Takahashi Kazuki, the Japanese manga artist and creator of the internationally popular series. Yu-Gi-Oh!He was found dead in the sea off the coast of from Japan Okinawa Island on Wednesday.
According to the Japanese public broadcaster NHK, the artist’s body was stained in the water about 300 meters from the shore. He was wearing snorkeling gear at the time of his death, the outlet claimed.
Takahashi Kazuki speaking on a panel. He was found dead on July 6, 2022 in Japan.
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Kazuki was 60 years old.
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A local citizen reported Kazuki’s body in the water as he was seen “drifting face down,” NHK said.
Firefighters responded to the report and Kazuki was pronounced dead at the scene. He was visiting Okinawa alone.
Kazuki’s body was not identified until Thursday, when the Japanese coast guard also found a rental car used by the artist on a nearby country road.
The Japanese Coast Guard is currently investigating Kazuki’s death.
“We are investigating the case as a possible accident or crime,” a coast guard spokesman said.
There are conflicting reports about the state of his body. NHK reported that there were no visible injuries on the artist. Alternatively, NBC News, speaking to Coast Guard Regional 11 headquarters in Okinawa, wrote that there was “damages to his body, which appeared to have been caused by some sort of marine animal.”
Kazuki, whose real name is Takahashi Kazuo, has been a major figure in the manga community for decades.
He began his career as a Japanese-style comic artist in the early 1980s.
The creation of Yu-Gi-Oh! —which was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine— was his biggest hit. The manga revolves around an ancient puzzle and a young, spiky-haired protagonist who awakens an alternate personality within the game.
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The manga was in production from 1996 to 2004. NHK reported that more than 40 million copies were sold.
Yu-Gi-Oh! it received international acclaim when the success of the manga led to the creation of a television anime series and a highly popular trading card game.
The game was certified in 2009 by the Guinness Book of World Records as one of the best-selling trading card games of all time. The entertainment company Konami, creator of the card game, has estimated more 35 billion Yu-Gi-Oh! The cards have been sold all over the world. To this day, international Yu-Gi-Oh! competitions still take place.
Participants of the German Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading card game championships play against each other in Schkeuditz, Germany, on May 18, 2013. More than 800 players competed against each other to win the title of German champion of the Japanese card game.
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On social media, many fans dedicated to manga, anime, and trading cards paid their respects, mourning the loss of the influential artist.
To honor the artist’s death, Studio Dice, Takahashi’s agency, paused brand website and made it black.
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