From the famous anime I've mentioned on this blog so far, one of the titles that I'm reviewing for this blog is one of the few that is considered as a "cult classic," and it had one of the most interesting histories that I have ever read about for an anime. What anime am I speaking of? That anime is known other than Kite.
Kite (also known by its original title, A Kite, in Japan) is a two episode OVA made in 1998 by director, Yasuomi Umetsu. Umetsu made Kite three years after completing an episode for the hentai OVA series, Cool Devices. He originally wanted to make an anime that would be fit for a general audience, but the production company wanted him to create another anime meant for adult audiences only. This eventually lead to the production of Kite, and the final result became the two OVA episodes that anime otakus know about today. However, Umetsu then edited the OVA into a film that was meant for general audiences as he originally intended before working on his next OVA, Mezzo Forte. For this edited version, many of the scenes of graphic violence remained in the new cut, and the scenes that contained explicit sexual content are completely gone (except for several shots of a nude Sawa). As of today, audiences have seen either the 18+ or the 16+ version, or have seen both to make a fair opinion about which version is better to watch. I am one of those individuals in the latter, and the version I will be discussing about in this version is the original released version that contains both the extreme amount of violence and the graphic sex scenes (otherwise known as the 18+ version).
Kite focuses on Sawa, a young female assassin, who is ordered by her dirty cop guardian, Akai, to kill several famous celebrities and targets chosen by Kanie, who gets the information of the targets given by the clients. Sawa was orphaned at a young age when she found her parents brutally murdered, and is eventually taken under Akai's wing as his personal sex slave. The only thing that Sawa treasures in the world are her earrings, which were created from the blood of her parents, given to her by her lustful guardian. She soon meets Oburi, a male assassin around her age, and they are given assignments to kill off child molesters and gangsters. However, everything changes when both Akai and Kanie want Oburi dead, and Sawa finds out who was the person behind her parents murder.
When it was released, Kite was very controversial due to the amount of violence and sexual content (especially in a scene where Sawa is raped by Akai), and how graphically detailed most of the sex scenes were. However, Kite became well known when it was released in the United States. The band, No Doubt, created an homage to the two-episode OVA in their "Ex-Girlfriend" music video, and film director, Quentin Tarantino, had Chiaki Kuriyama watch the OVA to prepare her for her role as Gogo in his two-part revenge drama, Kill Bill. There is also a live-action adaptation, starring Samuel L. Jackson, that is set to be released later this year.
I highly recommend this anime, but it depends on what version that you would want to watch. If you do not want to see any of the explicit sex scenes, the 16+ version is the one you may enjoy the most (the 2008 Kite: Remasted DVD, which is the current 16+ version, is also the mostly available as of now). If you want to see the OVA as it was originally released, the 18+ version is for you, but the most "current" version of it from 2004 is only available on anime retail sites like RightStuf. The general released version is also currently available for instant streaming on Netflix.
Written by Nolan Schmidt
Kite focuses on Sawa, a young female assassin, who is ordered by her dirty cop guardian, Akai, to kill several famous celebrities and targets chosen by Kanie, who gets the information of the targets given by the clients. Sawa was orphaned at a young age when she found her parents brutally murdered, and is eventually taken under Akai's wing as his personal sex slave. The only thing that Sawa treasures in the world are her earrings, which were created from the blood of her parents, given to her by her lustful guardian. She soon meets Oburi, a male assassin around her age, and they are given assignments to kill off child molesters and gangsters. However, everything changes when both Akai and Kanie want Oburi dead, and Sawa finds out who was the person behind her parents murder.
When it was released, Kite was very controversial due to the amount of violence and sexual content (especially in a scene where Sawa is raped by Akai), and how graphically detailed most of the sex scenes were. However, Kite became well known when it was released in the United States. The band, No Doubt, created an homage to the two-episode OVA in their "Ex-Girlfriend" music video, and film director, Quentin Tarantino, had Chiaki Kuriyama watch the OVA to prepare her for her role as Gogo in his two-part revenge drama, Kill Bill. There is also a live-action adaptation, starring Samuel L. Jackson, that is set to be released later this year.
I highly recommend this anime, but it depends on what version that you would want to watch. If you do not want to see any of the explicit sex scenes, the 16+ version is the one you may enjoy the most (the 2008 Kite: Remasted DVD, which is the current 16+ version, is also the mostly available as of now). If you want to see the OVA as it was originally released, the 18+ version is for you, but the most "current" version of it from 2004 is only available on anime retail sites like RightStuf. The general released version is also currently available for instant streaming on Netflix.
Written by Nolan Schmidt
