Yoshiaki Kawajiri

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Yoshiaki Kawajiri (川尻 善昭, Kawajiri Yoshiaki, born November 18, 1950) is a writer and director of Japanese animation.^[1] He is the creator of titles such as Wicked City, Ninja Scroll, and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust.

Career

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 Studio 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.

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
• Neo Tokyo (1987) (Segment: "The Running Man") – director, screenwriter, character design, animation director
• Wicked City (1987) – director, character design, animation director
• Demon City Shinjuku (1988) – director,^[2] 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

OVA

• The Phoenix -Space- (1987) – director
• Goku: Midnight Eye (1989) – director
• Goku II: Midnight Eye (1989) – director
• Cyber City Oedo 808 (1990) – director, character design
• The Cockpit (1994) (Segment: "Slipstream") – director, screenwriter, character design, animation director
• Biohunter (1995) – screenwriter, supervision, key animation
• Birdy the Mighty (1996) – director, screenwriter, storyboard, key animation
• Batman: Gotham Knight (2008) (Segment: "Deadshot") – director^[3]

TV series

• X (2001) – director, script, storyboard
• Ninja Scroll: The Series (2003) – original creator, screenwriter

Other work

• Dororo (1969) – in-between animation
• Cleopatra (1970) – in-between animation
• Tomorrow's Joe (1970) – in-between animation, key animation
• New Moomin (1972) – key animation
• Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (1972) – key animation
• Dokonjō Gaeru (1972) – key animation
• Aim for the Ace! (1973) – ending Illustration, key animation
• Jungle Kurobe (1973) – key animation
• Samurai Giants (1973) – key animation
• Judo Sanka (1974) – key animation
• Hajime Ningen Gyatoruz (1974) – key animation
• The Fire G-Man (1975) – key animation
• Adventures of Ganba (1975) – key animation
• Demon Dragon of the Heavens Gaiking (1976) – key animation
• Manga Sekai Mukashi Banashi (1976) – episode director, character design, key animation, background art
• Manga Nihon Mukashi Banashi (1976) – episode director, character design (uncredited), key animation, background art
• Jetter Mars (1977) – key animation
• Future Boy Conan (1978) – key animation
• Animation Kikō Marco Polo no Bōken (1979) – storyboard, key animation
• Botchan (1980) – key animation
• The Fantastic Adventures of Unico (1981) – key animation, setting (assistance)
• The Sea Prince and the Fire Child (1981) – key animation
• The Door Into Summer (1981) – layout
• Wandering Cloud (1982) – storyboard, layout, key animation (uncredited)
• Unico in the Island of Magic (1983) – layout, key animation
• Barefoot Gen (1983) – key animation
• Harmagedon (1983) – key animation
• Georgie! (1983) – opening animation
• Stop!! Hibari-kun! (1983) – episode director
• The Dagger of Kamui (1985) – key animation
• Barefoot Gen 2 (1986) – key animation
• Toki no Tabibito -Time Stranger- (1986) – key animation
• Junk Boy (1987) – special CF
• Bride of Deimos (1988) – key animation
• Legend of the Forest (1988) – key animation
• Legend of the Galactic Heroes (1988) – guest character design
• Kimba the White Lion (1989) – character design
• Record of Lodoss War (1990) – key animation
• Zetsuai 1989 (1992) – storyboard
• Phantom Quest Corp. (1994) – opening animation
• Bronze: Cathexis (1994) – storyboard
• Azuki-chan (1995) – character design
• Memories (1995) (Segment: "Stink Bomb") – supervision, key animation
• X (1996) – key animation
• Todd McFarlane's Spawn (1997) – main title director
• Master Keaton (1998) – screenwriter, storyboard
• Pet Shop of Horrors (1999) – storyboard
• Cardcaptor Sakura Movie 2: The Sealed Card (2000) – storyboard, key animation
• Party 7 (2000) – key animation
• Metropolis (2001) – key animation, layout (assistance)
• Ogawa No Medaka (2002) – key animation
• Space Pirate Captain Herlock: The Endless Odyssey (2002) – storyboard
• Gokusen (2004) – storyboard
• Devil May Cry: The Animated Series (2007) – key animation
• Shigurui (2007) – storyboard
• Redline (2009) – 1st key animation
• Iron Man (2010) – storyboard
• Wolverine (2011) – storyboard
• The Tibetan Dog (2011) – key animation
• Kaiji 2 (2011) – storyboard
• X-Men (2011) – storyboard
• Blade (2011) – storyboard
• Chihayafuru (2011) – storyboard
• Black Jack: Dezaki's Final Chapter (2011) – key animation
• Btooom! (2012) – storyboard
• Chihayafuru 2 (2013) – storyboard
• Iron Man: Rise of Technovore (2013) – storyboard
• Ace of Diamond (2014) – storyboard

References

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Yoshiaki Kawajiri on Twitter
  
• Yoshiaki Kawajiri at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Yoshiaki Kawajiri at the Internet Movie Database
• Yoshiaki Kawajiri anime at Media Arts Database (Japanese)
• Filmography:Yoshiaki Kawijiri at Sakuga@Wiki(Japanese)
• Interview With Yoshiaki Kawijiri at The Animatrix Official Website