It was reported today that prolific anime director Tatsuya Nagamine passed away this summer. He was in his early 50s. Nagamine worked on many popular Toei Animation series including ONE PIECE, Dragon Ball, Digimon, Precure and Saint Seiya.
As reported by animenewsnetwork, the news of Nagamine’s passing was revealed by composer Kohei Tanaka, and screenwriter and producer Osamu Suzuki via their official X accounts on November 13. Apparently, there was a recent event held to remember the late director at Toei Animation Studio in Tokyo.
Nagamine’s former colleagues took to X to share memories of working with him. Composer Kohei Tanaka attended the memorial event and recounts that Nagamine was “a key contributor to the anime ONE PIECE,” and praised the director’s extraordinary achievements. “I fondly remember the many entertaining meetings we had… I wish I could hear his machine-gun-like way of speaking one last time.” Tatsuya Nagamine directed over 230 episodes of the long-running anime ONE PIECE mostly in the Wano Country arc, as well as the feature films ONE PIECE Z, spin-off ONE PIECE log: Fish-Man island Saga, and several other specials.
Rest in peace to the legendary director Tatsuya Nagamine. Without him, Wano wouldn’t have been nearly as special as it is, and I couldn’t be more grateful for all his work pic.twitter.com/ENkybNdAlG
— unonumero56 (@unonumero_56) November 13, 2025
Screenwriter Hiroshi Yamaguchi mentioned on X that he also attended the memorial. Recalling his time working with Nagamine on Dragon Ball Super, Yamaguchi said “he was the person who would always reassure me with, ‘It’s fine, it’s fine,” even when I felt unsure about my script. I’d hoped to work with him again someday and I regret that I won’t be able to. 52 is far too soon.”
Osamu Suzuki was unable to attend the memorial due to another event, but gave a detailed account of his time working with Nagamine on the movie ONE PIECE FILM Z. Suzuki worked on the screenplay for the movie and remembers that it was tough going at first. His first proposal for the script was soon scrapped, with Nagamine himself proposing the idea for what would become the movie’s final screenplay: a story focusing on a formal marine admiral called Z.
“At first, he didn’t even show me a single smile. I thought that he was very stern,” Suzuki recalls. “There were times when I felt like giving up.” However, once Suzuki had finished the script, Nagamine came into the conference room, bowed deeply, and sincerely thanked the writer for all his hard work. Suzuki recounts that he was so touched by this gesture that “I almost cried.” Suzuki goes on to describe Nagamine as someone who cared about the details: “He was the kind of person who poured his soul into his work. Not just his soul, but his very life.”
Journalist Kaori Kabuta recalled interviewing Tatsuya Nagamine about ONE PIECE FILM Z and the anime’s Wano Country arc. She says that Nagamine’s dedication to his craft gave the arc its distinct visual flare, adding: “I will never forget how passionately he spoke about his work.”
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.
