Tributes continue to pour in all over the internet as fans mourn the passing of mangaka Kazuki Takahashi, creator of "Yu-Gi-Oh!," who was found dead Thursday off the coast of Nago, Okinawa.
Two notable tributes came from voice actors Kenjiro Tsuda and Eric Stuart, the respective Japanese and English voice actors for Yu-Gi-Oh! antagonist-turned-supporting character Seto Kaiba in the 2000 anime series.
After news of Takahashi's death broke, Tsuda posted a photo to Twitter showing a copy of the "Blue-Eyes White Dragon," Kaiba's signature card in the series.
— 津田健次郎 KENJIRO TSUDA (@tsuda_ken) July 7, 2022
Meanwhile, Stuart posted a statement to Twitter, calling news of the death shocking, while also expressing appreciation for Takahashi's work.
"[Takahashi] created a role that would help define my voice acting career," the tweet reads. "He once told me my version of Seto Kaiba was his favorite. RIP. Love, Kaiba."
This is incredibly sad news. So shocking. An amazingly talented man. Sensei created a role that would help define my voice acting career. He once told me my version of Seto Kaiba was his favorite. RIP. Love, Kaiba. https://t.co/Bsf1P93lHY
— Eric Stuart (@eric_stuart) July 7, 2022
Takahashi got his start in the manga industry with an adaptation of the anime series "Go-Q-Chōji Ikkiman," which ran in Weekly Shonen Magazine in 1986.
Four years later, his one-shot manga "Tokio no Taka" was published in the Weekly Shonen Jump Summer Special Edition.
Takahashi's big break came in 1996 with the serialization of the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" manga series in Weekly Shonen Jump, which ran until 2004 and spawned multiple anime series, films, video games, and a trading card game that continues to have new releases to this day.
Takahashi's most recent work was a graphic novel produced in collaboration with Marvel Comics titled "SECRET REVERSE," which has Iron Man and Spider-Man traveling to Japan to deal with a technological threat unleashed by the CEO of a gaming company.
