New report found 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' creator Kazuki Takahashi died while saving others from drowning
The world was rocked last July when news broke that Yu-Gi-Oh! creator Kazuki Takahashi died at 60 from drowning. Now, recent reports have found that the animator's final deed was a heroic act worthy of the titles he created.
A report from the U.S. military's independent news source, Stars and Stripes, stated that Takahashi was trying to save others from a scuba whirlpool accident before he himself was swept by it.
Army Maj. Robert Bourgeau, a deputy operations officer who is also a scuba diving instructor, was trying to save a girl, her mother, and another soldier from drowning on a riptide in Mermaid’s Grotto in Onna, Japan when the famous anime creator decided to lend a hand.
"The conditions were really, really rough,” the Major said, as the water's rip current was sucking the pair out but incoming six-foot waves were crashing in and creating a whirlpool effect.
"Bourgeau jumped into the rip current and sped out to the girl, but was quickly exhausted as he worked to bring her toward the shallows. Then he encountered her mother who had somehow been sucked into the swirling waters as well," the Stars and Stripes report reads.
Bourgeau then grabbed the mother and daughter and "kicked for all life."
At some point, Takahashi entered the water to assist in the rescue, but he wasn't seen by Bourgeau due to fiece waves. His students said that they saw Takahashi in the waves until he eventually disappeared.
Takahashi's body was found two days later in Awa, Nago City. According to Japanese news outlet NHK, Nago City coast guards found his body geared up with snorkeling equipment.
"He's a hero. He died trying to save someone else," Bourgeau said.
"That was one the hardest things I have ever had to do, I let [the man] go so I could save myself,” the soldier wrote in his witness statement given by the Army. “I didn’t think I was going to make it."
Since 1982, Takahashi was a manga artist who largely contributed to the shonen genre through the best-selling manga series Yu-Gi-Oh!
The series ran from 1996 to 2004 and has since become an international franchise with tabletop card games, anime, and new manga series, toys, game adaptations, and more.
In July 2015, he received the Comic-Con International's Inkpot Award, which recognizes exemplary contributions to pop culture.
