Danica Davidson
August 9, 2023 
A man in the Japanese city Himeji called police when he realized his figure of Sora, the lead character in the Kingdom Hearts franchise, had been stolen. Police investigated, and they came up with a culprit the man might not have expected: his own girlfriend.
The woman was arrested and she confessed to police that she was behind the theft. Sometimes otaku-related merchandise can be sold for a lot of money, and it appears she may have thought Sora would bring in lots of cash. However, the Sora figure is only worth approximately $30. She said she sold the figure to pay for “lifestyle expenses.” She told authorities that she does not currently have a job. This is different from the usual stories of otaku materials being stolen, like people breaking into stores for Pokémon cards.
When the story made it on the news, multiple people in Japanese Twitter had to respond to the unusual situation. SoraNews24 pulled some of these comments:
“So the figure wasn’t of a pretty girl…”
“If it was me, I’d end the relationship immediately.”
“Can you even get that much money for a Kingdom Hearts figure? Still wrong to betray someone’s trust and steal their things like that, though.”
“As a Kingdom Hearts fan, this makes me sad.”
There’s no word in the report if the theft was a dating deal-breaker.
The official Kingdom Hearts website gave this description of the series:
KINGDOM HEARTS is a series of action role-playing games developed and published by Square Enix under the direction of Tetsuya Nomura. The series is a collaboration between Square Enix and Disney.
KINGDOM HEARTS follows the main protagonist Sora, a Keyblade wielder, as he travels to many Disney worlds with Donald and Goofy to stop the Heartless invasion by sealing each world’s keyhole and restore peace to the realms.
Source: SoraNews24
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
