KEY POINTS
- Takahash was born in Tokyo in October 1963
- "Yu-Gi-Oh!" manga ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1996 to 2004
- It became an international hit franchise
"Yu-Gi-Oh!" manga creator Kazuki Takahashi reportedly died Wednesday at the age of 60. The body of Takahashi was found floating in shallow waters wearing snorkeling gear, local media reports said early Thursday.
The Japan Coast Guard, along with the police, are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding Takahashi’s death. A person on a passing boat called Japan's maritime hotline, and reported a body floating about 1,000 feet from the coast off the resort city of Nago, according to Anime News Network.
Authorities are yet to reveal details about how Takahashi died. It also remains unclear if anyone else was with him at the time.
Takahashi, who was born in Tokyo in October 1963, is best known for "Yu-Gi-Oh!" manga, which ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1996 to 2004, leading to an international hit franchise.
Takahashi won Comic-Con International's Inkpot Award, which recognizes individuals for outstanding contributions to comics, science fiction and fantasy, film, television, animation, and fandom, in July 2015, according to BFMTV [Google Translate showed].
After the success of "Yu-Gi-Oh!", Takahashi spent most of his time working on various aspects of the franchise. He was also recently writing the original story of the "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions" anime film.
In an interview with Shonen Jump, Takahashi had said some of his favorite mangas from other authors included "Akira" by Katsuhiro Otomo, "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" by Hirohiko Araki, and "Dragon Ball" by Akira Toriyama.
This is a developing story.
Manga collection Photo: Rog01/Flickr/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
