Kazuki Takahashi

"I believe that "the other me" exists in everyone's heart. It may be your ideal self that awaits you to reach it."

"In our daily life, we never get to see ourselves except by standing in front of a mirror. But even a mirror won't reflect our hearts."

"As we go about our lives, we touch people, we see people, and interact with them; and in doing so we feel and think many things. Sometimes we make others happy, sometimes we hurt them, we sympathize, and we disagree. In the midst of this, we learn that people's thoughts and feelings are not a one-way street."

"It is said that everything that exists in this world is made up of two contradictory qualities. Darkness and light, outer and inner, good and evil, heaven and earth... Those are the themes of Yu-Gi-Oh!"

"Moving on in time, if you look at today’s world, faith, religion, race, as well as due to territorial rights and various other reasons, among countries in mutual relationships, there are still wars or ethnic disputes. It is not rare that the Gods who are supposed to save people’s hearts have ignited the flames of war."

"So I went back to my atelier. As I was about to put it on my desk and restart it… “bzzzzzzt”. Frozen. “Maybe the one who is just not suited for CG… is me.” Restart! Frozen! Restart! Frozen! “This PC…!!” *screeching* When I kicked my computer, I sprained my big toe, and for three weeks, had to visit an osteopatic clinic. I’m not sure what I was sometimes thinking but there were times when I tried to dump my computer into the bathtub."

"A question that I am guaranteed to get asked when interviewed overseas is “What was the prompt that caused you to draw Yu-Gi-Oh!?”. And that sure is a troubling question. The response I usually give involves putting on a lot of air and saying “I wanted to work with a new perspective on games as a concept and write a battle story that had been unseen before and blah blah blah…” or something of the likes, but truth to be told, I myself don’t really know. It might have been “I just suddenly had the thought…”, or “I just wanted to draw the character Yugi.”… well, that also is part of it."

"My unhealthy everyday life led to me throwing up 200 cc of blood and collapsing in the midst of serialization. So at midnight, an ambulance rushed over and brought me to the hospital. If I remember correctly, that was around the time I was drawing the Pharaoh leading his priests into the fight against Bakura in the village of Kul-Elna. The stress caused me to suffer from a stomach ulcer. The doctor back then told me that at the time, I was lacking a third of the amount of blood a regular human being was supposed to have, and not only should I have been very hazy, but also unable to even stand. And now that I was told I realized it was true, I did feel rather hazy during the process of drawing. It was thanks to everyone visiting me at the hospital and buying me yakitori liver, that I secretly hid and ate at the hospital room at midnight that I made a speedy recovery after only three nights, and was able to be discharged. 日頃の不摂生な生活がたたり、連載中に２００ccの血を吐いてブッ倒れ、深夜、救急車で病院に担ぎ込まれた事がありました。たしか、クル・エルナ村での王率いる神官団とバクラの闘いを描いている頃だと記憶しています。ストレスによる胃潰瘍でした。医者の話では、当時のボクは普通の人の３分の２程度しか血液が無く、通常ではボーッとして立っていられない程だとの説明を受けました。そう言われてみると、たしかに絵を描きながら、ボーッとしていたのです。早速、入院三日目、見舞いの者に頼み、大量の焼き鳥のレバーを買ってきてもらい、深夜の病室で隠れて食べたりもしたおかげで、その後、元気を取り戻しすぐに退院する事ができたのです。"

"However, when the ambulance had rushed me into the hospital, I realized that I might end up dying. The Pharaoh’s Memory arc had reached a rather grand scale in my mind, however, due to my hospital stay, I began to have second thoughts on whether I would truly be able to completely finish the story I had envisioned, and grew worried that I might die before I could complete my manga, and the prospect of that felt very troublesome to me, not to mention the popularity of my work had dropped considerably compared to the card battle segments, so my editor had approached me, giving me another half a year for the serialization, telling me to put a closure to the manga in due time. しかし、救急車で運ばれた時は、もう死ぬかと覚悟した程でした。ボクの中で ” 王の記憶編 ” の構想は、かなり壮大なものだったのですが、その事がキッカケで 「物語を最後までキチンと描けるだろうか？完結させる前に死んだら困るしなぁ…」 などと不安になり、カードバトルを描いていた時より人気も落ちていた事もあり、編集の方に、あと半年で連載を終え、物語を完結させたいとお願いしたのです。"

"The homepage design concept is: "Let's roll the dice on a round earth without boundaries!" I just came up with this idea, and I will continue to work hard! Thanks to all of the staff."

"My computer sure has been in good shape as of recently! Usually anything electronic hates me and makes me want to give up. Even when I bought my phone, the camera function quickly stopped working and I couldn't use it. Or so I thought, as I gave it to someone and the camera suddenly worked again. Sort of! It broke again and the moment I brought it to the store, it fixed itself. Sort of! By the way, how about the iPad? I want it, but I have to make sure it doesn't dislike me!"

"The other night, I was looking at the sky when 'whoosh' I saw an orange light! I thought that maybe it was a shooting star, but then I thought it'd be neat if it was the one in a billion chance that it was a UFO. Last year, I read a ton of books about UFOs and an unprecedented UFO boom swelled inside of me, so I thought, 'Maybe so!' for a split second....but maybe not. I want to spot one some day, but do you all believe in UFOs?"

"The OCG has gotten so complex that I can't keep up~! My memory has gotten so bad as of late that I can't even remember all the cards~! And the text is tough with these old eyes~! Still, simply hearing stories of everyone enjoying themselves dueling is enough to satisfy me! But, I'm not a quitter so maybe I'll secretly build a deck and challenge Kageyamacchi to a duel! Just kidding!"

"Aah~(gazes longingly) Those were the days. Taking a look back--back when I was putting out Yu-Gi-Oh! as a weekly serial, on the reader approval surveys, my female reader approval rating was only 5% (among the 5 worst in the magazine), and my editor at the time would tell me to "Just give up on the female fans!"..."

"A group of uncles with some ages were staring at the figure prototype that placed on the coffee shop table in a serious manner, and also discussing the perfect curves of the thighs and slender waist. It must be a rather weird scene to the people who sit next to them (Boom!)"

"[The weather] suddenly gets colder. I visit Kyoto every fall, and I wonder about the autumn leaves this year. For the past few years, the leaves have not seemed to have the best coloring. I wonder if this has to do with the climate change..."

"The threat of natural disasters is repeatedly shown on TV. Even though those images make me shiver, gasp, and freeze, I can still eat a decent meal and wrap myself up to stay warm. How valuable are these actions we do everyday? I wonder if, ironically, we won't even realize its value until we witness the death of people and towns."

"While I was in Spain, a terrorist attack occurred near my hotel! I would like to sincerely pray for the repose of the souls of those affected. Looking towards the future, we must never succumb to negative intentions! We must not lose to warmongers who stir up religious conflicts!"

"Nice to meet you. I am Kazuo Takahashi, the person who is having a comfortable life by making full use of my personal assets, in which my credit card installments are paid in 36 times. (!?) I'm very grateful and excited that I'm able to start manga serialization under the life that filled with uncertainty, such as blackouts, inability to make phone calls and other obstacles from everywhere."

"It was my first time I participated in the cover shoot for the new year's issue. I was nervous being surrounded by senior authors."

"Modern science mentions that the “heart” resides in the brain. Am I the only one who finds it not boring?"

"Recently, it seems that more and more authors are doing color manuscripts on computers. When it comes to coloring time, I definitely want to try it at least once!!"

"[My] assistants have been encouraging me to watch the well received Evangelion, but I just don't have the time to watch it. I've recorded them into videos, but... how annoying!!"

"I've got Digimon!! I've raised it and put it into a fight, and then it died. There's no one around me having it..."

"Is there anything we can do about the excessive packaging of domestically produced CDs these days? I wish they could make it cheaper..."

"I'm currently obsessed with the yellow mouse. There are three large ones in my workplace. Very cute."

"I bought the teddy bear that appears in Mr. Bean. It's the strange looking stuffed toy I talked about..."

"In this series, I hope I can utilize the fun of orienteering that I experienced when I was in elementary school."

"I’ve visited the anime voice recording site and experienced the unity and enthusiasm of the voice actors and staffs!! It was definitely cool!! I’m very looking forward to it!!"

"Recently, I bought a lot of imported board games!! However, when I look at the manual, it's all in English, so I can't play them!! I want to play them somehow. How troublesome…"

"There are pros and cons to the American version of Godzilla, but personally I think the design sensibility differences between farming and hunting tribes is the cause."

"Apparently, a statue of Yugi will be erected at the Sapporo Snow Festival!! Hmm, I want to see it too!!"

"I have Final Fantasy VIII on hand, but I haven't played Final Fantasy VII either. I want to try Final Fantasy VIII soon!!"

"There’s a character called Blue is well known in the US. She’s adorable but unable to make it in Japan. I’m blue…"

"Unfortunately, my body fat percentage has entered the obese range!! I decide to go to the swimming gym again."

"The 21st century has finally come!! UFOs, supernatural powers, spirits, and cryptids should be clarified once and for all!"

"I went to the zoo for the first time in 10 years. I'm embarrassed to say but it was my first time seeing a panda..."

"I met the director of Final Fantasy by chance. Thank you so much for the signature!!"

"Visiting Las Vegas is my dream. I would like to go there at least once. I wonder what kind of place it is. I'm feeling excited."

"Recently, I've been listening to a lot of Western musics from the 80s. Tears For Fears is my eternal theme song!!"

"The other day, while I was taking a bath at home, the water supplement suddenly stopped working!! I was in trouble as my body was covered by bubbles. I realized the importance of water... and also the bubbles."

"When I returned home from my haircut and looked into my mirror, I noticed that the length of my left and right fringes were distinctively different. That was embarrassing... but no one noticed it."

"I heard that sniffing lavender during insomnia can promote sleepiness. I gave it a try and it worked well. I also wonder about the nightcap."

"My very first Shonen Jump manga editor, Mr. Takahashi, passed away. How unfortunate. My condolences."

"It is said that the character of "people ()" is made up of 2 strokes supporting each other, but it seems the shorter one supports the longer one, who is just chillaxing... Am I a twisted adult?"

"I've attended the Tezuka Award ceremony and felt all the award winners' passion towards manga. Please do you best and give out your best for your creativity."

"In the past, I've always heard that aojiru is tasteless, but when I actually tried it... The latest ones are easy to drink and tasty. I'm addicted to them!"

"It's quite interesting to look at the American version of the Yu-Gi-Oh! comics' sound effects. For example, "Boom!" is translated as "CHOOM"!!"

"Due to the ramen restaurant war, two of my favorite neighborhood restaurants are gone! I'm against it!"

"I've been receiving a lot of overseas fan letters lately, and it's quite fun to see all kinds of original monsters are coming out together. Children are all the same across the world!"