No semi-witty introduction jokes today, everyone. This one is going to be a hard one to read as a large part of many childhoods has passed on. In this case, the one who has left us is manga author Kazuki Takahashi (real name: Kazuo Takahashi) whom you might know better as the creator of the hit manga Yu-Gi-Oh!
According to reports which began appearing on the news wires early in the morning on Thursday, July 7th, events began on the morning of July 6th when a leisure boat operator called the maritime hotline to report a dead body floating in the waters off the coast of Nago in Okinawa. The coast guard was able to identify the body as Takahashi. No official cause of death has been announced, but as they discovered the body wearing snorkeling equipment, it appears he suffered some kind of accident while swimming in the waters. He was 60 years old.
Growing up in the 90s, I somehow entirely missed the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. I mean, I knew of it, but I never got caught up in the craze that ensnared a large swath of the childhood population around the world. It wasn’t until recently when I met someone new who did love the franchise that I learned how absurdly hilarious it could be. While I still won’t say that I am a fan, I will say that this last year gave me a new appreciation for the franchise as a whole and so it feels extra sad to me. I grew to appreciate it.
How do you sum up the body of work that Takahashi leaves behind? It’s going to be difficult, but please allow me to try.
The winner of Comic-Con International’s Inkpot Award in 2015 — an award that recognizes outstanding contributions to comics, science fiction and fantasy, film, television, animation, and fandom — Takahashi worked his way into that role by launching his first serialized series in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1996 which, as you already know, is Yu-Gi-Oh! While the original manga series only ran until 2004, the mark that it left within the anime community is undeniable. From that manga, an entire multimedia universe was created that includes a massively successful card game, video games, multiple anime series, further manga series, and so much more! It’s not a stretch to say that this franchise was the gateway for many young people in the latter part of the previous millennium.
Takahashi was more than just the person who brought us Yu-Gi-Oh!, though. While the original manga ended in 2004, he also had a hand in supervising further manga series from the franchise while occasionally contributing a one-shot to Weekly Shonen Jump such as Drump in 2013, The Comiq in 2018, and Secret Reverse in Shonen Jump+ in 2019.
Today is a sad day for fans of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise from all ages and walks of life and we join them in mourning his passing. Thank you for your contributions, Takahashi.
Sources: Anime News Network, Crunchyroll News, SoraNews24
