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‘Yu-Gi-Oh!’ creator Kazuki Takahashi found dead in sea

The creator of “Yu-Gi-Oh!” has died.

Kazuki Takahashi was 60.

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Takahashi was found dead Wednesday, floating off the coast of southern Japan, the Japanese Coast Guard said, according to The New York Times.

Officials said Takahashi was traveling alone in Nago, in Okinawa prefecture and was snorkeling when he died. His cause of death is unknown at this time, a Coast Guard spokesperson said.

Takahashi was found still wearing a snorkel, mask and fins, officials said, according to BBC News.

They are investigating whether Takahashi’s death was an accident or a crime.

Takahashi started his career as a manga artist in the 1980s before he found fame internationally in 1996 when he came up with the story of a dueling spiky-haired boy.

“Yu-Gi-Oh!” is the story of Yugi, who receives a puzzle that awakens the alter ego of an Egyptian pharaoh inside of him. Yugi uses games to resolve conflicts, BBC News reported.

“Yu-Gi-Oh!” was supposed to be a single tale but ran for eight years in the weekly magazine Shonen Jump. The comic spawned a collectible trading card game in 1999, which became a competitor to Pokemon as one of Japan’s most recognizable cultural exports, the Times reported.

The comic and card games also inspired television shows, movies and video games. A new version of the game, released in January, was downloaded 30 million times within the first three months after release, the newspaper reported.

“Yu-Gi-Oh!” means “King of Games,” according to BBC News.