Rescuers discovered Kazuki Takahashi’s physique off the coast of Okinawa
Kazuki Takahashi, the manga artist who created ‘Yu-Gi-Oh!’ and helped launch one of many largest recreation franchises in world historical past, has died. His physique was discovered by the Japanese coast guard, floating off the coast of Okinawa on Wednesday. The 60-year-old was sporting snorkeling gear and appeared to have drowned. An investigation into the reason for dying is ongoing.
“We are shocked and saddened to hear of the sudden passing of Mr. Kazuki Takahashi,” the official Yu-Gi-Oh! Twitter account posted on Thursday. “We are deeply grateful for the wonderful ‘Yu-Gi-Oh!’ universe that he has created, and our thoughts are with his friends and family at this difficult time.”
“Together with his countless fans, we pledge to carry on the ‘Yu-Gi-Oh!’ legacy with all the love and care it deserves,” the corporate added.
Earlier within the day, the Japanese coast guard advised reporters it had recognized the physique discovered on Wednesday floating off the coast of Nago City in Okinawa Prefecture as that of Takahashi. He had been touring alone and was snorkeling when he died of unknown causes, a coast guard spokesman stated.
Takahashi was born in October 1961 and began out as a manga artist in 1982. He struggled till 1996, when he created Yu-Gi-Oh! (“King of Games”), a battle manga that might run till 2004 within the Weekly Shonen Jump.
His authentic concept was to showcase alternative ways for characters to ‘battle’ utilizing video games and puzzles. The sequence’ protagonist, Yugi Mutou, beneficial properties the powers of the King of Games by fixing the Millennium Puzzle. However, the episodes that includes a buying and selling card recreation – dubbed ‘Magic and Wizards’, later translated as ‘Duel Monsters’- gained a lot traction, Takahashi dedicated to that idea as an alternative.
The recreation’s authentic identify was a transparent homage to the Wizards of the Coast card recreation ‘Magic: The Gathering’. By 1999, Konami had launched the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game in Japan. It debuted within the US in 2002, and was later printed by Bandai. By 2009, it had bought over 22 billion playing cards worldwide, and was acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records because the globe’s top-selling collectible card recreation, incomes billions in income.
“In our daily life, we never get to see ourselves except by standing in front of a mirror. But even a mirror won’t reflect our hearts,” Takahashi wrote in April 2004, within the afterword to the manga sequence. “As we go about our lives, we touch people, we see people, and interact with them; and in doing so we feel and think many things. Sometimes we make others happy, sometimes we hurt them, we sympathize, and we disagree. In the midst of this, we learn that people’s thoughts and feelings are not a one-way street.”
Takahashi was a fan of many different manga and comedian ebook artists, famously exchanging artwork with Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. He additionally personally drew the artwork for a Yu-Gi-Oh! card primarily based on his pet canine, a shiba inu named Taro.
(RT.com)