Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards have seen a big resurgence in the past year, with many streamers taking to the net to share “unwrappings” of packs of these anime card games, and it seems as if one anime fan in Japan was willing to go to extreme lengths to capture some extremely expensive collectibles. As both Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! continue to tell their stories over their respective anime series in Pokemon Journeys and Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens, it’s clear that both of these franchises have cultivated a passionate fanbase that will go to some insane lengths to capture the best cards they can.
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Kensuke Nakanishi, the perpetrator of the theft, performed the deed on March 23rd, stealing a card worth over one million yen, which is around $10,000, while also taking a large amount of cash in the process. In order to get to the cards, Nakanishi used skills he developed in high school to walk down the exterior wall of the building leading to the trading card shop and smashed open the glass to steal the rare cards. Nakanishi was captured only a few days later by the authorities, seemingly unable to cover his tracks when it came to his crime which involved some serious moves to pull off.
Nakanishi actually went into detail about how he was able to pull off this death-defying tactic to swipe the rare cards and a sizable amount of money from the local trading card shop:
“I was in the rock climbing club in high school, so I wasn’t scared about being up that high.”
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police was able to identify the suspect thanks to security camera footage, which depicted Nakanishi scaling down the building to pull off the heist. Needless to say, it goes to show just how popular both Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! have become when fans are willing to risk jail time to add some of the biggest monsters and spells to their collections.
Both Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh!’s trading card games have been hit hard thanks in part to the coronavirus pandemic, which has made face-to-face tournaments hindered to a large degree in both Japan and around the world. Regardless, it’s clear that fans of both franchises still hold their respective card games close to their hearts, though seeing a fan go to jail for their devotion is definitely eyebrow-raising.
What do you think of the insane lengths this anime fan went for Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! cards? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of pocket and duel monsters.
