Malaysia’s first Utano Prince Sama fan-event: MAJI LOVE STARISH TOURS: BOUND TO MALAYSIA

By: JELISSA LIM FIDELIS

SELANGOR: Malaysia’s first ever fan-hosted “Uta no Prince Sama (Utapri)” fan screening event held in U+Plus Space on 10 June saw a huge success

Uta no Prince-sama (Utapri) is a Japanese idol franchise by Broccoli.

“Maji Love STARISH Tours” was released in Japan and released internationally to selected countries such as the US, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, China and Thailand

“This event was actually born out of frustration due to the lack of Utapri international events from Broccoli,” said Goh Tze Wern, who was part of the three member organizer team

“The first movie, Maji Love Kingdom, was shown in Malaysian theaters in 2019, however, this time this movie would not be shown here So instead of being upset, we decided to do it ourselves."

“It was a joy to be able to organize this event from a fan's perspective as we knew from the start what the fans would want to experience."

It took us about 3 months of hard work and from the smiles we received, we knew we did a great job in the end,” said Goh.

“Budget and manpower was a huge challenge for us However, we are happy to say that we did our best with what we have.”

Besides the two movie screenings, another highlight of the event was the “Itabag Decoration” contest Participants had to do a catwalk while parading their own decorated pinned up bags

Fans also got to mingle around, play games, trade and sell merchandise

Alongside a special decorated birthday table, cupcakes were also served as part of the birthday celebration for Syo Kurusu and Natsuki Shinomiya; two of the characters from the franchise.

Old and new Malaysian fans of Utapri were definitely excited to see their idols on screen again despite it not being in theaters

An attendee, Aisyatul Adawiyah, said this event was a success

“Compared to my 2019 screening experience, this was a good change of pace. The energy from the crowd was wonderful and I was glad to have met everyone ”

Irdina Maria, another attendee, said that she was appreciative and inspired by the organizers. “After this event, it is good to know that the spirit of Utapri still lives on among Malaysians Now I feel like making my own fan events!”

Goh shared her hopes to be able to continue bringing fans together in the future.

"My team and I definitely made history and we hope from this that it will be the start to many more events in Malaysia.”