[1] 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.
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).
He was asked in 2002 to direct a segment, titled Program, of The Animatrix, considered a showcase of the best directors of Japanese animation.
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.
In February 2014, Hiroyuki Okada confirmed that Kawajiri had finished the script in May 2013, and that production would begin when funding is secured.