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http://news.tokunation.com/2016/02/04/kamen-rider-den-o-designer-yasushi-nirasawa-passed-away-31683

And now we turn to a truly sad bit of news today. We unfortunately have to report that famed design artist, Yasushi Nirasawa, has passed away at 52. And while that name may not immediately evoke a response, if you’re a fan of the Kamen Rider franchise then you undoubtedly have seen Mr. Nirasawa’s work whether you realized it or not.

Though Mr. Nirasawa has worked with the franchise since Blade he’s most often remembered for his work on Kamen Rider Den-O as the designer behind the Imagin. Today marks the passing of an immense figure in the tokusatsu world. While Den-O is of course my personal favorite of his works, Mr. Nirasawa had his hands in a number of series familiar to fans.

Kamen Rider Blade
Kamen Rider Kabuto
Kamen Rider Den-O
Kamen Rider Decade
Kamen Rider G
Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger
Golden Knight Garo
Godzilla Final Wars

Dude did probably one of the coolest Mook designs in all of Toku, Kabuto's Worms...

Introduced the world, which probably wasn't ready, to Gimp Suit Zebra...

And, his biggest and most popular contribution to the Kamen Rider Franchise, the Imagin from Den-O...

In an age of CGI, the dudes who still create such awesome and bizarre practical monster designs for various Tokusatsu series in my opinion are quite amazing, though their contribution is often understated due to very little being known about them especially among Western fans. It's sad when you consider this may very well be a dying-art, and we lost based on my viewing experience one of the best.

 

[Jaeger]

He was one of my favorite designers of all time. this makes me so sad.

 

[Slayven]

A true legend

So many good designs

 

[Delio]

Oh man rip ;_; So many designs I enjoyed.

 

[John Kowalski]

That's kinda young :\

 

[Snaku]

This is so sad, he was so young, and had an amazing talent. The Worm are my favorite fodder enemies of all time, such a creepy and cool design. I wasn't the biggest fan of Den-O, but I always appreciated the design of the Imagin. RIP