Veteran animator Kazunori Mizuno has passed away at the age of 52. He passed away on March 19, but news of his death wasn’t made public until his Naruto and Bleach colleagues broke silence on Twitter.
52歳の演出さんの、3月19日に急死された水野和則さん、スタジオで作業中「一時間だけ仮眠取る」って言われてそのまま亡くなられたんだそうです。
— 柳沼和良 (@yaginuma_san) April 6, 2017
Mizuno worked as a storyboard artist and episode director on series like Naruto, Bleach, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Zoids Genesis.
According to reports, Mizuno passed away due to overwork, which is known as karoushi. The medical causes of karoushi are stress induced heart attacks and stroke. It was said that Mizuno decided to take a nap at the Studio Pierrot offices and passed away in his sleep.
Mizuno’s most notable works include directing the 11th opening and 24th ending for Naruto Shippuden, the 10th opening for Bleach, and storyboarding Cardcaptor Sakura Movie 2: The Sealed Card.
