U.S. Customs Wrecked One of 50 Tsukihime Floppies

Collector Keripo received a package on February 27, 2026, that rattled when they picked it up. It shouldn't have rattled. Inside was one of only 50 known copies of the Tsukihime Trial Edition floppy disk, a 1999 demo for Type-Moon's debut visual novel, and it had been physically destroyed. The culprit, according to the tape slapped across the original packaging: U.S. Customs.

Keripo filmed the unboxing, which is the only sensible thing to do when your package arrives ripped apart and barely held together with official customs tape. The video captures the exact moment the reality sets in: a quiet "oh my god," followed by a string of increasingly horrified expletives as the shredded disk comes into view. The floppy had been twisted and slashed, the physical media torn apart. Someone, whether a Customs officer or a DHL agent, had removed all the bubble wrap and cardboard the sender had used to protect it, and then apparently taken a blade to the disk itself.

"My Tsukihime Trial Edition finally arrived, one of only 50 copies in the world," Keripo posted on X. "Only to discover that U.S. Customs had removed all the bubble wrap and physically destroyed the floppy disk. Will file a report, but literally crying right now." The package had been shipped by a friend in Portugal, not Japan, which makes the customs scrutiny even harder to explain. The friend had his own copy of the disk and was able to confirm its authenticity before shipping, including noting some pre-existing bad sectors.

Why Would Customs Do This?

The leading theory is the disk's "Adult Only" label. Tsukihime is an adult visual novel, and U.S. import law prohibits bringing in material deemed obscene or immoral, with the determination made on a case-by-case basis. Whether a 1999 Japanese demo floppy qualifies as obscene is a stretch, but it may have been enough to flag the package. What it doesn't explain is why the disk needed to be physically destroyed rather than simply seized or returned. There's no procedure that requires shredding the item.

When questioned about the convenient timing of the camera, Keripo was direct: when a box containing a historical artifact shows up at your door completely ripped open, resealed with customs tape, and making rattling noises, you record it. That's the right call. The video exists, the damage is documented, and Keripo has since sent a formal letter of inquiry to U.S. Customs seeking answers. "The excess packaging is common for fragile Japanese collector items," they noted, pushing back on any suggestion the sender was at fault.

As for what was lost: the last known public auction of a Tsukihime Trial Edition, a 2021 Mandarake live sale, closed at roughly 2.5 million yen, around $16,000 USD. Keripo hasn't disclosed what they paid. There has been no legitimate public listing in over 15 years, which means this wasn't just an expensive purchase. It was an irreplaceable one. The content of the disk can be preserved digitally; Keripo's friend already has a copy and confirmed the scan. But the physical artifact is gone. 't be recovered.

Keripo had planned to feature the disk as a centerpiece of a public Type-Moon museum showcasing the studio's work before it became a major franchise, the kind of preservation project that matters precisely because physical media is fragile and finite. The Tsukihime series eventually spawned manga, anime, and the cult fighting game Melty Blood: Type Lumina, but none of that changes what the original floppy represented. There are now 49 intact copies of Tsukihime Trial Edition in the world, and one that exists only as a cautionary story about shipping rare media into the United States.