Bleach TYBW Animation Director Fired Ahead of Final Cour

Bleach TYBW Part 3 premiered on October 5, 2024, and ended right at the bat of the New Year on December 28, 2025. Soon, it was announced that part 4 would be released soon, and it would be the final piece of Bleach. With Part 4 expected to be released somewhere from mid to late 2025, fans came to know about a massive development regarding their favorite anime.

It recently came to light that a few days ago, Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War’s animation director, Leo Kawamoto, was fired. The announcement came as a massive shock to the fans. Leo Kawamoto revealed the information through his social media handle.

Leo Kawamoto Is No Longer A Part Of Bleach TYBW

Leo Kawamoto was one of the animation directors of Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War and was one of the key figures during Part 2 and Part 3. However, on February 20, 2025, he posted on his X (formerly Twitter) page. The post said that Leo Kawamoto was fired from the Bleach team and won’t be a part of the upcoming cour. Below it, he wrote that he would provide the details later.

One of the fans asked him the reason for him getting fired. Leo answered that he would reveal the reason later. One of the reasons for him losing his job might be due to Bleach hiring new animators. The numbers might have exceeded, and the officials decided to lay him off. Even Leo is not sure about the exact reason.

BLEACHクビになりました。なので4期は参加することが難しいです。

詳細はまたいずれお話します。

— Zeroking (@yzvpp) February 20, 2025

Few of the fans had exciting insights on Leo Kawamoto getting fired that they shared by commenting on the post.

@unknownz777 said, “Is it because you interact with the fans too often?”

@znirein wrote, “Fired? But you did nothing wrong?”

Others showed him their gratitude for the work he put behind the anime and wished him for his future endeavors. Nonetheless, Leo Kawamoto’s work has been critically acclaimed by the fans. While Part 2 felt a bit downgraded from Part 1, Part 3 significantly improved and got the final arc right on its track. The animation was one of the best in 2024 and it was the best that the fans could experience. Unfortunately, the animation director won’t be a part of Bleach’s finale.

Leo Kawamoto’s Past Works

Leo Kawamoto is a veteran of the anime industry. He has worked as an Animation Director and part of the Key Animation for several anime. Below are a few of the popular anime in which he worked.

• One Punch Man
• Bunny Girl Senpai
• Kakegurui
• Nisekoi
• Seven Deadly Sins
• Sword Art Online
• Monogatari
• Bungou Stray Dogs
• Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War
• Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
• Super Shiro

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Source: Leo Kawamoto X account