Kite (film)

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Kite
Kite DVD cover [Edited Version]
カイト
(Kaito)
Genre Drama , Thriller , Crime , Animation , Psychological , Film Noir
OVA
Directed by Yasuomi Umetsu
Studio Green Bunny
No. of episodes 2
Released 1998

45 Min (Cut) 60 Min (Uncut)

Kite (カイト Kaito?), also known as A Kite, is a highly controversial Japanese anime OVA written and directed by Yasuomi Umetsu. Kite can be likened to a much darker and more exploitative version of the film Nikita.

The original Japanese release ran for two 30 minute episodes. However, subsequent releases, including the first two releases in the United States, have edited the OVA into one hour-long "movie".

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Kite revolves around a schoolgirl named Sawa who is orphaned in her early teens. Her parents are the victims of a gory double murder. The detectives investigating the crime, Akai ("red") and Kanye, take her in as guardians. Akai begins a sexual relationship with her despite her young age, forcing her to become his sex slave for the duration of his guardianship.

Sawa becomes an assassin after the corrupt detectives make her kill an alleged rapist of young girls. Subsequently over the years, she kills whoever she is ordered to assassinate, including corrupt police officers and corporate fat cats. Sawa's assassinations are famous amongst the police in this film for her use of special bullets that explode inside the body after piercing the skin.

Eventually, Sawa meets fellow assassin "Obry" (in the English version), who is of a similar age, and a bond quickly forms between them. Due to their relationship, Sawa slowly gains the emotional strength to escape from her guardians to set out on her own. When confronted with their betrayal, Akai and Kanye savagely beat Obry almost to the point of death.

Obry escapes to recuperate, and when Sawa finally concludes that both her parents were killed by Akai and Kanye she kills both of them in turn. Before Obry and Sawa can escape together, Obry is mysteriously killed by another presumed child assassin, perhaps coincidentally a girl whose basketball he had earlier destroyed in response to an insult near the beginning of the story and most likely the assassin Akai was talking about after raping Sawa for the last time. The film ends with Sawa at Obry's hang-out in an abandoned building, waiting patiently for his return.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Release History

Kite is controversial in its depiction of extreme gory violence and explicit sex and nudity, including pornographic scenes involving a very young Sawa. Consequently the OVA has been released three times in the United States, each with less censorship than the last (with the most recent release being reputedly uncensored). Kite was also banned in many Countries. Kite has sometimes been called ultra violent child pornography, with elements of the rarely-seen lolicon genre.

A live action adaptation of Kite has been reported to be in various stages of pre-production for a number of years now, with American film director Rob Cohen attached as either director or producer. The content of the live action film is expected to be toned down from the original OVA.

Two versions were initially released: a "General Release" version (rated 16-Up) and a "Director's Cut" version (rated 18-Up), which contains nearly 10 minutes of explicit footage. This Director's Cut version, however, is missing some scenes found in the original Japanese release. A third release, labeled "Special Edition", contains Kite in its original, uncut form. All contain some of the violent aspects of the movie, but the General Release only contains a scene where a mature Sawa is naked. The other two contain sex scenes.

[edit] Rating

[edit] Countries where Kite has been banned outright

[edit] References to Kite

The music video of No Doubt's song, "Ex-Girlfriend", is loosely based on Kite. The video was directed by Hype Williams.

[edit] See also

  • Mezzo Forte, Umetsu's unofficial follow up to Kite, which also concerns a young woman working as an assassin.
  • Cool Devices: Yellow Star, previously directed by Umetsu, features "prototype" character designs and similar subject matter.

[edit] External links

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