Beginner's guide
Kayou Cards: A Collector's Guide
Kayou cards are for collecting, not playing. Here's how the packs work, what the rarity codes mean in the four lines we sell, and which cards people chase.
- Players
- Collect only
- Ages
- Printed on each box
- To learn
- Easy
The short version
Kayou cards are for collecting, not playing. No decks, no rules, no matches. You open packs, chase the rare cards and keep the best ones safe. Every card has a rarity code (R, SR, SSR, UR and up) and a card number, and each line has its own rarity ladder, so SSR in one set isn't the same thing as SSR in another. For most sets Kayou also publishes what goes in each pack, so you can see how often the top cards turn up. Want an actual game? Try Naruto Mythos or the My Little Pony TCG.
What Kayou cards are (and why there's no game)
Kayou is a Chinese card maker, founded in 2011, that makes officially licensed collectible cards. In China it's enormous. Over here it's new. Kayou announced its European launch in February 2026 and named the UK as one of its first markets, with My Little Pony, Naruto and tokidoki cards leading the way. KPop Demon Hunters followed, with pre-orders opening in May 2026 and the first boxes out in June.
The thing to get your head round first: these cards don't do anything. No rulebook, no deck size, no attack numbers. Kayou's own product pages list the card types, the rarities and the pack odds, and that's it.
That catches people out, because the names don't help. "KPop Demon Hunters Collectible Trading Cards" sounds like a game. It isn't. And you'll find the odd website calling Naruto Earth Scroll a TCG. Kayou doesn't, and there are no rules for it anywhere.
Kayou does make one playable game in English: the My Little Pony Trading Card Game (the Friendships Begin starter decks and their boosters). It's a separate range from the Friendship Eternal collectible cards on this page, and the two don't mix. More on that at the bottom.
So what's the appeal? The art, mostly. Kayou cards are printed with a lot of foil, texture and special finishes, and the top cards in each set are properly striking. There's also the hunt. Every set has a clear ladder, common at the bottom and very rare at the top, and Kayou tells you which packs can hold which tiers.
The four Kayou lines we sell
We sell four Kayou ranges, all collect-only. You'll find the lot in our Kayou cards collection.
Naruto SmritiHeaven Scroll and Earth Scroll. Classic Naruto, the early episodes up to the chase after Sasuke. 
My Little Pony Friendship EternalMoon, Rainbow and Star editions. The Mane 6 in dozens of art styles. 
tokidoki Wonder VoyageRoaming Edition. Donutella, Adios, Ciao Ciao and friends, with just one OR card in the whole set. 
KPop Demon HuntersClassic and Energy editions. Rumi, Mira, Zoey and the Saja Boys from the Netflix film.
Honestly, if you're buying for a child who loves one of these, pick the line they love. The collecting side works the same way across all four. If it's for you and you just want to try Kayou, a single KPop Demon Hunters Classic pack is the cheapest way to see what the fuss is about.
How Kayou packs and boxes are put together
Every Kayou set has a fixed number of cards per pack and packs per box. These are the numbers Kayou gives for the English editions on its US site.
| Set | Cards per pack | Packs per box | Different cards in the set |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naruto Heaven Scroll Series 1 | 8 | 24 | 158 |
| Naruto Earth Scroll Series 1 | 8 | 5 (collector box) | 131 |
| Naruto Earth Scroll Series 2 | 7 | 20 | 132 |
| MLP Moon Edition Series 1 | 8 | 24 | 186 |
| MLP Moon Edition Series 3 | 8 | 24 | 290 |
| MLP Rainbow Edition Series 1 | 5 | 20 | 146 |
| MLP Star Edition Series 1 | 3 per mini box | 16 mini boxes | 105 |
| tokidoki Roaming Edition Series 1 | 8 | 24 | 157 |
| KPop Demon Hunters Classic Edition | 5 | 20 | 101 |
| KPop Demon Hunters Energy Edition | 8 | 12 | 130 |
UK boxes don't always match those US counts. We list Heaven Scroll in both a 12-pack and a 24-pack box, for example, and a 24-pack Rainbow Edition box where Kayou's US page says 20. Go by what's printed on the box in your hands, not a number you read online.
Kayou tells you what's in every pack
This is the bit a lot of people miss, and it's genuinely useful. Most Kayou product pages have an "Appearance Probability" box showing what goes in every pack and how many packs in a box can carry the rare slot. No guessing, no forum rumours. (Earth Scroll Series 1 and tokidoki Series 2 don't show one yet.)
Take Heaven Scroll. Every 8-card pack has 2 R cards, 1 SR, 2 PTR cards and three more slots. In 12 of the 24 packs, those three slots can only be SR, SSR or UR. In the other 12, they can also land one of the big ones: PU, MR, BP, SP or SE. So half a box is where the top cards can live.
Some sets are much stingier. MLP Star Edition puts its OR, BP and ◇AR cards in 1 mini box out of 16. tokidoki Roaming Edition puts its SP, QR, XR, BP and single OR card in 4 packs out of 24. That's why a full box of Star Edition can come without an OR, and that's normal.
Two PTR cards in every Heaven Scroll pack. PTR (Platinum Rare) is a run of 20 cards titled "NARUTO CLASSIC". You'll get two per pack whatever else happens, so they fill up fast.
Kayou's FAQ says the Heaven Scroll PTR cards come with a protective film put on at the factory, and it's meant to be peeled off. So if your PTR has a film on it, that's why. It isn't a defect.
How to read a Kayou card
Kayou doesn't use a little rarity symbol the way Pokémon does. The rarity is written on the card as letters, and every card carries a code that tells you the set, the rarity and the number.
On this Heaven Scroll Naruto, the SR badge top right is the rarity. The code bottom left, NRSA01-SR-010L2, starts with the set (NRSA01 is Heaven Scroll), then the rarity (SR), then the card's number within that rarity (010). Kayou doesn't say what the L2 on the end means.
Codes are the quickest way to sort a stack, check a card belongs to the set it's supposed to, and look it up on Kayou's official card list, which shows every card in the set with a picture.
Some cards are sideways. In Heaven Scroll, all 50 R cards are wide story cards in numbered runs of five, each run telling one scene from the anime: "Enter: Naruto Uzumaki!", "Battle on the Bridge!", "The Demon in the Snow" and so on. Ten scenes, five cards each. Completing a full scene is a nice little side goal, and cheap to do.
A ◇ in front of a code (◇UR, ◇AR, ◇CR) marks a parallel version: a variant of a card that also exists in a plainer form.
Assuming the same letters mean the same thing everywhere. SSR is "Super Secret Rare" in Heaven Scroll and "Super Spark Rare" in Earth Scroll. SP is "Special" on Naruto cards but "Special Picture" in KPop Demon Hunters Energy Edition. And where a tier sits changes too: SSR is mid-table in most sets but the bottom rung of MLP Star Edition. Check the ladder for the set you're opening.
Naruto Smriti rarity guide
"Smriti" is Kayou's name for its English Naruto collectible range. Heaven Scroll Series 1 came out in September 2025 and covers the very first episodes and the Land of Waves arc: Zabuza, Haku, the bridge. Earth Scroll followed in December 2025 (Series 1) and March 2026 (Series 2), moving on through the Chunin Exams and the Sound Four, and it slips in a few Boruto-era faces too, like Boruto, Sarada and Mitsuki. Browse the sets in our Naruto Smriti collection.
Here's the Heaven Scroll ladder as Kayou lists it, top tier first.
| Code | Name | Cards | Where it turns up |
|---|---|---|---|
| SE | Scenario-E | 4 | Rare slot, 12 packs in 24 |
| SP | Special | 4 | Rare slot |
| BP | Brush Rare | 7 | Rare slot |
| MR | Miracle Rare | 6 | Rare slot |
| PU | Parallel Universe | 8 | Rare slot |
| PTR | Platinum Rare | 20 | 2 in every pack |
| UR | Ultra Rare | 15 | Any pack |
| SSR | Super Secret Rare | 24 | Any pack |
| SR | Super Rare | 20 | Every pack |
| R | Rare | 50 | 2 in every pack |
Earth Scroll uses a different mix. Series 1 runs CR (Creative Rare, 4 cards), SP (4), AR (Amber Rare, 10), MR (4), UR (15), SSR (Super Spark Rare, 24), SR (20) and R (50), and comes as a 5-pack collector box. Series 2 drops SP, adds four ◇UR parallels of Team 7 (Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi) and packs 7 cards. Every Series 2 pack has 3 R, 2 SR and 1 SSR. The last slot is a UR in half the packs, and in the other half it can be an SSR, ◇UR, AR, MR or CR.
Chinese-market Naruto cards use a separate "Tier" and "Wave" system (T1 to T4), with Chinese text and different boxes. They're a different product from the English Smriti range. Great cards, but don't expect them to match an English card list.
My Little Pony Friendship Eternal: editions and rarities
Friendship Eternal is the collect-only My Little Pony range. There's no game in it, whatever the box design might suggest. It comes in several "editions" with quite different feels, and each has its own codes. Our Friendship Eternal collection has the editions we carry.
| Edition | Top tiers (rarest end) | Everyday tiers | How often the top slot appears |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moon Edition Series 1 | SC (7), SGR Super Golden Rare (8), LSR (15) | UR, HR Holo Rare, SSR, SR, R | SGR and SC only in 4 packs in 24 |
| Moon Edition Series 3 | ◇ZR (3), SC (7), ZR Zenith Rare (14), SGR (16) | UR, LSR, HR, SSR, SR, R | Half the packs have the top slot |
| Rainbow Edition Series 1 | XR Extreme Rare (7), USR (8), UR (15) | MTR, TGR, TR (transparent cards), SSR, SR, FR Fun Rare, R | 7 packs in 20 |
| Star Edition Series 1 | ◇AR (9), BP Brush Rare (9), OR Origin Rare (7), AR Artist Rare (9) | USR, UR, SCR Sketch Rare, SSR | OR, BP or ◇AR in 1 mini box in 16 |
| Fun Moments Series 1 | CR (12) | UR, SSR, SR, R, ◇N, N | 1 pack in 12 |
Moon Edition is the big one: 186 cards in Series 1, 290 in Series 3, 8 cards a pack. One of the Series 3 URs is marked by Kayou as an overseas exclusive. Rainbow Edition is built around transparent cards (TR, TGR, MTR). Star Edition is the premium one, with only 3 cards per mini box but no plain R or SR cards at all, so every card is SSR or better.
Kayou also lists Moon Edition Series 2 and more Rainbow and Fun Moments series. Check the series number on your box against Kayou's card list before you start ticking cards off.
tokidoki Wonder Voyage rarity ladder
tokidoki's Roaming Edition Series 1 (September 2025) is 157 cards: 8 per pack, 24 packs per box. It's the most colourful of the four lines and has the longest ladder, with twelve tiers.
| Group | Tiers (cards in the set) | Where they turn up |
|---|---|---|
| Base cards | R (32), SR (24), TR Treasure Rare (12), SSR Super-Secret Rare (16) | 3 R, 2 SR and 1 TR in every pack. The last two slots are either two SSRs or a pair with a bigger hit in it |
| Regular hits | UR (16), MR Miracle Rare (16), CR Creative Rare (12) | Can appear in 20 packs in 24 |
| Rare slot | SP Special (8), QR Cute Rare (8), XR Extreme Rare (8), BP Brush Rare (4), OR Origin Rare (1) | Can appear in 4 packs in 24 |
The XR cards pair two characters (Adios with Ciao Ciao, Tiger Mom with Shaka), and the four BP cards are the seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Then there's the OR. One card, YUMA, and nothing else in the tier. It's the obvious top chase in the set.
Kayou also lists a Roaming Edition Series 2 with 12-pack boxes, 161 cards and no OR card. Its release date still says "TBD" on Kayou's US page, so check which series is on your box.
KPop Demon Hunters card rarities
These are licensed from the Netflix film and launched in June 2026. Two main editions so far. Kayou has also added a small Special Mini Edition (3-card packs, 41 cards), dated September 2026 on its US site.
| Classic Edition | Energy Edition | |
|---|---|---|
| Pack | 5 cards, 20 packs per box | 8 cards, 12 packs per box |
| Every pack | 2 R, 1 SR, 1 SSR | 3 SR, 2 SSR |
| Top tiers | CR Creative Rare (8), ZR Zenith Rare (8) | SE Scenario-E (4), BP (3), ◇CR (8), SP Special Picture (6), LR Legacy Rare (6) |
| Middle tiers | UR (13), QR Quaint Rare (10), HR Holo Rare (12) | UR (13), TR Titan Rare (8), QR (24), HR (24) |
| Top slot | ZR or CR possible in half the packs | SE, BP or ◇CR possible in 4 packs in 12 |
Energy Edition has no plain R cards at all: the lowest thing in a pack is an SR. Its SE cards are Rumi, Mira, Zoey and a HUNTR/X group card. In Classic, the ZR and HR cards are wide scenes from the film, so they'll want sideways storage.
The chase cards people actually want
"Chase card" just means the one everyone's hoping for. Across Kayou, these tend to be the smallest tiers, because fewer cards in a tier means each one is harder to pull.
- Naruto Heaven Scroll: the four SE cards (Sasuke, Naruto, Zabuza and Haku) and the four SP cards of Team 7. Naruto and Sasuke are the obvious big two.
- Naruto Earth Scroll: the CR cards (Series 2 has Jiraiya, Itachi, Tsunade and Kimimaro) and the Team 7 ◇UR parallels. Kayou marks one of those four as a US exclusive.
- MLP Moon Edition: the SC cards (the Mane 6 and a group card in Series 1) and, in Series 3, the three ◇ZR cards.
- MLP Star Edition: the OR cards, one each for the Mane 6 plus Princess Luna.
- tokidoki: YUMA, the only OR card in Series 1.
- KPop Demon Hunters: the four Energy Edition SE cards, and the ZR and CR cards in Classic.
Naruto Uzumaki, SEHeaven Scroll, one of just four SE cards. 
Princess Twilight Sparkle, SCMoon Edition Series 1. 
Rumi, SEKPop Demon Hunters Energy Edition.
One honest word on value. Kayou is new in the UK and most of these cards haven't built up a long sales history here yet. Collect the characters you love. If something turns out to be worth a lot later, lovely, but don't open boxes expecting to fund the next one.
Storing, sleeving and grading Kayou cards
Kayou cards carry a lot of foil, and that has a side effect. Kayou's own FAQ explains that the cards can bend because paper takes on moisture while the foil layers expand at a different rate. The fix it recommends is simple: sleeves, albums and not keeping them somewhere damp.
- Sleeve the hits as you open them Anything from the top slot goes straight into a soft sleeve, then a top loader or a rigid case.
- Peel the film where there is one Heaven Scroll PTR cards come with a factory film you're meant to remove. Take it off gently from a corner before sleeving for the long term.
- Binders for the rest A side-loading binder keeps sets together. Put wide cards (the Naruto R story cards, KPop Demon Hunters HR and ZR) in pages you can read sideways.
- Keep them dry and flat Not the loft, not the windowsill. A shelf indoors, away from radiators, is fine.
Grading? It makes sense for the smallest tiers in clean condition, and not much else. Before you send anything off, check that the grading company accepts Kayou cards and what it charges. If a card has a curl from humidity, let it settle flat in a sleeve for a while first.
Keep a checklist per set using the card codes. Kayou's product pages picture every card in a set, code and all, so you can tick off NRSA01-R-001 to 050 without guessing which Naruto is which.
How to spot fake Kayou cards
Kayou is hugely popular in Asia, and popular cards get copied. Kayou's own answer is its anti-counterfeit sticker, which it calls a "collection certificate": a silver holographic square with a big K on it. Its FAQ gives four things to check.
- Tilt it. The left side should switch between "COLLECTION", "CERTIFICATE" and no text at all.
- Shine a small torch on the area to the right of the K and a shimmering K should show up there.
- The background should look 3D, as if the K sits on a separate layer.
- Look for a tiny embossed KAYOU logo in the bottom right corner.
Collectors add a few checks of their own.
- Print and feel. Real cards have sharp lines and crisp small text, on the back as well as the front, and even foil. Fakes often look washed out and feel thin or plasticky.
- The numbers add up. Count the packs, and the cards in a pack. A Heaven Scroll pack should hold 8 cards. If the count doesn't match what's printed on the box, walk away.
- Card codes. Heaven Scroll codes start NRSA01. Check any big hit against Kayou's official card list. Promos and region exclusives aside, a card that isn't on the list, or has the wrong art or code, is a fake.
- And the price. A top-slot card or a sealed box far below what everyone else charges is either fake or resealed.
Be most careful with loose top-tier cards (SE, SP, OR and the like) sold cheaply online. Buying sealed product from an established shop takes most of the risk out of it.
Want to play? Try Naruto Mythos or the My Little Pony TCG
If you've got the cards and now you want to actually do something with them at the kitchen table, you'll need a different product. Your Kayou collectible cards won't work in either of these games, but the characters will feel familiar.
For Naruto: the playable Naruto card game in the UK is Naruto Mythos TCG. It comes from a different publisher, Cicaboom, and launched here on 13 March 2026. Our guide to playing Naruto Mythos walks you through your first game.
For My Little Pony: Kayou's own My Little Pony Trading Card Game is a proper two-player game. You pick a pony (each starter deck is built round one of the Mane 6), play from a 50-card deck plus a 15-card Scene deck, and race to get your pony to the end of its four-part story. The Friendships Begin starter decks are the way in. Read our guide to playing the My Little Pony TCG for the full rules.
Buying Friendship Eternal packs for the My Little Pony TCG. The boxes look alike, but Friendship Eternal cards can't be used in the game. For the game, look for "Trading Card Game" on the box. The starter decks also say "Friendships Begin".
Questions people ask
Can you play Kayou Naruto cards?
No. Kayou's Naruto Smriti cards (Heaven Scroll, Earth Scroll and Chapter Jin) are collect-only, with no rules or deck building. If you want a Naruto card game you can play, look at Naruto Mythos TCG, which is made by a different company, Cicaboom.
Are Kayou cards official?
Yes. Kayou is a Chinese card company, founded in 2011, and its ranges are licensed from the rights holders: Hasbro for My Little Pony, Netflix for KPop Demon Hunters, plus tokidoki and the Naruto licensors. Fakes do exist, so buy sealed from an established shop.
What is the rarest card in Kayou Naruto Heaven Scroll?
Kayou lists SE (Scenario-E) at the top of the Heaven Scroll ladder, with four cards: Sasuke, Naruto, Zabuza and Haku. The four SP cards come next. Both can only turn up in the half of the packs that carry the rare slot, 12 in every 24.
What does SSR mean on a Kayou card?
It depends on the set. In Naruto Heaven Scroll, tokidoki and My Little Pony Moon Edition Series 1 it stands for Super Secret Rare. In Earth Scroll, KPop Demon Hunters and the later My Little Pony editions it's Super Spark Rare. In most sets it sits mid-ladder, above SR and below UR, but in MLP Star Edition it's the lowest tier.
Can I use My Little Pony Friendship Eternal cards in the My Little Pony TCG?
No. Friendship Eternal is a collect-only range. The playable game is the separate My Little Pony Trading Card Game, sold as Friendships Begin starter decks and boosters such as Fantasy Wonderland.
Why are my Kayou cards curling?
Kayou says it's moisture: the card stock absorbs it and the foil layers expand at a different rate, which bends the card. Keep them in sleeves or an album and store them somewhere dry.
What is the plastic film on my Heaven Scroll PTR card?
A protective film applied at the factory. Kayou's FAQ says it's meant to be peeled off, so it isn't a fault with the card.
Are Chinese Kayou Naruto cards the same as the English ones?
No. The Chinese range uses a Tier and Wave system (T1 to T4), has Chinese text and comes in different boxes. The English range is called Smriti and has its own card lists and codes, such as NRSA01 for Heaven Scroll.
Where to start
The easiest ways in. Prices and stock on this list are live.
Where these rules come from
Checked against Kayou's official English product pages (card lists, rarity tiers and pack formulas) and Kayou's FAQ on 24 September 2026.
- Kayou: Naruto Smriti Heaven Scroll Series 1 product page (card list, rarities, pack formula)
- Kayou: Naruto Smriti Earth Scroll Series 1
- Kayou: Naruto Smriti Earth Scroll Series 2
- Kayou: My Little Pony Friendship Eternal Moon Edition Series 1
- Kayou: My Little Pony Friendship Eternal Moon Edition Series 3
- Kayou: My Little Pony Friendship Eternal Rainbow Edition Series 1
- Kayou: My Little Pony Friendship Eternal Star Edition Series 1
- Kayou: My Little Pony Friendship Eternal Fun Moments Edition Series 1
- Kayou: tokidoki Wonder Voyage Roaming Edition Series 1
- Kayou: tokidoki Wonder Voyage Roaming Edition Series 2
- Kayou: KPop Demon Hunters Classic Edition Series 1
- Kayou: KPop Demon Hunters Special Mini Edition Series 1
- Kayou: KPop Demon Hunters Energy Edition Series 1
- Kayou FAQ (card care, PTR protective film, anti-counterfeit sticker)
- Kayou expands in Europe (Kayou press release via PR Newswire, 6 February 2026)
