A Kite

Director and storyboarder Yasuomi Umetsu's high octane visuals hang from KITE's basic, unoriginal storyline, but don't let that put you off this pleasing document.

An assassin forced to kill and driven into occasional sexual servitude by perverted bosses is the basic set-up of this excuse for subversion (nothing wrong with that).

That the assassin looks twelve (despite her concessionary breasts) is why KITE is questionable material in more conservative circles.

The shoot-outs are beautifully realized and the sound effects are sharp and effective. Umetsu has a passion for the domino effect of violence as one grisly atrocity begets another until the Tokyo streets and subways resemble a hellish inferno.

The erotic sequences, cut or softened in some versions, are as explicit as you can possibly get and gorgeously drawn.

The 2004 Kitty Media DVD (the only one to get) is totally uncut, as is a German disc released a couple of year's ago (sans English subs).

KITE is juvenile in spots, slow in others, but it's a good animated co-feature if you're thinking of screening Luc Besson's THE PROFESSIONAL for your comrades.

I do not watch anime nearly at all. Kite was a movie i found by accident, i heard it is gory and it was a exploitation anime film. I can tell you the animation is pretty well made. However, i wish we had a bit more depth on our characters, meaning the victims.

I wish we had more depth into Sawa and Oburi, their past, more depth to these victims you want to care about. Sawa and Oburi kinda remind me of Lucie and Ana from Martyrs, but in Martyrs i really feel just horrible for both of them, here i did not get the same effect. Why? Because none of them have high written depth.

However, the story is a fun one, and this is the truth: When you begin working in the crime sphere, someone will always have you on their RADAR, and this movie does that flawlessly. Voice acting to me seems to be solid enough.

I only got two negatives: I wish we had more depth to our two main victims, characters, and i wish the first half of this movie was a bit more interesting. The first half is kinda dull and prolonger not as interesting as the second half. The second half saves this movie.

In the end if you enjoyed Ichi the Killer, Vengeance, Lady Vengeance, Old Boy, Machine Girl best bet is to put this thing in the same boat.

A complete entertainer with High intensity action, Explicit content and soothing and mellow soundtrack consisting mainly of Saxophone Solos to completely fit the mood of this short yet highly entertaining movie.

When I first saw this film, it was the edited American version (its missing nearly 1/2 hour), and I instantly fell in love with it. I am a huge fan of anime, but I prefer actual movie format (like that of "Perfect Blue") as opposed to the OVA format (like the "Slayers" series). This movie had an excellent plot, rapid-fire animated sequences, and alot of violence and weapons-play. I personally didn't care much for the animator's style, but that is more than made up for in the fluidity of the frames. Watching the movie in its original Japanese will help answer alot of questions that, due to mouth-syncing shortcomings, were not really addressed. And, although "Kite" (pronounced "kah-ee-toe", if one were to read the katakana on the boxfront... pronouncing it like "kee-teh" will mean something entirely different in Japanese) is missing that 1/2 hour of footage, there is nothing really lost in the plot or motif. Anyone who does not watch this film superficially will put the missing details together by context clues throughout. Overall I say that if you can, get the video in its original Japanese, with subtitles in English if necessary...get the raw feel for the film. However, the full unedited version, if you're interested, is only available in Japan, and Hong Kong, I believe. The video and DVD formats used there aren't programmed to play on American players. So, if you want to see it uncut, you'll have to see it in the country of origin.

Kite is an orphaned girl who kills for her controller, who supposedly saved her. Filled with some real gore, super violent content and a decent story line, avoid the lame live action movie and see this instead.