the letters of Yu-Gi-Oh! they were, at least in Argentina, the sensation playing in the recesses of those who were pre-adolescent students during the first decade of the 21st century. An entertainment that together with the beyblades and the tolas of Digimon.
Just like the 2000 Studio Gallop anime or any of Konami’s video games, Yu-Gi-Oh! It was one of the many detachments of the manga of the same name created by the Japanese Kazuki Takahashi in 1996.
Like it Akira Toriyama with Dragon Ball or Hayao Miyazaki with the world ghibliTakahashi has created an inexhaustible universe of artwork and merchandise.
And for many he was, especially now that we know how he died, a hero. The creator of a fantasy and adventure universe with thousands of fans who find representation in him and continue to perpetuate his legacy.
Takahashi’s death
Kazuki died on July 4th. She was 60 years old. His body was found on the coast of Japan.. The cause of his death was hidden by the police at the request of the mangaka’s family.
With thousands upon thousands of devastated fans speculating on the internet and under pressure from the media, the Coast Guard has finally confirmed what happened just weeks ago.
According to the New York Times, much information about the case appeared in Stars and Stripes, a medium partially funded by the Pentagon, and various Japanese newspapers.
The drama according to witnesses
US Army Captain Neda K. Othman27 years old, and her husband Nathan Feura37 years old, I’m together with the instructor Robert. St. Bourgeau, the only people who know more or less what happened. Thanks to the story of him, the world can know the final story of Takahashi.
On July 4, Othman and Feura were at the Mermaid’s Grotto dive site, a site in the heart of Japan with a heavy US military presence. They were there because they wanted to take diving lessons with Bourgeau.
His idea was to take to the water two to three times, but something, more than a desperate request, interrupted his plans.
“Help!”, shouted a woman pointing intently at the mouth of a creek. Immediately, the couple and the instructor went to see what was going on.
Once there, the three realized that below, in the water, a 12-year-old girl and a grown man were in danger. They were caught in a fierce whirlwind.
Nathan and Robert jumped. Neda asked for outside help.
The captain’s husband had been a diver. Even though I had a lot of experience in the water, I’d never seen anything like it: “When I dived in, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s really bad.’
Othman managed to alert two rescue helicopters. The four now had to fight for a few endless minutes against the force of the current until the arrival of aerial reinforcements.
But before the plane arrived, Neda saw a tall man in red shorts, a black T-shirt and a snorkel mask walking along the cliff and decisively jumping into the water to help the girl and the man. It was Takahashi.
“The glare and sunlight were cutting him off, so I didn’t see his face,” the captain told the Times.
In this part of the story, Neda stops seeing the mangaka. Her point of view is now that of her husband.
Nathan watched Takahashi appear any second into the water and hold the hand of the man he was trying to save. After the onslaught of a few “big waves,” the figure of the savior disappeared as quickly as she had appeared.
The instructor then managed to get the girl out of harm’s way without any help from the helicopters. The others continued for a few seconds to fight in unison for their lives.
Eventually, they all came out. The young woman, desperate, kept asking: “Where is the other boy?”.
the days after
The shock and adrenaline caused by the dramatic moment challenged the beliefs of the participants: did the man in the red pants really exist or was he a mirage?
“We started doubting ourselves, which was crazy,” Othman said.
Now that they came to their senses, Neda and Nathan organized a makeshift translator and told the Coast Guard that another man in scuba gear had participated in the rescue and was nowhere to be found. At the moment, nobody did anything.
Forty-eight hours later, Takahashi’s body would be found floating in the water in front of Nago and it would be known that the man was the one in the red pants who had tried to save the girl.
According to the Times, the Coast Guard and local police were unaware that Takahashi had been there on July 4.
What the American media suggest is that the desperate statements of the couple in the middle of the drama have been misinterpreted or translated and that is why the mangaka has not been sought as it should have been.
To date, no one has been charged with wrongdoing, and it is unknown whether a longer search could have saved Kazuki.
On July 11, The Watch confirmed that the corpse was that of the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh! and that he had drowned.
The police hid the cause of his death so that the girl would not find out that the man had lost his life trying to save her..
“Takahashi was 60, a billionaire who created a manga with a worldwide fan base, vacationing in the tropics, yet still willing to risk his life to help strangers in need,” concluded Feura. .
In networks, many Twitter users, such as @ZroHour, @Xuenou and @Timisawake agree with Nathan: “He died like a hero.”
Source: Clarin
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.