2022 looks to be a year of heavy loss in the comic and manga community. News broke today that Takahashi Kazuki, the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh! has been found dead. He was 60 years old.

Takahashi, whose real name is Kazuo Takahashi, was discovered floating in the water near the Okinawa Prefecture in Japan on Wednesday. He was in snorkeling gear. The cause of death is being investigated.

Takahashi began as a manga artist in the 1980s but it was in 1996 when he created the manga series Yu-Gi-Oh! It was serialized in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. A card game later spun out from the manga.

Yu-Gi-Oh! became a massive franchise including television shows, manga, video games, and the trading card game which is consistently a top seller.

Takahashi has remained in charge of the manga’s direction through his Studio Dice imprint.

He most recently released Marvel’s Secret Reverse, a western style graphic novel published by Marvel and VIZ Media.