Kazuki Takahashi Kazuki Takahashi , born October 4 , 1961 in Tokyo , is the creator of the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " manga series , which has spawned a number of spinoff anime and manga series , including " Yu - Gi - Oh ! R " , " Yu - Gi - Oh ! Capsule Monsters " , " Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX " , " Yu - Gi - Oh ! 5D ' s " , " Yu - Gi - Oh ! ZEXAL " , " Yu - Gi - Oh ! ARC - V " , and " Yu - Gi - Oh ! VRAINS " , a large number of video games , several card and tabletop games , including the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! Capsule Monsters Collectible Figure Game " , " Bandai ' s Official Card Game " , " Dungeon Dice Monsters " , and the " Official " and " Trading Card Games " , and a huge array of merchandise . Career . History . As a child , Takahashi liked to draw , but did not start putting manga together until he was in high school . When he was 19 , one of Takahashi ' s manga stories won a contest in a shonen manga magazine . He considers that to be his debut , but for the next ten years he went through several publishers and had a lot of rejected stories . Takahashi worked for a game company , but aspired to create manga . In 1990 , he managed to create 100 pages of manga and 200 pages of sketches before bringing his first proposal to " Weekly Shōnen Jump " . The editor he met was bothered by the size of his submission , but read through all of it and understood that Takahashi wanted to do a battle story . In the end that manga idea was rejected . His first work was " Tokio no Tsuma " , published in 1990 . One of his earliest works was " Tennenshokudanji Buray " ( 天然色男児BURAY ) , which lasted for two volumes and was published from 1991 to 1992 . Takahashi didn ' t find success until 1996 when he created " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " . Takahashi ' s popular " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " manga started the creation of the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " cards , known within the series as " Magic and Wizards " and later " Duel Monsters " . However , he never intended to focus his manga on the card game he created . The original format of the manga was set in episodic chapters with a different game being played in each chapter , and the Magic and Wizards card game was originally intended to only appear in two chapters . Shueisha , the publisher of the " Weekly Shōnen Jump " magazine , received so many letters and fan - mail asking about the " Magic and Wizards " game that Takahashi decided to extend it . Takahashi had promised himself that " Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX " would be the last " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " series . However , he was approached at the end of 2006 with the idea for " Yu - Gi - Oh ! 5D ' s " . The production staff and TV board were long time associates and friends , who had spread " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " to many people in the world , so Takahashi agreed , under the condition that this would be the last " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " series . Despite this , three subsequent series , " Yu - Gi - Oh ! ZEXAL " , " Yu - Gi - Oh ! ARC - V " , and " Yu - Gi - Oh ! VRAINS " have been made . Takahashi compiled various " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " illustrations he ' d drawn into the book " Duel Art " which was published on December 16 , 2011 . After " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " , Takahashi designed " Advent Heroes " , a comic and card game , influenced by American comics . Influences . Takahashi has mentioned a number of things which may have inspired him to become a mangaka . One of them was a he used to enjoy going to when he attended elementary school . During the show , he would wonder if the old man hosting it , drew all the pictures himself . Another was an event that occurred in his first year of high school . An unfriendly teacher compared him to a defecating machine in front of the class . His classmates laughed , but he defiantly stood up and asked if a defecating machine can create comics . Takahashi decided to use battle as his primary theme . However there had been so much " fighting " manga , he found it difficult to come up with something original . He decided to create a fighting manga , where the main character doesn ' t hit anybody , but struggled with that limitation . However when the word " game " came to mind , he found it much easier to work with . Takahashi had always been interested in games . He claims to have been obsessed as a kid and still interested in them as an adult . In the games he considered the player to become a hero . He decided to base the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " series around such games and used this idea as the premises ; Yugi was a weak childish boy , who became a hero when he played games . He admits that it is difficult to come up with many unique monsters . He tries to fit the player ' s characteristics into the creature he is creating , such as giving Seto Kaiba vicious cards to suit his personality . With friendship being one of the major themes of " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " , he based the names of the two major characters " Yūgi " and " Jōnouchi " on the word " yūjō " ( 友情 ) , which means " friendship " . , the ability to turn into something or someone else , is something Takahashi believed all children dreamed of . He considered Yugi ' s henshin Yami Yugi , a savvy , invincible games player , to be a big appeal to children . The character Seto Kaiba is partly based on an arrogant collectible card game player Takashashi heard of . Before writing the original Shadi storyline , Takahashi visited Egypt to gather information . Takahashi was ill at the time of writing the Pharaoh ' s memory arc . He ended up in the hospital and struggled to meet deadlines . As a result , he reluctantly cut short Priest Seto and Kisara ' s story , which he regrets as it was to explain the relationship between Seto Kaiba and the " Blue - Eyes White Dragon " . He also joked that the design of Zorc Necrophades was due to his grogginess at the time . Sometime during the original run of the pre - Trading Card manga , Takahashi had his handbag stolen by a thief during a night when he played Pachinko . The thief was never caught and included in his bag were further ideas for stories for the originating manga ; he expressed some desire to recall and remember the ideas that were lost since . He credits his unmet expectations from seeing " " in his childhood as an inspiration for the film " Yu - Gi - Oh ! VS . GX " . Although the film wasn ' t made , elements from it were used in the second season of " Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX " . Creations . Takahashi personally created , among other monsters , " Dark Magician " , the " Elemental Heroes " , " Junk Synchron " , " Stardust Dragon " , " Red Dragon Archfiend " ( another of his " " inspirations besides " Jinzo " ) , and " " . As expected , he also created and hand drew the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " protagonists ( Yugi Muto , Yami Yugi , Jaden Yuki , Yusei Fudo , Yuma Tsukumo ) as well as several key characters . He also created alternate artworks for some cards like Blue - Eyes White Dragon , Red - Eyes B . Dragon , Dark Magician , Summoned Skull , Jinzo , the Egyptian Gods , etc . , which he signed . Personal life . Takahashi likes to play games , such as Shogi ( Japanese chess ) , Mahjong ( the traditional Chinese tile game ) , card games , and tabletop role playing games . Takahashi considers himself to be a procrastinator . He doesn ' t work until close to a deadline , at which point he always ask himself why he didn ' t start working earlier . Takahashi and Mike Mignola , the creator of the " Hellboy " comic book series , once participated in an art exchange . Takahashi , who is a fan of American comics , drew a picture of Hellboy with Yugi Mutou ' s hairdo , the Millennium Puzzle , and a Duel Disk . Mignola drew a picture of Hellboy wearing the Millennium Puzzle and a Yugi t - shirt , and the two exchanged their artworks . He also collaborated with Yoshio Sawai by sending him a picture of Yugi that was used in the manga " Bobobo - bo Bo - bobo " ( Bobobo makes Yugi come out of his afro ) . In return , Takahashi included the ' nu ' handkerchief in one of the panels in " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " during the Egypt arc .