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Kōtarō Ishidate Resigns as Director of Tesagure! 3 Anime

Director and scriptwriter Kōtarō Ishidate revealed on his blog on Sunday that he has resigned as the director of the Tesagure! Bukatsu-mono: Spin-off Puru Purun Sharumu to Asobō (Tesagure! 3) television anime series as of May 20.

Ishidate said in the blog post that he has no plans to explain the reason as to why he resigned. He added, "Although I am a selfish person who likes to do things at his own pace, this is the first time that I have left a series as a director mid-way through the series." He added that he had submitted scenarios for the rest of the series early on, and was able to give directions for storyboarding and animation production, so all that's left are the final production steps such as adjusting the footage, and making special effects and background music.

Ishidate added that he has recommended writer Kuniosa Hirama as his successor to direct the remainder of the series. Ishidate apologized fans of the series and asked that fans continue to support the series even though he is now an outsider regarding the show.

Ishidate directed and wrote the scripts for Tesagure! Bukatsu-mono and Tesagure! Bukatsu-mono Encore, and he has also directed Minarai Diva, Q Transformers: Kaettekita Convoy no Nazo, and Straight Title Robot Anime. He served as scriptwriter and unit director for the gdgd Fairies series, but he did not return for the second season.

Ishidate said regarding the gdgd Fairies second season that the reason behind it wasn't because he was too busy or anything similar, but a judgement from the higher-ups. He then added, "If I make any comments on this issue, it will make problems for people in various places, so I'll just say that it's due to 'adult circumstances.'"

Crunchyroll is streaming Tesagure! Bukatsu-mono: Spin-off Puru Purun Sharumu to Asobō under the title Tesagure! 3 as it airs. The eighth episode aired on Saturday.

[Via Yaraon!]