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Yoshiaki Kawajiri

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Native name
  
川尻 善昭

Name
  
Yoshiaki Kawajiri

Role
  
Writer


Yoshiaki Kawajiri Crunchyroll Column quotNatestalgiaquot Yoshiaki Kawajiri

Born
  
November 18, 1950 (age 73) (
1950-11-18
)
Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Occupation
  
film director, screenwriter

Movies
  
Ninja Scroll, Wicked City, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, The Animatrix, Neo Tokyo

Similar People
  
Hideyuki Kikuchi, Takeshi Koike, Mahiro Maeda, Koji Morimoto, Rintaro

Wicked City 1987 Trailer HD | Yoshiaki Kawajiri


Yoshiaki Kawajiri (川尻 善昭, 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.

Contents

Yoshiaki Kawajiri Yoshiaki Kawajiri MadHouse Studio

Visual Memoir: Yoshiaki Kawajiri


Career

Yoshiaki Kawajiri Examining the Work of Anime Director Yoshiaki Kawajiri

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.

Yoshiaki Kawajiri ffffilmcom

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.

Yoshiaki Kawajiri Running Man Yoshiaki Kawajiri Flickr Photo Sharing

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.

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) – 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

    • 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
  • One Punch Man (2015) - storyboard

    • References

    Yoshiaki Kawajiri Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA