In a heartbreaking loss to the world of anime, Tatsuya Nagamine, the Toei Animation Director known for his work in Dragon Ball and One Piece, has sadly passed away at age 53.
According to composer Kouhei Tanaka and screenwriter Osamu Suzuki, the Director passed away in Summer 2025. Toei held a memorial service at their studio in Higashi-Ōizumi, Nerima, Tokyo, for the Director on November 13.
Dragon Ball and One Piece Director Passes Away at 53
On Thursday, November 13, composer Kouhei Tanaka and former screenwriter Osamu Suzuki reported on X (formerly Twitter) that Toei Animation Director Tatsuya Nagamine passed away this summer on August 20, 2025.
To remember him, a memorial service was held on November 13 at Toei’s studio in Higashi-Ōizumi, Nerima, Tokyo. Kouhei Tanaka himself attended the gathering and shared his thoughts online. He credited Director Nagamine as a key contributor behind the One Piece anime and shared his fond memories of the many entertaining meetings he had with him. Tanaka also expressed that he wished to hear Nagamine speak one more time.
As for Osamu Suzuki, he stated that he could not go to the memorial himself due to a scheduled event at the same time, but he heard about the gathering from a friend who attended.
“Today, there was a memorial gathering for Director Nagamine, but at the same time, I had an event appearance, so I couldn’t attend.”
Osamu Suzuki recollected the time he first met Director Nagamine in 2010 during the production of One Piece Film: Z. While he was writing the script for the film, at first, Nagamine never smiled at him. However, after he finished the script and had a meeting with the Director, Nagamine bowed to him, thanking him for his hard work.
Suzuki further shared that he himself was the same age as Nagamine was at the time of passing. Hence, he was trying to process how being alive wasn’t a given. Lastly, Suzuki thanked Nagamine for all his hard work.
What Was Tatsuya Nagamine Most Known for?
Gear 5 Luffy seen laughing in One Piece Anime
Toei Animation Director Tatsuya Nagamine was most known for his work in Dragon Ball and One Piece. As for Dragon Ball, Nagamine had worked as Assistant Episode Director for Dragon Ball GT, Series Director for Dragon Ball Super, Opening and Ending Animator for Dragon Ball Z Kai, Assistant Director for Dragon Ball: The Path to Power, and Director for Dragon Ball Super: Broly.
As for One Piece, Nagamine was the Director for the Wano Country Saga. He himself directed ten episodes from the saga, including the opening episode, the episode where Luffy reached Gear 5 for the first time, and the episode where Luffy revealed his dream to his crew. In addition, Tatsuya Nagamine also directed nine of the 21 episodes of “Special Edited Version – One Piece: Fish-Man Island Saga.”
Release Date
October 20, 1999
Network
Fuji TV
Directors
Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
Writers
Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda
-
Mayumi Tanaka
Monkey D. Luffy (voice)
-
Kazuya Nakai
Roronoa Zoro (voice)
Release Date
2015 – 2018
Network
Fuji TV
Directors
Ryota Nakamura, Masanori Sato, Kenichi Takeshita, Takao Iwai, Hideki Hiroshima, Masato Mitsuka, Kazuya Karasawa, Ayumu Ono, Takahiro Imamura, Tatsuya Nagamine, Kôjiro Kawasaki, Kouji Ogawa
Writers
Ryu King, Hiroshi Yamaguchi
-
Masakazu Morita
Whis (voice)
-
Masako Nozawa
Son Goku/Goku Black/Son Gohan/Son Goten (voices)
