Yoshiaki Kawajiri (å· å°» å–„æ˜, Kawajiri Yoshiaki, born November 18,
1950) is a writer and director of Japanese animation. He is the
creator of titles such as Wicked City, Ninja Scroll, and Vampire
Hunter D: Bloodlust.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 7â€"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.
1950) is a writer and director of Japanese animation. He is the
creator of titles such as Wicked City, Ninja Scroll, and Vampire
Hunter D: Bloodlust.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 7â€"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.
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