Shinji Kanda Pokémon cards

Shinji Kanda is a Japanese illustrator who has drawn Pokémon cards since 2022. By sold price, his best-known cards are the Lost Origin Giratina V, the Paldea Evolved Magikarp and the Black Bolt Seismitoad. This page lists every English card credited to him, explains how he makes his art and gives sold prices as of November 2, 2026. Card facts come from the Pokémon TCG API's artist field and single-card records; where the API leaves the artist blank, the credit comes from Serebii's artist list, and the table marks those cards.

Shinji Kanda at a glance

Who Shinji Kanda is

Kanda was born in Kyoto Prefecture in 1986. Besides card work he is a gallery artist: in March 2024 the Kyoto gallery Kunst Arzt, in the Higashiyama ward, held his fifth solo exhibition, “Exotic Ghost”, following a show the year before. The gallery's listing on Tokyo Art Beat describes meticulous detail used to express a surreal worldview, says the show was planned around landscapes of the mind and mental sketches, and notes that it was his first solo exhibition after moving from Kyoto, his birthplace, to Hokkaido that year. The same listing adds that he is also known as a Pokémon card illustrator.

His card career began in 2022. The API's first credits for him are Magmar 019/172 and Sawk 081/172 in Brilliant Stars, released February 25, 2022, and his newest are in 30th Celebration (September 16, 2026). When Lost Origin came out later in 2022, the official art feature for that set spotlighted him as one of two featured artists; a GoNintendo summary of it called his approach “bold, brazen” next to kurumitsu's cute style.

How he makes his card art

Bulbapedia, citing a June 2026 interview in the Japanese magazine Pen, says Kanda works mainly digitally but has used other methods on several cards:

• Shrink plastic. For his first card, Magmar, he colored a plastic sheet with colored pencils, then heated it so the plastic shrank and the colors grew stronger.
• Scanned foil. For the Scarlet & Violet promo Magneton (SVP 159) he crumpled aluminum foil and scanned it.
• Digital painting. Otherwise, Bulbapedia describes his card art as primarily digital.

The images below are the cards themselves, shown to identify them; nothing here redraws or imitates his artwork. Prices in the notes are PriceCharting summaries as of November 2, 2026.

• Magikarp#203/193 · Illustration RarePaldea Evolved, 2023 · Ungraded $274.98 · PSA 10 $3,451.00
• Giratina V#186/196 · Rare UltraLost Origin, 2022 · Ungraded $757.56 · PSA 10 $3,044.27
• Seismitoad#105/086 · Illustration RareBlack Bolt, 2025 · Ungraded $183.25 · PSA 10 $1,599.00
• Roaring Moon ex#162/131 · Special Illustration RarePrismatic Evolutions, 2025 · Ungraded $139.77 · PSA 10 $581.99 · artist credit from Serebii (API field blank)
• Magmar#019/172 · CommonBrilliant Stars, 2022 · his first card, colored pencil on shrink plastic
• Magneton#159 · PromoScarlet & Violet promo · scanned aluminum foil · artist credit from Serebii (API field blank)
• Pikachu#040/128 · Pikachu Rare30th Celebration, 2026 · Ungraded $5.33
• Aerodactyl#142/165 · Rare151, 2023
• Galarian Moltres#SWSH284 · PromoSword & Shield promo
• Ariados#113/196 · RareLost Origin, 2022
• Absol#113/182 · UncommonParadox Rift, 2023
• Duraludon#074/094 · CommonPhantasmal Flames, 2025

Every Shinji Kanda card

The table lists all 33 English cards credited to Kanda, in release order. Rows without a mark are credited to him in the API's artist field (24 cards). Rows marked † are credited to him on Serebii while the API leaves the artist field empty; their set, number and rarity still come from the API, except Oricorio ex and Sableye, which were not checked in the API. The Classic Collection Magikarp in 30th Celebration carries the same number as the Paldea Evolved card, 203.

1. Red bars: cards credited to Shinji Kanda in the Pokémon TCG API: 9 in 2022, 7 in 2023, then 2 a year in 2024, 2025 and 2026 (22 in all, plus 2 promos).
2. Grey bars: cards Serebii credits to him whose API artist field is blank: 3 in 2024 (Iron Moth, Slither Wing, Kecleon), 2 in 2025 (Roaring Moon ex, Sandshrew) and 1 in 2026 (Talonflame).

The pattern is easy to see in the counts: most of his credits came in 2022 and 2023, when he drew commons, uncommons and a few rares across Sword & Shield and early Scarlet & Violet sets. Since 2024 he has had only a few cards per set, but those include the Roaring Moon ex Special Illustration Rare and the Seismitoad Illustration Rare.

Most valuable Shinji Kanda cards

The ranking uses PriceCharting's ungraded price for English singles, read on each card page on November 2, 2026. Grade 9 and PSA 10 are PriceCharting's graded summaries for the same card. Raw and graded prices are shown side by side, not mixed in one ranking. Promos and the commons and uncommons, which PriceCharting lists at low prices or not at all, are left out.

• Giratina V leads raw, Magikarp leads in PSA 10. Giratina V #186 is the most valuable Kanda card ungraded at $757.56, but the Paldea Evolved Magikarp has the highest PSA 10 figure, $3,451.00, against $3,044.27 for Giratina V.
• Seismitoad tops its own set in PSA 10. In the Black Bolt price table (as of October 28, 2026), Seismitoad #105 had the highest PSA 10 figure in the set, above both Black White Rares, although it is an Illustration Rare; on November 2 it was at $1,599.00.
• The reprint follows the original. The 30th Celebration Classic Collection Magikarp, a 2026 card with the same number as the 2023 Illustration Rare, was at $85.00 raw and $860.00 in PSA 10, about a third of the original's raw price.
• Thin PSA 10 data on new cards. PriceCharting listed no PSA 10 sales for the 30th Celebration Pikachu #40, so its $49.71 PSA 10 figure is an estimate rather than a sale price.

These figures are summaries of past sales and change daily; check recent sales of the exact card and grade before comparing. The method is in where to check sold prices, and whether a grade is worth paying for is worked through in is it worth grading Pokémon cards.

Questions collectors ask

How many Pokémon cards has Shinji Kanda illustrated?

It depends on the count. The Pokémon TCG API credits him with 24 English cards; Serebii lists 33 including reprints, and Bulbapedia counts 31 trading card game cards plus 8 in Pokémon TCG Pocket. The difference is mostly cards whose API artist field is blank, such as Roaring Moon ex and Kecleon.

What is Shinji Kanda's most valuable card?

By PriceCharting's ungraded price on November 2, 2026, Giratina V 186/196 from Lost Origin at $757.56. In PSA 10, the Paldea Evolved Magikarp 203/193 is higher, at $3,451.00.

What was Shinji Kanda's first Pokémon card?

Magmar in Brilliant Stars (February 2022), according to Bulbapedia, which says he made it with colored pencil on shrink plastic. The API also credits him with Sawk from the same set.

Is the Classic Collection Magikarp the same card as the Paldea Evolved one?

No. Both carry number 203 and are credited to Kanda, but the Classic Collection version was released with 30th Celebration in 2026 and PriceCharting prices it separately: $85.00 ungraded against $274.98 for the 2023 card.

Where can I see other Pokémon card artists?

The Pokémon card artists hub compares Kanda with Mitsuhiro Arita, Ken Sugimori, Yuka Morii, Asako Ito and other illustrators, with card counts from the same API search.