Photo: Twitter/@wkkazuya
crime

Japanese woman arrested after stealing Y90,000 worth of anime from live-in boyfriend

17 Comments
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24

It’s never easy when a romantic relationship reaches its end, but it’s particularly painful when it happens with live-in lovers. Even among that subset of breakups, however, things have got to be especially awkward for Japanese Twitter user @wkkazuya.

The 49-year-old @wkkazuya had become involved with a 23-year-old woman who was living in a dormitory owned by the company she worked for, which isn’t an unusual living situation in Japan. She decided to quit her job, though, which meant she needed to find a new place to live, and so she ended up moving in with @wkkazuya, who lives in the city of Akashi in Hyogo Prefecture, not far from Kobe.

@wkkazuya is a pretty big anime fan, and a physical media collector to boot. Like a lot of people with those passions, he’s got a few shelves in his home filled with his personal treasures. And while that sight probably filled him with satisfaction, he was a lot less happy when he noticed that some gaps had suddenly appeared on his shelf, with a number of his prized DVDs and Blu-ray discs missing.

With no one else having access to the discs, @wkkazuya suspected his girlfriend was behind their disappearance, and contacted the police on Nov 24. Although she initially claimed that an acquaintance of hers had stolen the missing anime, during questioning she admitted that she indeed made off with the discs and sold them at a local branch of Geo, a retailer that deals in second-hand anime, video games, and CDs, for a total sum of roughly 90,000 yen, saying “I had no money, so I stole them.” She has now been formally placed under arrest.

According to @wkkazuya, among the pilfered anime were a limited-edition first-pressing Blu-ray box set of "Sora no Manimani," an unopened first-pressing complete Blu-ray set of "Android Kikaider," an unopened Blu-ray set of "Darker then Black" and a limited-edition Blu-ray box of "True Tears."

The betrayal could have been worse, though. @wkkazuyas’s box set of "Azuki-chan," as well as his set of "Tokyo Pig," were safe, having been kept in a separate room.

While the stolen goods have been recovered, they’re currently evidence, and so are being held by the authorities. Unfortunately, @wkkazuya claims that the discs which were unopened while in his possession have since been opened, which would severely affect their value in the collectors’ market (it’s not clear whether the discs were opened by his girlfriend, the Geo staff, or police investigators).

The incident has caused @wkkazuya to think his girlfriend was the reason several other items, including cash, have gone missing from his home recently, although for the time being it’s only the anime he’s made an official complaint to the police about.

Sources: Hachima Kiko, Kobe Shimbun Next via Anime News Network/Jennifer Sherman

Read more stories from SoraNews24.

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-- Ghibli distributing free discs of arrested singer’s music video cut from Hayao Miyazaki box set

-- Sailor Moon candy, dolls, and music boxes! More new merch than you can shake a Moon Stick at

© SoraNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

17 Comments
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Now this is a serious theft. She did not steal his belongings, she tried to break apart his soul and will!

Can't see anything of actual value amongst it, though. Collector value, maybe. Hm.

-7 ( +3 / -10 )

His "girlfriend" was young enough to be his daughter, a bit creepy. Unless you're a billionaire like Trump

-7 ( +6 / -13 )

Wow, what a terrible woman. Poor eude

5 ( +6 / -1 )

While stealing his goods is unacceptable, and she deserves the relevant punishment, I feel for this woman though, she's one of the working poor. If she was making a living wage, she could have had her own place, and then would not have been in a position to be tempted to steal from her boyfriend.

-10 ( +2 / -12 )

Good lesson for her : next time you want a sugar daddy, make he DOES have money !

2 ( +6 / -4 )

Exactly

0 ( +1 / -1 )

AS long as "Tokyo Pig" was safe, that's alright then.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Not going to get very far on 90k yen. Might get the slammer.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

StrangerlandToday 07:32 am JSTWhile stealing his goods is unacceptable, and she deserves the relevant punishment, I feel for this woman though, she's one of the working poor. If she was making a living wage, she could have had her own place, and then would not have been in a position to be tempted to steal from her boyfriend.

Have to admire your confidence and sympathy for this larcenist who quit her job with included housing arrangements.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Have to admire your confidence and sympathy for this larcenist who quit her job with included housing arrangements.

Maybe her boyfriend offered her a place to stay so that she could quit a job she hated. Or maybe any of an infinite number of other reasons.

But yeah, I do feel sympathy for the working poor. We all only have 24 hours in a day. Some of us are able to make a lot, lot more money in that time. It would be nice if the rest could be able to make at least enough to not be in poverty.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Guy is surely rich to the ass and complains for useless goods...

Failed society.

-9 ( +1 / -10 )

Failed society.

A first world nation, with an orderly society, low poverty levels, low crime, and clean.

And you call it a failed society.

1 million face-palms.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

However wrong now, his words are slowly becoming a reality. Japan has better start thinking on it. Government could try to do something instead of letting citizens ruin their own lives "out of their own free will".

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

To those people dismissing the the theft as trivial because it appeared to be mostly limited edition and first edition DVDs... imagine how you would feel if you had rare books or signed football strips and someone you loved and trusted stole them. It's all a matter of perspective.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Could have been double revenge. Maybe he was spending too much time with his videos.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

She did give up her place etc. when moving in with the guy, but having someone move in with you is ultimate trust, that was betrayed. Doesn’t matter if it was anime or whatever the damage was, here. Sorry but I don’t have much sympathy for the lady.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@strangeland , double thumbs UP.

indeed a failed society.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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