Kazuki Takahashi, creator of Yu-Gi-Oh!, dies trying to save people from drowning

• Japanese artist Kazuki Takahashi has died.
• Authorities finally reveal the mystery behind his death.
• They say that he died a hero.

THE MYSTERY BEHIND THE ARTIST’S DEATH HAS BEEN SOLVED. Kazuki Takahashi, who was the creator of the successful Yu-Gi-Oh! series, died trying to save lives during a dangerous incident at sea earlier this summer, authorities said.

Japanese artist Kazuki Takahashi, 60, was found dead in the sea in Japan after a person walking on the beach noticed that a corpse was floating about 300 meters from the shore and notified the Coast Guard immediately.

Kazuki Takahashi, creator of Yu-Gi-Oh, died trying to save lives

An official from the city of Nago, in northern Japan, reported that the body recovered from the sea was wearing an underwater mask, snorkel and fins. Later, on Thursday, July 7, the authorities confirmed it was artist Kazuki Takahashi.

At the time, local and international media indicated that the creator of the successful manga comic series had died a day or two before his body was found but the authorities still could not explain what had happened to him. «We are investigating the case as a possible accident or crime,» they said.

Kazuki Takahashi died a hero

Just three months ago, all that was known was that Kazuki Takahashi had gone on a diving trip off the southern island of Okinawa, according to the coast guard. Now, recent information and new witness testimony reveal that, in reality, the artist died being a hero.

Reports indicate that, in an act of bravery, Takahashi jumped into rough waters to save three people who were struggling to get out of a riptide. In July, when summer was just beginning, Major Robert Bourgeau, an officer in the United States Army, was trying to save swimmers from rough waters. Seeing the situation, Takahashi wanted to help and jumped into the ocean.

What happened?

Bourgeau explained that the rip current formed about 90 meters from the coast and that an 11-year-old girl, her mother and a 39-year-old US soldier were being swept away in it. The army officer managed to reach them. “I grabbed mom and I grabbed [the girl] and I just kicked for all life,» he said.

«Conditions were very, very tough,» Bourgeau said in an interview with the military news site Stars and Stripes. He also commented that the divers were being sucked into the current and that later they could see waves of about two meters high.

“He is a hero”

Multiple witnesses claim to have seen Kazuki Takahashi in the water until the moment he disappeared, according to Sparc News. “He is a hero. He died trying to save someone else,“ Officer Bourgeau commented on the bravery of the successful Japanese artist.

Upon recovering the body, the coast guard indicated that there were no obvious injuries and an autopsy later confirmed that Takahashi had drowned. Takahashi was the creator of the successful Yu-Gi-Oh! comic book series, which was published between 1996 and 2004, and whose brand lives on to this day. Kazuki Takahashi, creator of Yu-Gi-Oh, died trying to save lives