPri, and of course I can say that the changes have been for the better. I'm really looking forward to more events for years to come!☆

Spring 2021 Update

It's been a crazy few months. Updating this blog had been pushed further and further towards the back of my list of priorities as I juggled work and group orders. Now that I've had a much-needed break, I can sit down and write out some thoughts and updates.

The amount of items I'm storing for other people is finally under control for now. I'm very relieved that shipping has been going smoothly despite being delayed, especially for the US. I also appreciate the cooperation of those who were reluctant to change shipping methods but did so anyway. I really wish things could go back to normal, but it looks like this will be the new norm for a while. I'd still like to ship out as much as I can, since the amount I have in my possession can be a bit of a mental burden as I forget to include certain items in packages or have trouble remembering which trading items I assigned to whom.

On the translation front, I'm happy to say that after several months, I've completed translations for the Secret Garden Party Secret Episodes! This is my first time completing an entire series so I'm glad to say that I have a collection of translations to share!

You can view the translations in my Ko-fi gallery for now. In the future I'll have the remaining works posted here on my blog.

I've been in a bit of an emotional slump as of late. For the first time in about a decade, I wasn't able to visit my family and friends in the US. I finally left Tokyo for a few hours after a year of being here, taking a short, uneventful trip next door to Yokohama. I miss seeing crowds of UtaPri fans at events. I feel fortunate to be living in Tokyo which makes attending pop-up shops and events much easier, but the pandemic still makes it feel like an experience that's difficult to enjoy to its fullest.

But at least I've found some pleasure in (finally!) getting back to playing All Star After Secret, the most recent visual novel. I think there'll be a sense of satisfaction once I'm finally done and think about what I'd like to tackle next.

Speaking of tackling projects and such, the 10th Anniversary Book will be out this year! I'm very excited about it! I can't believe it's been about five years since I started on the 5th Anniversary Book, and although I really wish I had the book in Japan with me, I think I've translated some of what I think is the most interesting content. I'm anxious to see what HEAVENS content will be in the new book and I hope we're supplied with new information about each member.

I plan to translate parts of the book, probably not the entire thing as with the 5th Anniversary Book. Once I see what it contains I'll start selecting parts here and there, and hopefully I'll have at least the same amount of content I translated before. We'll see!☆