The world of video game preservation has suffered a devastating blow that has left the visual novel community in shock. A trial version of Tsukihime from 1999, considered one of the “holy grails” of collecting. It has been reported destroyed upon arrival in the United States. What should have been the delivery of a historical piece turned into a nightmare of plastic fragments and shredded paper. This incident is not just the loss of a physical object, but the disappearance of one of the few remaining records of the birth of a Japanese entertainment empire.
The origin of a TYPE-MOON legend
My Tsukhime Trial Edition (月姫体験版) finally arrived, one of only 50 copies in the world. Only to discover that US Customs had removed all the bubble wrap and physically destroyed the floppy disk. Will file a report but literally crying right now
#TYPEMOON #Tsukihime #月姫 pic.twitter.com/i8Mup326Zs
— Keripo (@TehKeripo) February 26, 2026
The historical importance of this piece lies in its humble origins long before TYPE-MOON achieved worldwide fame with Fate/stay night. Only 50 copies of this floppy disk were made and sold during Comiket 57, with an original price of just 100 yen. Being a trial version of Tsukihimerepresents the public's first contact with the story of Shiki Tohno before it became a multimedia phenomenon. For historians of the medium. Each of these 50 units is an essential time capsule to understand the evolution of the visual novel genre in Japan.
A package destroyed by customs
The experience of the collector who acquired the piece went from maximum excitement to absolute horror when opening the shipment. The game had reportedly been carefully packaged with bubble wrap and protected with rigid cardboard for international shipping. However, upon receipt, the floppy disk was completely destroyed and the original poster that accompanied it was completely crushed. A label on the package indicated that the shipment had been opened and resealed by US Customs. The photos of harm shared online show a negligence that has outraged experts around the world.
A critical blow to digital preservation
The reliability of the video game's story is compromised when items of this rarity disappear forever. Tsukihime It's not just a game; It is the foundation upon which the entire TYPE-MOON universe was built. As the number of physical copies decreases, the ability to study and preserve original software in its original form becomes increasingly difficult. It is a brutal reminder of the fragility of ancient physical media in the face of modern logistical management.
A historic loss that is priceless
The destruction of this copy of Tsukihime represents one of the saddest events in the recent history of software collecting.
This incident should serve as a wake-up call about how cultural property is handled at international customs. It is unacceptable that a piece of which there are only 50 units on the planet be treated with such carelessness, especially when it was properly protected. Losing a fragment of the origin of Tsukihime It's like losing an original manuscript of a famous literary work. Not only does the collector lose the money invested, but we all lose the opportunity to ensure that future generations can see where it all began for TYPE-MOON.
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