Earlier this year, manga and anime fans have said farewell and paid their respects to co-creator of “Doraemon”, Fujiko Fujio A who passed away at the age of 88 at this home in Kawasaki, Tokyo. Fans all over the world had paid tribute to the artist for being part of their childhood and bringing joy with the beloved blue robot cat from the future.
Sadly, we have to say goodbye to another icon who was also part of many fans’ childhood. The creator of the trading card game and manga series “Yu-Gi-Oh!”, Kazuki Takahashi was found dead on Wednesday (6th July) at the age of 60. Also known as Kazuo Takahashi, the Japanese icon’s body was found on a beach by a passing civilian.
The passing of the “Yu-Gi-Oh!” manga series creator came as a shock to fans all over the world. According to Japanese reports, Kazuki’s corpse was found about 300 meters off the shore of Nago, Okinawa, by Japan Coast Guard officers following a civilian report from a passing boat.
It’s been reported that the manga artist has been dead for a few days prior to the discovery of his corpse as there was evidence of scavenging animals present. He was found wearing snorkeling equipment which led to speculations that his death may be due to an accident but so far there has been no confirmation by authorities.
Kazuki left behind a legacy with many paying their respects to the Japanese icon and thanking him for the creation of one of their favourite manga series and card games. Fans including voice-actors for the English dub of the anime series took to Twitter to mourn for him.
In case you didn’t know, Kazuki was still active as an artist long after the “Yu-Gi-Oh!” series had ended with his recent collaboration being with Marvel on a graphic novel. Other than “Yu-Gi-Oh!”, he was also the creator of “Tennenshoku Danji Buray” back in 1991.
As of now, Japanese authorities are still in the middle of investigating the cause of death and it’s currently still unknown if the author was alone on the day of his death. Just like how we paid respect to Fujiko Fujio A , let’s listen to the opening of the “Yu-Gi-Oh!” anime that was first aired in 1998. Rest in peace, Kazuki Takahashi and thank you.
