Best known for the manga ‘Yu-Gi-Oh!’ Kazuki Takahashi’s demise came as a shock to the Yugioh community and the anime community.
Mangaka Kazuki Takahashi , known best for his manga series ‘Yu-Gi-Ho!,’ was discovered dead on July 6, 2022. The Okinawan Coast Guard found Takahashi’s body floating about a mile offshore of Okinawa Island, Japan.
Takahashi was discovered off the coast wearing an underwater mask, snorkel, and fins, and was most likely traveling alone on a snorkeling trip. The coast guard found his body on the morning of 6th July and identified and confirmed his body a day later. A white rental car that had been abandoned a short distance away, helped in identifying his body.
The Japanese Coast Guard discovered that the man had died one to two days earlier when they recovered the body. There were no obvious signs of injury. His body appeared to have been damaged by some sort of marine animal.
Born in 1961, Takahashi began his career as a comic book artist in the 1980s. His breakthrough came in 1996 when he first published ‘Yu-Gi-Oh!’ in the popular Japanese comic magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. He was an extraordinary type of mangaka whose style kept on evolving while never losing the sharp flair that made his designs so enjoyable in the first place.
Between 1996 and 2004, ‘Yu-Gi-Oh!’ appeared in the weekly Japanese comic magazine Shonen Jump. The manga inspired a media franchise that included an anime series, movies, and a trading card game. The 38-book series was later released by Shueisha, a major Japanese publisher. After selling more than 25.17 billion sets worldwide, ‘Yu-Gi-Oh!’ was named the best-selling trading card game in 2011 by Guinness World Records.
The combination of Takahashi’s love of games, horror, and Egyptian mythology resulted in an utterly amazing game. Both as an artist and a storyteller, he was astounding. His contributions will endure into the future, as will the memories of the enjoyable times he gave, which everyone will always cherish. May you rest in peace, legend.
