Yuka Takaoka attempted to murder her boyfriend, Phoenix Luna, by stabbing him in the stomach with a kitchen knife at their apartment in Tokyo, Japan, in 2019.
The 21-year-old Takaoka turned on 20-year-old Luna in a jealous rage when she decided to kill him in a twisted murder-suicide pact.
This case gained international recognition because of the glamorous and attractive appearance of the couple, combined with their professional party lifestyles.
Takaoka’s calm demeanor after the attempted murder and her youthful good looks meant she was compared to the anime character of a Yandere, which is usually portrayed as an attractive homicidal girl.
On the afternoon of May 23, 2019, Takaoka was looking through her boyfriend’s cell phone when she allegedly saw a picture of him being intimate with another woman.
She became consumed with jealous rage and decided to kill him. She grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed Luna in the stomach as he slept. The attempted murderer then managed to transport her severely bleeding boyfriend from their fifth-floor apartment to the building’s lobby.
Yuka Takaoka had the appearance of a Yandere anime character
While in the lobby, Takaoka sat down on the floor beside the bloody Luna, lit a cigarette, and phoned a friend. Meanwhile, shocked passers-by telephoned the cops.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelWhen the police arrived, they were met with a particularly gruesome scene. They found Takaoka sitting on the floor with blood covering her hands and legs, smoking, and talking on her cell phone. Meanwhile, Luna lay just behind her, bleeding profusely from his stomach wound.
A neighbor later told local media that the floor and walls were covered in blood. There was blood on the elevator and smeared all over the elevator floor buttons.
Takaoka informed the cops, “Since I loved him so much, I just couldn’t help it. After killing [him], I, too, wanted to die.” She claimed that she intended to kill herself after watching Luna die.
She told the cops, “I did not want to go anywhere, so I sat down at the outside staircase. I did not call emergency services because I intended to die after watching him die from the stabbing.” The cops recovered the murder weapon, a kitchen knife, from the apartment.
Luna was quickly transported to a hospital. Thankfully, he survived the attack and seemed to have made a remarkable recovery.
Attempted murderer Yuka Takaoka’s Instagram star quality
Yuka Takaoka became something of an online celebrity. The 21-year-old was seen as young and beautiful, and she soon garnered many fans on social media who began sharing pictures and artwork portraying her. She was described as being “too beautiful” to be a killer.
Takaoka was called the ‘real-life Yandere,’ a Yandere is a character from anime who usually takes the form of a petite pretty girl, often a schoolgirl, who has violent tendencies. The Yandere is seen as obsessive and possessive of their crush or lover, which often emerges in violent or homicidal acts.
The character usually starts out being all shy, sweet, and innocent but usually becomes increasingly aggressive and violent as the story evoles.
The images that emerged of Takaoka calmly smoking a cigarette while covered in blood bolstered her image as a Yandere. Many online artists began drawing anime-style pictures of the attempted murderer brandishing knives or covered in blood.
Further footage of Takaoka smiling in a devilish “evil” manner from the back of a police car has helped fuel this image of her as a femme fatale or a Yandere.
Takaoka’s own Instagram page added more fuel to the fire because she had regularly posted pictures of herself in costumes that looked similar to Yandere girls.
Phoenix Luna had a short, troubled relationship with Takaoka
When she met Luna, Takaoka was the manager of what’s been described as a “girl’s bar,” a type of hostess club or night club. Her boyfriend worked as a bar host at a nightclub in the Kabukicho red-light district, which was situated in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
The couple’s apartment was also located in Kabukicho, an area of the city described as a bit rough and run down. Takaoka and Luna had only been living together for three days before the attempted murder.
Luna’s nightclub workplace had a practice of ranking their employees by their popularity with customers, which seems to have been determined by how much takings they took. Luna was expected to socialize and flirt with his customers in an effort to get them to spend more money.
The handsome young man was reportedly good at his job. At the time of his attempted murder, he was ranked number four out of all the employees.
Luna has since forgiven his murderous ex-girlfriend, stating that he doesn’t hold a grudge. He even suggested, “there was a reason for her to stab me.”
The bar host has also noted two positives that came out of the incident that nearly cost him his life. He said his popularity at the nightclub further increased: “It was also thanks to her that I was able to achieve the sales that I did in less than a year since I became a host.”
Luna also reunited with his older brother and sister, from whom he had been estranged for five years. His siblings had come to visit him in the hospital, and they had decided to keep in touch.
Yuka Takaoka now: Where is she today?
The cops later learned a bit more about Takaoka’s state of mind at the time of the murder when she explained how she’d felt saddened and wanted to die. She thought that the only way she could be together with Luna was if he was to die too. She spoke of “preparing for a new life with him” and even claimed that Luna said he liked her after they’d stabbed each other.
The cops also found a memo written on Takaoka’s phone where she describes herself as “a tragic heroine” and demands to know how it was possible that Luna could even look at another woman.
She wrote that killing Luna would be for the best and that there would be no pain afterward. “I donāt need anything other than you,” she wrote. Thankfully, the passers-by and the police saved his life just in time.
Takaoka was found guilty of attempted murder, and in December 2019, the Tokyo District Court sent her to prison for three years and six months. The prosecution had previously pushed for five years, but her defense had hoped for a suspended sentence.
However, the presiding judge ruled out a suspended sentence, declaring that option unjustifiable and calling prison unavoidable. He also described the crime as “selfish” and said that the young woman had clearly intended to kill Luna.
According to the Tokyo Reporter, Takaoka’s shoulders were shivering, and she began sobbing when the sentence was announced. She is expected to be released in either 2023 or 2024. The outfit also reported that Takaoka had reached out to Luna with an out-of-court settlement of 5 million yen, approximately $40,000.
It’s unclear if Luna accepted this offer, but he did ask the judge to be lenient on his former girlfriend. He told the court, “If possible, I want people to be able to lead a normal life rather than paying for their sins.”