Yoshiaki Kawajiri (川尻 善昭, Kawajiri Yoshiaki; born November 18, 1950) is a Japanese writer, director, storyboard artist and animator. A co-founder of the anime studio Madhouse, he is best known as the director of Wicked City, Ninja Scroll, and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust.
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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. In February 2014, Hiroyuki Okada confirmed that Kawajiri had finished the script in May 2013, and that production would begin when funding is secured.
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") – segment 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) – segment 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
Batman: Gotham Knight (2008) (Segment: "Deadshot") – segment co-director (uncredited)
OVAs
The Phoenix OVA (1987) (Episode: "Space") – episode director
Goku: Midnight Eye (1989) – director
Cyber City Oedo 808 (1990–1991) – director, character design
The Cockpit (1994) (Segment: "Slipstream") – episode director, screenwriter, character design, animation director
Biohunter (1995) – screenwriter, supervision, key animation
Birdy the Mighty (1996–1997) – director, screenwriter, storyboard, key animation
TV series
X (2001) – director, script, storyboard
Ninja Scroll: The Series (2003) – original creator
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
Books
Arctic Luko (北極のルーコ). Chobunsha, 1989. ISBN 978-4811370989
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust Storyboard Collection (川尻善昭「バンパイアハンターD」絵コンテ集). Asahi Sonorama, 2001. ISBN 978-4257036333
