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Re:Zero's Rem and Ram Birthday Events in Shibuya Marui: 2017-2019

The Marui department store in Shibuya has been celebrating Rem's birthday on February 2 every year since 2017. The fan-favorite Re:Zero girl shares a birthday with her twin sister Ram, although the latter seems more like an afterthought in these sorts of celebrations. In fact, the original birthday event in 2017 didn't even involve poor Ram at all. Thankfully, that's been rectified in 2018 and 2019, and now it feels like it's become a yearly tradition to celebrate Rem and Ram's birthdays every February.

The setup of the birthday events are very simple: a limited-time Re:Zero store is set up on the 7th floor of the Marui department store in Shibuya. The store is mainly dedicated to Rem and Ram-related merchandise, although you can get some other Re:Zero goods there too. You also get a little short story written by the light novel author Tappei Nagatsuki with purchases above 1,000 yen, while stocks last.

In terms of variety of goods for sale, 2019's birthday event was a bit more low-key than previous years, with 20 items for sale compared to 26 in 2018 and 40 in 2017. This year's stock was winter-themed to reflect the Memory Snow OVA that screened in Japanese theaters a few months ago.

Each year has a cake display to give the celebrations a little extra impact. Here's a photo of the 2017 display:

And here's a photo of the 2019 display. It's quite interactive, since fans can write messages on the cake.

Last year, over 3,000 visitors came to celebrate Rem and Ram's birthdays, and the store commemorated that with a drinks giveaway. Meanwhile, the 2019 event reached 2,222 visitors within 4 days of opening, the quickest escalation in the event's history. Even three years after the TV anime's debut, Re:Zero fandom shows no sign of slowing down!