is a Japanese writer and director of Japanese animation. He is the creator of titles such as Wicked City, Ninja Scroll, and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust.
Biography
Kawajiri was born on November 18, 1950 and grew up in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. After he graduated from high school in 1968, he worked as an animator at Mushi Production Animation until it closed in 1972. He then joined Madhouse as one of the four co-founders, and in the 1970s was promoted to animation director. He finally debuted as a film director with 1984's Lensman: Secret of The Lens, directing jointly with the more experienced Kazuyuki Hirokawa (Kawajiri also did the character design along with Kazuo Tomizawa). Gaining an interest in darker animation, he next directed The Running Man. Afterwards, he was instructed to make a 35-minute short based on Hideyuki Kikuchi's novels, which was released as Wicked City. After completing it, however, his producers were so impressed that he was asked to make it a feature-length film. Kawajiri enjoyed the dark tone, and agreed to manage and complete the film within a year. That same year he began to work for the Original Video Animation market debuting with "The Phoenix". From 1987 he also wrote his own scripts.
Wicked City received critical and commercial success when released in 1987, giving Kawajiri more creative freedom. He began scripting and designing his own film set in feudal Japan. The result, Ninja Scroll, about the Japanese folk hero Jubei Yagyu, was soon released. After the Western release in 1996, Kawajiri's status as a director received international recognition. He was asked in 2002 to direct a segment, titled Program, of The Animatrix, considered a showcase of the best directors of Japanese animation. Before The Animatrix, he also directed Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, which was based on a novel by Hideyuki Kikuchi.
Kawajiri directed Highlander: The Search for Vengeance. It was released on DVD on 5 June 2007. According to an interview with Ain't It Cool News with producer Galen Walker, Kawajiri disliked the fact that 7–8 minutes of added scenes with no opening exposition text sequence were removed when the film was released, but the director's cut will include the footage. Kawajiri has script approval for a sequel to Ninja Scroll, which was listed as being in pre-production with no specific release date as of 2010.
Filmography
Films
Lensman: Secret of The Lens (1984) – director, storyboard, character design, key animation Wicked City (1987) – director, screenwriter (as Kisei Choo), character design, animation director Neo Tokyo (1987) (Segment: "The Running Man") – director, screenwriter, character design, animation director Demon City Shinjuku (1988) – director, character design A Wind Named Amnesia (1990) – screenwriter, supervision Ninja Scroll (1993) – director, screenwriter, original work, original character design Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000) – director, screenwriter, storyboard The Animatrix (2003) – director (Segment: "Program"), screenwriter (Segments: "World Record" and "Program") Azumi 2: Death or Love (2005) – screenwriter Highlander: The Search for Vengeance (2007) – director, storyboard, key animation
OVAs
The Phoenix -Space- (1987) – director
Goku: Midnight Eye (1989) – director
Cyber City Oedo 808 (1990-1991) – director, character design
The Cockpit (1994) (Segment: "Slipstream") – director, screenwriter, character design, animation director Biohunter (1995) – screenwriter, supervision, key animation Birdy the Mighty (1996-1997) – director, screenwriter, storyboard, key animation Batman: Gotham Knight (2008) (Segment: "Deadshot") – co-director (uncredited)