“Yu Ji-Oh!” Creative Kazuki Takahashi dies at the age of 60

The creator, also known as Kazuo Takahashi, started working in the manga industry in the 1980s and had huge success in the following decade with “Yu-Gi-Oh!” The touching underdog fantasy manga series written and drawn by Takahashi features a spiky-haired high school stranger named Yuji, who, once he solves an ancient mystery, becomes a mysterious version of himself: Yu-Gi-Oh, the king of games and the warrior hero of villains.

“Yu-Gi-Oh!” It was published in a series in the highly-read Japanese boys’ magazine, Weekly Shonen Jump, from 1996 to 2004. Takahashi’s creation grew into a global multi-billion dollar enterprise, producing an anime and video game franchise. In 2011, the Guinness Book of Records recognized “Yu-Gi-Oh!” As the largest trading card game ever, with over 25 billion cards sold, according to game maker Konami. Takahashi received the Inkpot Award from Comic-Con International in San Diego in 2015.

Takahashi’s creation was appreciated for its broad appeal, including in anime, which was presented in the United States as the “apparent heir to Pokemon,” Daniel Dockery, a senior writer on Crunchyroll, told The Washington Post.

“A common theme that fans connected to was Takahashi’s fascination with how people play, and how we fall in love with our favorite monsters,” said Dockery, author of Monster Kids: How Pokémon Taught a Generation to Catch Them All. “The spirit of interaction, and the way people grow through it, underpins the legacy of his work.”

Takahashi’s creatures range from horror to fantasy, but “there’s a craft they have in common—the kind of thing that reveals hidden details over time, plus ‘Oh my God, that looks so cool,'” Dockery said. Our world makes them more attractive to the eye. It’s truly yours to love and play with, making you feel equally powerful and inspired.”

Takahashi recently worked on this year Marvel’s “Secret Reverse” Graphic novel from the manga featuring a team including Spider-Man and Iron Man/Tony Stark, who travel to a Japanese gaming convention.

Jason Thompson, who has edited the English manga versions for “Yu-Gi-Oh!,” said “Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duelist” and “Yu-Gi-Oh!: Millennium World.”

“He was a generous man who loved American games and comedy and it was a pleasure to work with him.”

Thompson noted that the original “Yu-Gi-Oh!” The graphic novel series was one of his favorite manga, “with a sentimental core that gives it life beyond cliffhanger battles and exotic monsters.”

On social media, fans shared favorite memories of “Yu-Gi-Oh!” and Takahashi. “Yu-Gi-Oh! I defined my taste in animation when I was a kid, and the game got me out of the house and out of my head when I needed it most as an adult,” one fan He said on Twitter. Added another That the fantasy series “has had a tremendous impact on global culture. It’s an important story about facing the head of evil with hope and friendship, always fighting for a brighter tomorrow.”