The official Twitter feed for the Chibi Neko Tom no Dai Boken anime series announced on Thursday that Ryutaro Nakamura (Serial Experiments Lain, Kino’s Journey) had died at 4pm on 29 June after spending months in hospital fighting pancreatic cancer; he was 58 years old. The announcement was made after the family had given their permission.

Nakamura-san was working as the director and storyboard artist of Chibi Neko Tom no Dai Boken before he died. He was also planning a new project called Despera with Chiaki Konaka and Yoshitoshi Abe, who both worked with him on Serial Experiments Lain. However, he is probably better known for directing the Serial Experiments Lain anime series. His other directorial work includes Sakura Wars, Kino’s Journey, Rec and Ghost Hound anime series.