Yuka Takaoka

Not much is known about Yuka Takaoka's early life, besides that she was born an only child and, after dropping out of university to pursue a career in the Japanese Bar and Service industry, obtained a management position at a girls' hostess club in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo. In October 2018, she met her boyfriend Phoenix Luna, who was a bar worker at the Fusion By Youth nightclub, located in the Kabukicho red-light district. Original reports stated that the couple moved into an apartment together on the fifth floor of Plaire Deuzq East Shinjuku 2[2] on May 20, 2019, but Luna later disputed this.[3][4]

On May 23, 2019, Takaoka was looking at Luna's cell phone whilst he was in the bathroom after he had come home 3 hours late due to work-related obligations, and came across photos of Luna serving other women at the nightclub, which she supposedly misinterpreted to be photos of Luna being intimate with other women. That night, Takaoka waited until approximately 3:50 AM to ensure Luna was fully asleep, walked into the kitchen, and grabbed the sharpest knife she could find. She then sat on top of Luna and thrusted the knife into Luna's abdomen as far as she could. Luna reportedly said "I love you" after being stabbed, to which Takaoka reacted by putting the knife beside her. Luna then quickly pushed Takaoka away, and ran towards the elevator before falling unconscious. Takaoka said she became sad, and both wanted Luna dead and wanted to die herself.[5][2] She then took a bloodied Luna to the lobby of their residence. In a now-infamous photo, Takaoka is shown sitting on the floor of the residence lobby next to Luna's nude, unconscious body and ignoring officers arriving at the scene, with her legs covered in Luna's blood while smoking a cigarette and calling through her cell phone, reportedly stating that “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.”[5][6][7][8] Takaoka claimed that, "Since I loved him so much, I just couldn’t help it. After killing [him], I, too, wanted to die."[9] She was arrested and charged with attempted murder. Luna was hospitalized in critical condition and remained in a coma for five days, but survived the attack and made a full recovery.[9][2][4] Reportedly, while in custody inside a patrol car, Takaoka flashed an "evil grin" to an unknown person.[8]