Satō died of liver failure last month at 61 years old

Anime studio NAGOMI revealed on Thursday that director and writer Tatsuo Satō died of liver failure on April 24. He was 61.

NAGOMI added that Satō had been undergoing medical treatment for some time before his death. His family held a private funeral, and NAGOMI plans to hold a memorial ceremony at a later date.

Satō was born in Kanagawa prefecture on July 7, 1964. After graduating from Waseda University he worked as an animator and assistant director at Ajiado. He then changed track to directing, and worked on anime such as Chibi Maruko-chan and Gaki Deka.

Satō directed the Martian Successor Nadesico, Stellvia, Atom The Beginning, Shigofumi – Letters from the Departed, Lagrange – The Flower of Rin-ne (chief director), Cat Soup, Soar High! Isami, Helck, and the Ninja Scroll television series (series director).

Sato served as head writer and director for Bodacious Space Pirates, Bodacious Space Pirates The Movie: Abyss of Hyperspace, Martian Successor Nadesico: The Motion Picture – Prince of Darkness, Tokyo Tribe 2, TASUKETSU -Fate of the Majority-, and Lord Marksman and Vanadis.

The Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars anime was based on his own original story, and he wrote the scripts for every episode and also directed the anime.

Martian Successor Nadesico: The Motion Picture – Prince of Darkness and Bodacious Space Pirates both won a Seiun Award, and Cat Soup won awards at the 6th Fantasia Film Festival and the 2001 Media Arts Festival.

Sources: NAGOMI‘s X/Twitter account, Comic Natalie

The official website for Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Kikikaikai! Ora no Yōkai Bake-shon (Crayon Shin-chan The Movie Super Strange! My Yōkai Monster Vacation), the 33rd 2D anime film in the Crayon Shin-chan series, revealed the film’s three guest voice actors on Thursday.

The film will open in Japan on July 31.

The film will be the 33rd 2D animated film in the Crayon Shin-chan series. The film will center on “the land of yōkai.” The Nohara family go to Hiroshi’s hometown of Akita to attend a famous fireworks festival during the summer. However, an incident causes yōkai to escape from their land and will wreak havoc in Akita, and in other areas throughout Japan. The Nohara family then go to the land of yōkai, and find themselves in a mysterious yet nostalgic world, where they go on an unpredictable adventure.

Masaki Watanabe (Battle Spirits: Heroes, Sakamoto Days) is directing the film. Yoshiko Nakamura (Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- franchise, PriPara) is penning the script. Shinei Animation, TV Asahi, ADK Emotions, and Futabasha are producing the film, and TOHO is distributing.

Cast members include Yumiko Kobayashi, Miki Narahashi, Toshiyuki Morikawa, and Satomi Koorogi.

Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Chō Karei! Shakunetsu no Kasukabe Dancers (Crayon Shin-chan the Movie: Super Magnificent! Scorching Kasukabe Dancers), the latest anime film in the Crayon Shin-chan series, opened in Japan on August 8, 2025. The film sold 363,000 tickets and earned 450,283,700 yen (about US$3.07 million) in its first three days, and sold 516,000 tickets to earn 633 million yen (about US$4.33 million) in its first four days, which included that Monday (August 11 was the Mountain Day holiday in Japan). The film is the 32nd 2D animated film in the Crayon Shin-chan series.

Crayon Shin-chan premiered in April 1992, and is currently airing every Saturday at 4:30 p.m. JST on TV Asahi.

The television anime of Yōichi Tsukahara‘s Nohara Hiroshi Hirumeshi no Ryūgi (Style of Hiroshi Nohara’s LUNCH) spinoff manga of Crayon Shin-chan premiered on TV Asahi on October 3.

Sources: Crayon Shin-chan film series’ website, Comic Natalie

The official website for the television anime adaptation of Kazuto Mihara‘s World Is Dancing manga revealed additional cast, a key visual (pictured), the opening theme and first promotional video on Thursday. The anime series is scheduled to premiere on July 2 at 10:00 p.m. on Tokyo MX and KBS Kyoto, followed by BS Asahi, Sun TV, and other stations.

Cast

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu: Takahiro Sakurai (Kimetsu no Yaiba)

Nijo Yoshimoto: Nobuo Tobita (Yamada-kun to Lv999 no Koi wo Suru)

Nariko: Mamiko Noto (Kimi ni Todoke)

Chiharu: Inori Minase (Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu)

Satsuki: Hazuki Seto

Rock band Macaroni Empitsu (Boukyaku Battery (TV)) is performing the opening theme “Shusho,” previewed in the promotional video below.

Toshimasa Kuroyanagi (Fune wo Amu) is directing the anime at CygamesPictures, with Sawako Kawamitsu handling the series composition and script. Keigo Sasaki (Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray) is designing the characters. Daisuke Shinoda (Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II) is composing the music.

Mihara began serializing the historical manga in Morning magazine in March 2021. Kodansha published the sixth and the final volume in November 2022.

Kodansha USA licensed the manga in English and published all six volumes digitally from August 2023 to August 2024.

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Source: animate Times