- Born
- Graduated from Yokohama High School in 1968. After a few years working as animator at Mushi Production Animation, the company went bankrupt in 1972 and he joined Madhouse Studio. In the 70s he was promoted to animation director and finally debuted as film director in 1984's "SF New Century Lensman", jointly with the more experienced Kazuyuki Hirokawa (Kawajiri also did the character design along with Kazuo Tomizawa). His first film in solitaire (and doing also the animation direction) was "Wicked City" (1987), which confirms his mastery in filmmaking. 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.
- IMDb mini biography by: Caluchanche
- Realistic character animations
- Action scenes featuring elaborate choreography and dynamic camera work
- High levels of graphic violence and nudity/sex
- Female characters in some of his films (specifically Makie in Wicked City and Kagero in Ninja Scroll) are subjected to physical/sexual abuse, which has led to some accusations of misogyny.
- Often uses characters with the ability to use shadows as a weapon.
- Considered one of the more revolutionary directors in anime history.
- Considers Rawhide (1959), Yojimbo (1961), Mission: Impossible (1966), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Blade Runner (1982) and Die Hard (1988) to be among the films and television shows that have influenced him the most as a director.
- The works that he is most proud of are Ninja Scroll (1993), Wicked City (1987) and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000).
- Is a fan of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), but not other Stanley Kubrick films.
- One of Kawajiri's favorite directors is John Carpenter.
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