Yoshiaki Kawajiri: why the Ninja Scroll director hasn’t directed in nearly 20 years

According to IGN, Kawajiri now mainly works as a storyboard artist. The site points to recent and well-known titles such as Beastars, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End and Jujutsu Kaisen.

A separate context source says Ninja Scroll is getting a limited 4K theatrical re-release in North America on October 4, 5 and 7. The exact year is not confirmed in the provided material.

What happened

IGN published an interview with Yoshiaki Kawajiri, best known as the director of Ninja Scroll. The piece also links him to earlier anime films such as Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Goku: Midnight Eye, Wicked City and Demon City Shinjuku, framing him as a veteran of dark, action-heavy anime productions.

Kawajiri says in the interview that he has not directed a new film in almost 20 years. According to his explanation, it is not just a matter of age, but also of workflow: he cannot leave a project entirely to someone else, and his physical stamina is limited. The source describes him as 75 years old.

Instead of directing, he now focuses mainly on storyboards. IGN cites credits on Beastars, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End and Jujutsu Kaisen as examples of his current work. The article presents those titles as examples, not as a complete filmography.

The timing of the interview lines up with renewed attention on Ninja Scroll. An external context source says the film is getting a limited 4K theatrical re-release in North America on October 4, 5 and 7. That material also mentions a 30th-anniversary theatrical re-release in 2024, but the provided IGN excerpt does not confirm the year for the October release.

Background

Yoshiaki Kawajiri has long been considered an influential name in anime, especially for dark and action-driven productions. The article directly connects him to a string of genre works that often appear in lists of classic anime films. Ninja Scroll remains the best-known title in the provided source, in part because the film was released in 1993 and later became a cult classic.

The shift toward storyboards fits the way IGN describes his current work. The source no longer presents him as an active feature-film director, but as a creator contributing behind the scenes to series and films. The cited credits on Beastars, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End and Jujutsu Kaisen show that his name still appears in recent and popular anime productions.

The interview also explains why directing has become less realistic for him. Kawajiri says he cannot fully hand a project over to someone else and that his physical stamina is limited. That gives a practical reason for why he has not directed a new film in nearly 20 years. The source describes him as 75 years old, which adds context to that statement.

The external re-release of Ninja Scroll underlines the film’s lasting relevance. According to the provided context, it is getting a limited 4K theatrical release in North America on October 4, 5 and 7. A second context source specifically mentions the United States and Canada and refers to a previous 30th-anniversary re-release in 2024. However, the provided material does not confirm which year applies to the October release.

Sources

• IGN: interview with Yoshiaki Kawajiri about his career and his work as a storyboard artist
• External context: reporting on the 4K theatrical re-release of Ninja Scroll in October