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Rating: 2.5 out of 5
I have been trying to watch a few more anime movies lately and came across Kite. I watched the sequel, Kite Liberator, before watching the original. The sequel was okay, and I somewhat knew what was going on. I watched the live-action film starring Samuel L. Jackson and thought that shit was terrible. When I was on Tubi, I saw that the original Kite was offered and decided to give it a chance. I want to say that it was nothing like I expected. Anime films back in the day were WILD with violence and sexuality.
Kite revolves around a cute schoolgirl named Sawa. Sawa was orphaned in her early teens when her parents were killed in a double murder. The film begins with a literal bang when Sawa is on a date with a heavily sexual celebrity. When the celebrity starts yelling at an old lady, Sawa goes into killer mode and kills the man while the old lady dies from a heart attack from the crazy scene. The cops or detectives who investigated the crime were Akai and Kanie and are considered Sawa guardians. Akai is the one that is a scumbag as he has a sexual relationship with Sawa and even rapes her many times. Akai controls Sawa as he gives her a pair of crystal earrings, each one allegedly containing the blood of one of her parents.
Sawa isn’t the innocent schoolgirl; she is an assassin whom Akai and Kanie trained to kill anyone they wanted gone. Sawa is famous among the police force for her use of insane exploding bullets. Sawa’s life changes when she meets a fellow assassin named Oburi, who is around her age. Sawa quickly bonds with Oburi and starts to show emotional strength in her own world, much to the annoyance of her guardians. When Sawa and Oburi decide to run away together, things become a situation as Sawa’s guardians want to keep her under their thumb.
The story of this anime is meh. It is hard to watch sometimes with the sexual abuse and rape scene. The story is what you have probably seen many times over. A story about an assassin with a messed up past who gets caught up and has zero emotional attachment or feelings. The assassin strikes up a relationship with another assassin, and then the shit hits the fan, and everything becomes about them leaving together, but you know they won’t survive or have a happy ending. The only good thing is that the film is quick and not this hour-and-a-half fest.
When watching the film, the violence was INSANE. I liked this film’s violence as it seemed to enhance Sawa’s skills. Sawa is a complete badass. The one crazy scene was when Sawa fought against two security guards in a bathroom. It was intense as Sawa managed to blow the arm and then body away of one guard. The second guard was far more intense, and they fell out of a high-rise building. I don’t know how she survived the whole ordeal, but it showed that Sawa doesn’t mess around when she sees and knows her target.
Even the final scene where Sawa finally manages the emotional courage to kill Akai and Kani. Sawa seemed to torture and goad Akai a little bit before killing him. I will say that Oburi appeared to get the worst of it all with the violence. He had to watch Sawa being raped by Akai while getting pummeled to a pulp by Kani. When Oburi finally thinks he is free and walks from the grocery store, a little girl who may be an assassin shoots him at point-blank range. It is really messed up.
Most people will not be able to watch this anime because of the sexual content is outrageous in this film. Akai has sex with Sawa anytime he wants, and it is disgusting. The anime goes into full force by showing the rape scene. The emotionless eyes of Sawa as Akai rapes her in front of Oburi will make you feel uncomfortable and not want to watch the film until the end.
The animation is decent. For a film made in 1998, it was okay. Was it mind-blowing? No, not really, but it does its job. You can tell that it is an outdated anime film. The scenes with the action were appealing to the eyes. Watching the shootout and people exploding was a sight to see as the red blood sprayed across the scene. Besides that, the animation was okay and nothing really special.
Kite is one of those anime films that was probably great and iconic back in the day, but in today’s environment, it wouldn’t hold up with the sexual content. The violence might get a pass, as we are a society that seems numb to violence, but the rape scene would definitely put this film down. Overall, give this anime film a try and then watch the live action to compare.
