Creator of Hit Japanese Manga ‘Yu-Gi-Oh!’ Died Trying to Save People From Rip Tide

The creator of the internationally beloved card game and manga Yu-Gi-Oh! died trying to save people from drowning, a new eyewitness account has revealed.

U.S. Army Major Robert Bourgeau was reportedly on the same beach as the manga artist Kazuki Takahashi on July 4, days before the 60-year-old was found dead. Bourgeau, who’s also a diving instructor, was meeting two of his students when he heard a woman call out for help—her 11-year-old daughter and a U.S. officer were trapped in a rip current.

The tide was pulling them further out into the ocean and incoming six-foot waves were overwhelming them, creating a whirlpool effect, Bourgeau said in an interview with the U.S. military outlet Stars and Stripes. Still wearing his running shoes, the 49-year-old officer jumped in to save them. Takahashi also went in, attempting to aid Bourgeau in the rescue but drowned in the process. 

“He died trying to save someone else,” Bourgeau said, describing the creator as a hero. 

Though Bourgeau said he didn’t see Takahashi, the officer’s students saw the artist disappear beneath the waves. These details are also confirmed in several sworn witness statements provided by the Army.

Fans learned of his death on July 6, when Takashi’s body was found floating by Japan’s Coast Guard. He was wearing snorkeling gear and was traveling alone in Nago, a popular tourist site.

Though an autopsy later confirmed he’d died by drowning, fans were left wondering why he’d swim in such dangerous waters. Now, the eyewitness account has shed some light on the moment right before the creator’s death, leaving Takashi’s fans to hail him as a hero. 

Jeffrey Anderson Jr., a 28-year-old PhD student at Virginia Tech, said he was sad to hear he’d passed, but was proud “he went out in such a heroic way.” 

“I’ll remember him in the way that everybody remembers superheros: ‘With great power comes great responsibility,’” he told VICE World News. Anderson said he grew up playing both the Yu-Gi-Oh! card and video games and watching the show.

Takahashi began his career as a manga artist in the 1980s, but he rose to international fame in 1996 when he first published Yu-Gi-Oh! It’s a story about a high school boy named Yugi who solves an ancient puzzle and gets possessed by an ancient spirit, which helps him challenge his enemies to various duels.

The manga ran for eight years in the popular Japanese comic magazine, Weekly Shonen Jump, which sold more than 400 million copies. It’s also spawned a TV anime series, movies, and a collectible trading card game that’s become so popular, it won a Guinness World Record as the best-selling trading card game in 2011.

About Takahashi’s death, the officer Bourgeau said he wonders how the situation would have panned out differently. “This guy had a huge impact on the world,” he said. 

In September, Bourgeau was recognized for his rescue efforts when his command nominated him for the Soldier’s Medal—an award given to acknowledge acts of heroism outside military conflict.

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