The creator of the 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' manga comic and trading card game, Kazuki Takahashi, has died. The coast guard said Friday that he died while snorkeling in southwestern Japan.
The body of Takahashi, who was 60 years old, was found floating about 330 yards off the coast of Okinawa on Wednesday. It was found by someone who runs a marine leisure business, said an official at the Naha Coast Guard Nago station.
The coast guard and fire department went by boat and watercraft and found the body face down and wearing a snorkeling mask. He may have been dead for a day or two, said the coast guard official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because their job didn't allow them to be quoted by name.
The body showed signs of being attacked by something in the water, possibly sharks, but the official said that the cause of death was still being looked into.
Thursday, police in another part of Okinawa told the coast guard that a rented car had been left on a beach. This led to the identification of Takahashi. The driver's license in the car proved who it belonged to. Takahashi's real first name was Kazuo. The person from the coast guard said that his family was contacted and that he was found by them.
— Konami (@Konami) July 7, 2022
When "Yu-Gi-Oh!" first came out in Shonen Jump magazine in 1996, it was a big hit and sold more than 40 million copies as manga. However, there are billions of cards out there, so the total number is much higher.
In 1999, the real card game went on sale. The franchise also included a TV show, video games, action figures, and toys.
There were a lot of sad posts on social media.
The American actor who did the voiceover for the animation, Eric Stuart, said he was sad to hear the news.
"An amazingly talented man. "Sensei gave me a role that helped define my voice acting career," Stuart said on Twitter, using the Japanese word for "teacher."
Fans from all over the world put their cards and manga pictures on the Internet. Some people said that's what got them interested in Japan. People talked about how the cards had helped them make their first friends.
The London-based YuGiOhNews account said on Twitter and on its official site, "We are deeply grateful for the wonderful 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' universe he created, and our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time."
Teimuraz Lezhava, Georgia's ambassador to Japan, said that "Yu-Gi-Oh!" made him think of a different world.
“I will never forget the excitement of playing the game,” he said on his official Japanese Twitter.
Children and adults who still felt young at heart were crazy about collecting Takahashi's cards, which had mechanical monsters and wizard-like creatures on them. During the height of the trend, some prices went through the roof.
In 1999, a "Yu-Gi-Oh!" event was held at a baseball stadium in Tokyo. There were so many kids and parents there to buy cards that game maker Konami had to call in riot police.
“Yu-Gi-Oh!” is played by having two people facing off and placing cards from their deck with different powers to try defeat the other. Each player starts out with 8,000 “life points,” which get chiseled away as your cards lose.
The main character is Yugi Muto, a boy with big blue eyes and spiky blonde hair who is very good at card games. "King of Games" is what "Yu-Gi-Oh" means.
The "super rare" and "secret rare" cards, which cost more and have glitter on them, are the most powerful in the game. People bought more packs, or cartons, of the cards because they were hard to find.
"Yu-Gi-Oh!" was as popular in the West as other Japanese cartoons and video games like Pokemon.
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