The creator of the Japanese entertainment property Yu-Gi-Oh! and the manga trading card game, Takahashi Kazuki, has been discovered dead. According to reports, Takahashi, whose true name is Kazuo Takahashi, was found floating on Wednesday while wearing snorkeling equipment close to Okinawa Prefecture in Japan. The cause of the death is being investigated by the coast guard, although there aren’t many options save accidental drowning.

When Takahashi created the manga comic series Yu-Gi-Oh! and started serializing it in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 1996, he achieved popularity as a manga artist, which he had been working on since the 1980s. Later, he described the guidelines for the companion trading card game.

The series expanded to include a number of TV shows, manga spin-offs, and video games, and it is currently one of the most financially successful franchises ever. Notably, the trading card game—in which players compete against one another—has been named the best-selling game in the world by Guinness World Records.

Takahashi has remained in charge of the manga’s direction through his Studio Dice imprint.

Just two weeks ago, he released Marvel’s Secret Reverse, a manga graphic novel created with Marvel starring Iron Man and Spider-Man.

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SCIFI Radio Staff
SCIFI Radio Staff

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