Colleagues such as veteran animator Kazuyoshi Yaginuma (Naruto movies, Akira, Steamboy, Wings of Honnêamise) have reported that Kazunori Mizuno, an animator with a long history on Bleach (notably including opening 10) and Naruto Shippuden (opening 11, ending 24) passed away on March 19th at age 52.

不躾で不謹慎なのは重々承知で書きますが

先月3月19日にアニメ演出家の水野和則さんが

スタジオで「仮眠を取る」と言ってそのまま亡くなられた件

アニメ業界で幾度と無く繰り返されてる現実です

日本に置ける労働環境の暗部の最たる一面

他業種でも過労死のニュースは度々報道はされますが — うっちー (@fujisan79) April 5, 2017

Kazunori Mizuno has passed away. He has been working in the industry for about 30 years and is known for directing the better episodes of.. pic.twitter.com/omkqR4LNkl — DarkNora (@dark_nora) April 6, 2017

Apparently a case of overworking. Decided to take a nap at the studio and passed away. Sad reality of this industry. — リボレクさん (@liborek3) April 6, 2017

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Scott Green is editor and reporter for anime and manga at geek entertainment site Ain't It Cool News. Follow him on Twitter at @aicnanime.