On August 21, RESCENE’s official YouTube channel aired a live broadcast titled “Visit to the Charmander Pokémon Center.”
The video showed Woni visiting a Pokémon card shop, unboxing Pokémon TCG (Trading Card Game) packs and interacting with global fans in real time. During the roughly one-hour livestream, Woni opened Pokémon packs and series boxes, reacting to pulls such as extremely rare cards including SARs. She also learned how to store cards using sleeves and top loaders and matched the cards she pulled with RESCENE members based on their similarities.
Woni explained that she had become interested in Pokémon after fans began calling her “Charmander,” and that she decided to create the content because she enjoys gacha-style collectibles and opening card packs.
While she was unboxing the cards, commonly referred to as “card ripping” or “card-pack opening,” the owner of the card shop suggested a trend reportedly popular in the United States, saying they could cut an unopened card pack with scissors. Unlike the usual method of cutting only the top of a pack to avoid damaging the cards, the “box ripping” method suggested by the shop owner involves cutting through the middle of the pack. The trend is reportedly intended to capture the dramatic reaction when an extremely rare card is revealed to have been destroyed.
After receiving the shop owner’s suggestion, Woni responded, “Should I try it?” but immediately hesitated, saying, “Maybe I shouldn’t?” After the owner repeatedly encouraged her, Woni eventually cut one card pack in half. After performing the so-called “half-cut,” she discovered that the damaged pack contained cards she had wanted, including a Charmander card, as well as cards that she thought the other RESCENE members would like, leaving her visibly disappointed.
Woni then continued the content by opening the remaining card packs normally. However, after the livestream ended, only the scene in which she cut the pack in half was edited and widely circulated on social media. Some netizens who saw only the short clip expressed discomfort, criticizing her for intentionally damaging a card pack.
However, others who knew that Woni had not cut every card pack and that she had hesitated several times before eventually following the shop owner’s repeated suggestion pushed back against what they considered unfair criticism. They called on people to watch the full video, pointing out that the shop owner had repeatedly encouraged her and that the practice had reportedly become a trend overseas as well.
This is not the first time Woni and RESCENE have faced what fans describe as excessive or out-of-context criticism. Previously, Woni came under suspicion after using the expression “museopno” in YouTube content, with some questioning whether it was a phrase associated with far-right online communities. She was also later accused of having been a school bully during her student years, but the controversy ended as a misunderstanding after her former homeroom teacher personally came forward.
Sources: Naver