Kazuki Takahashi

 is a Japanese manga artist and game creator, best known for creating "Yu-Gi-Oh!".
Career.
Takahashi started as a manga artist in 1982. His first work was "Tokiō no taka" (闘輝王の鷹, "Fighting Hawk"), published in 1990. One of his earliest works, "Tennenshoku Danji Buray" (天然色男児BURAY), was published from 1991 to 1992 and lasted two volumes. Takahashi did not find success until 1996, when he created "Yu-Gi-Oh!"
Takahashi's "Yu-Gi-Oh!" manga led to the creation of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game published by Konami. Originally intended as a one-shot in the manga's episodic introduction of new games, the game was named "Magic and Wizards" as a reference to the card game and its publishing company Wizards of the Coast (the card game's name was changed to "Duel Monsters" in the anime adaptations). However, Shueisha, the publisher of the "Weekly Shōnen Jump" magazine, received so many letters and fan-mail asking about "Magic and Wizards" that Takahashi decided to extend it.
Takahashi has continued to supervise the creation of "Yu-Gi-Oh!" manga since the end of the original manga's run.
In 2013, the one shot manga "Drump" was released in "Weekly Shōnen Jump", based on a new game by Kazuki Takahashi.
In 2015, the manga artist received the Inkpot award from Comic-Con International for his outstanding contributions to comics.
In 2018, Takahashi published the limited series "The Comiq" in "Weekly Shōnen Jump".
Artist exchanges.
Takahashi collaborated with Yoshio Sawai by drawing a picture of Dark Yugi for "Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo", where he pops out of Bobobo's afro at one point. In return, Takahashi included the "nu" handkerchief in a panel of the thirty-fourth volume of "Yu-Gi-Oh!".
Takahashi and Mike Mignola, the creator of "Hellboy", also participated in an art exchange (with Takahashi drawing Hellboy with Yugi Mutou's hairdo, a Millennium Puzzle, and a duel disk and Mignola drawing Hellboy wearing a Millennium Puzzle and a Yugi T-shirt).
Personal life.
Takahashi likes to play games such as shogi, mahjong, card games, and tabletop role-playing games.
In an interview with "Shonen Jump", Takahashi stated that his favorite manga from other authors included "Akira" by Katsuhiro Otomo, "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" by Hirohiko Araki, and "Dragon Ball" by Akira Toriyama. He also enjoys reading American comics, with Hellboy being his favorite American comic book character.
His pet dog, a shiba inu named , was the basis for the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" Trading Card Game monster card ; the card's artwork was personally drawn by Takahashi.