Dragon Ball and One Piece Director Has Passed Away
One Piece and Dragon Ball fans mourn the loss of an iconic director, who was responsible for improving the production quality for both franchises in the modern era.
On November 14, 2025, it was announced that animator and director Tatsuya Nagamine passed away on August 20, 2025 at the age of 53.
Tatsuya Nagamine was famous as the director for the highly-acclaimed Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018), which has grossed $ 124 million worldwide and is thus the highest-grossing Dragon Ball film.
Within Dragon Ball: Super (2015-2018), he became series director after Episode 77 in 2017 for the Universal Survival Saga, wherein the highly-acclaimed Tournament of Power took place. M
Previously, he directed One Piece Film: Z (2012), which has grossed $ 85 million.
Later on the One Piece anime, he made his directoral debut with Episode 698 during the Dressrosa Arc on June 21, 2015.
Furthermore, he became series director for the One Piece anime on July 2018, taking over the entire run of the Wano Country Arc (2018-2023), directing both the first and last episodes of the arc (Episode 892 and Episode 1088), as well as Episode 1071, which saw the awakening of Luffy’s Gear 5, a significant milestone for anime history.
He has also mentored, among many others, acclaimed new talent, Megumi Ishitani, who would go on to gain fame, beginning with the final episode of Dragon Ball: Super, Episode 131: “A Miraculous Conclusion! Farewell Goku! Until We Meet Again!”.
She later joined the One Piece team, directing Episode 957 and making a permanent mark on the One Piece franchise through Episode 1015: “Straw Hat Luffy – The Man Who Will Become the Pirate King”, which adapted the 1000th chapter of One Piece, in 2022, and One Piece: Fan Letter, the adaptation of the light novel, “One Piece novel Straw Hat Stories” and TV special for the anime’s 20th anniversary on October 20,2024.
It was through Nagamine’s vision that the One Piece anime has exceeded its production quality from the post-timeskip period, with multiple episodes showing off incredible animation cuts, a cleaner and brighter art style, and more creative freedom for its directors and staff of animators.
On October 20, 2024, he would officially step down as the lead series director right in the middle of the Egghead Arc (Episode 1089 to Episode 1122) and marking 12 years with the One Piece anime.
However, he remained series director for the remastered Fishman Island Arc titled “One Piece Log: Fish-Man Island Saga”, handling 9 episodes, including its first and final 21st episode.
Nagamine would be named series director together with Aya Komaki (who left after Episode 961 on February 7, 2021) and Kōhei Kureta (who left after Episode 1030 on August 21, 2022) and would later be joined by their respective replacements: Satoshi Itō (beginning in Episode 962 on February 14, 2021) and Yasunori Koyama (who started in Episode 1031 on September 4, 2022).
Wataru Matsumi takes his place, taking charge of Part 2 of the Egghead Arc that began airing on April 5, 2025.
Source: Twitter
Tatsuya Nagamine, the director of Dragon Ball Super: Broly, sadly passed away this past summer. Rest in peace🙏 pic.twitter.com/2NEyb4x7V2
— Hype (@DbsHype) November 13, 2025
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