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The man behind the iconic Yu-Gi-Oh! manga series has been found dead aged 60.
Kazuki Takahashi's body was found floating in the ocean dressed in snorkelling gear near Nago, in the southern island prefecture of Okinawa, Japan.
His body was discovered 300 metres off the coast in the early hours of Wednesday (6 July), according to public broadcaster NHK.
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The news outlet revealed that his floating body was reported to the Japan Coast Guard at around 10:30am local time.
Emergency services rushed Nago to hospital but the manga creator was pronounced dead at the scene by medical officers.
The Japanese Coast Guard has also claimed a rental car was found nearby that had been hired out under the Yu-Gi-Oh! creator’s name, NHK reports.
The car had been abandoned on a country road not far from the beach in Onna village, which was about 12 kilometres away from where Takahashi was found, NHK revealed.
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Police revealed Takahashi had no visible marks or scratches on his body.
The 60-year-old's death is now under investigation by Japanese officials.
Takahashi was best known for penning the iconic Japanese comic book series Yu-Gi-Oh! which launched multiple spin-offs, including a TV show, video games, and a vastly popular trading card game.
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Takahashi's Yu-Gi-Oh! manga originally ran in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, from 1996 to 2004.
While the comic may have run 18 years ago, the card game version has spiked in popularity recently thanks to the new digital version of the card game, Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel.
The game contributed to Japanese entertainment conglomerate and video game company Konami smashing profit records in the most recent financial year, selling a whopping 20 million copies of the game.
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As a result, the franchise is still going strong, with Yu-Gi-Oh card tournaments held around the globe.
The card game has proved to be so popular that fans petitioned for it to be classified as an Olympic sport at the Tokyo games.
"It is an absolute injustice that the game of Yu-Gi-Oh! The Trading Card Game is not a legitimate sport in the Olympics," the petition argued.
"The playing of Yu-Gi-Oh! requires dexterity (when drawing the cards), athleticism (when playing the cards), and endurance (when you're in round 10 of a YCS)."
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The petition added: "I now call on the International Olympic Committee to add Yu-Gi-Oh! as an official Olympic sport to both mend this injustice and to apologise to Japan for making them go through with the 2020 Tokyo games."
Takahashi also received Comic-Con International's Inkpot Award in 2015.
The Inkpot Award is a coveted prize that is given to creators for their outstanding contributions to the world of comics, sci-fi, animation, TV, film, and fandom.
Topics: News, World News, TV and Film
Rachel Lang