Steph Deschamps / July 8, 2022
Japanese mangaka Kazuki Takahashi, author of the popular Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, died at the age of 60 from a possible diving accident, it was learned Thursday.
Takahashi's body was found Wednesday morning off the coast of Okinawa Prefecture in southern Japan after the coast guard received an emergency call, a member of the Nago City Coast Guard told Agence France-Presse.
He was wearing a T-shirt, mask, snorkel and fins, the source said, adding that an investigation was underway and that both accidental and criminal deaths were being considered at this stage.
The Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, originally published in the Japanese magazine Weekly Shonen Jump between 1996 and 2004, features Yugi, a teenager who receives as a gift a puzzle containing the spirit of an Egyptian pharaoh, which takes over his body.
Subsequently published as a series of 38 volumes by the Japanese publisher Shueisha, and in French by the publishing house Kana, the manga has been the subject of two adaptations in animated series and two others in animated films.
The license has also been adapted as a collectible playing card game that has been a worldwide success.