Meet Guinness re-Cordcaptor Natsumi.
For decades, Guinness World Records has been the definitive source of answers to questions such as “How big is the world’s largest strawberry?” (about half a pound) or “How many times is a human capable of popping balloons with their butt in a single minute?” (129 times).
And the latest to join these ranks is cosplayer Natsumi Shirahoshi of Meguro, Tokyo for amassing the largest collection of memorabilia based on the hit manga and anime Cardcaptor Sakura. As of 15 May, Shirahoshi was found to own 1,709 distinct pieces of merchandise based on the magical franchise.
In a written statement attached to the above tweet, Shirahoshi pays respect to the former record-holder, Sofia Pichihua of Peru for “collecting over 1,000 pieces despite living in another country.”
And despite having the home-field advantage herself, Shirahoshi also got into Cardcaptor Sakura on the ground floor as a young girl. She says she was quickly impressed with the way that Sakura always wore different outfits, unlike other magical girls series where characters always wore the same clothes.
▼ Many of those outfits can be seen modeled by Shirahoshi herself on her Twitter account (@natsumi0913)
From there she fell more deeply in love with the world of Cardcaptor Sakura, “a world” as she puts it, “where people want each other to be happy.” She also tells about her youth of going to Sakura events, spending all her pocket money at manga store Animate, and even requesting haircuts that emulated her hero.
“I cannot measure how much I learned about compassion, courage and dreams from Cardcaptor Sakura,” Shirahoshi says. “I’m proud that I could get a Guinness World Record with my memories of Sakura-chan, even if it’s just for a time.”
She also points out that the number of collectibles someone has is in no way a measure of their love for a particular thing. It’s that humble and sincere attitude towards collecting and Cardcaptor Sakura that has made others come out in support of her achievement.
“Amazing! Congratulations!”
“I admit I’m jealous, but I wish you all the best.”
“I want to see your room!”
“I wonder if there’s some 40-year-old dude out there with more, but congratulations for now.”
“Maybe, I should get my collection of erotic literature counted by the Guinness people….”
“You’re lucky that the Sakura series just seems to keep going.”
Shirahoshi also mentions how fortunate she is that even after 23 years a new Cardcaptor Sakura series is underway with new events and new merchandise still to come. However, this also provides fresh opportunities for other super-fans to usurp her hard-earned record.
But for the time being at least, we would like to congratulate Natsumi Shirahoshi on attaining the same rarefied air shared by other Guinness Record Holders such as Neil Armstrong for being the first man on the moon and Puskar Nepal for kicking himself in the head 134 times in one minute.
Source: Twitter/@natsumi0913, My Game News Flash
Featured image: Twitter/@natsumi0913
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