Director Jun Kamiya recently reported that Umanosuke Iida, his colleague and fellow director, passed away. The news was later confirmed by manga creator Koichi Tokita. He was 49.

Iida directed a number of anime titles, including Hellsing, Tide-Line Blue, Mighty Space Miners, and CB Chara Nagai Go World. Iida also directed Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, which he started work on after the first director of the series, Takeyuki Kanda, passed away suddenly during production.

We at Anime Dream offer our deepest condolences to Iida-san's family and friends.