Customer Reviews

Kite Liberator

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Being a big Fan of the Original Kite Anime I got excited when I saw this had come out, and ordered it immediately. I hoped this one would be nearly as good. It is not, in fact its not even close, and has no resemblance to the Atmosphere and story of the first Kite. The Main character from the first Kite is not in this movie. Instead there is a brief mention of her disappearance along with the person who made her gun and that's all you get of the story of the first Kite. In fact the only minor resemblance to the original Kite is the new girl "Monaka" looks like Sawa, and uses the same gun, but that's about it. The new Kite girl "Monaka" You hardly get to see any of in action the first 30 + minutes since it is mostly subterfuge side stories about her father who is an astronaut, her going to school, and her friend that works at the same restaurant as her. You only get to see a couple of brief moments of her in action. The disjointed side stories don't have anything to do with the original "Kite" story or Mythology, are boring soap opera subterfuge, and you begin to wonder if you are even watching a "Kite" movie, and they sent you some soap opera drama Anime by accident. You never find out why that new girl Monaka is doing what she is doing. Is she a rogue vigilante? Does she work for some Agency? Is she an assassin for hire? It seems to be a guessing game. Not only is there hardly any of the dark edgy action or atmosphere from the Original "Kite" its mostly boring subterfuge drama. then to make matters worse the father of the new girl Monaka ends up becoming some mutated space monster that comes back to earth and wreaks havoc(yeah like we have never seen that in an Anime before), this is just some sad re-hashed anime story of old we have seem time and time again in Anime's for decades, what its doing in a so called "Kite" movie makes no sense at all. I guess they ran out of stuff to write and threw in some old has been crap to fill in space. The Law Enforcement apparently hire the new Kite girl Monaka they now call the "Angel of Death" to help dispatch the Mutant Space Monster, she temporarily stops the monster, and then finds out its actually her father. Her now Mutant Space Monster Father re-generates and is again on the loose, they run into each other again, exchange looks, and just when you expect the story to continue the credits start rolling at 50 minutes in, and the Movie is over. It's as if they decided this anime was so Bad they just pulled the plugged, there is no ending.

If you liked the original Kite DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS DVD.

Yasuomi Umestu's Original Kite, and Mezzo Forte are among my all time Favorite Anime's. Something about Kite Liberator went horribly wrong and will end up on the shelf of my local DVD trader. I'm feeling like this was a cash cow exploit to just make some money of the name of the firt Kite Anime. Extremely disappointing, the cardboard box sleaved that the DVD case comes in, is actually better than the DVD. If you didn't like the first Kite, and you like people fighint weird space monsters that has no ending you might like this

I love Umetsu, who I think is one of the best anime directors of all time. Not only are his films beautifully animated, they're highly unconventional, gritty, adult, and feature some of the most wonderfully choreographed action scenes I've ever seen in either a live or animated feature film. Some people have compared his style to Tarantino; I think that's an accurate comparison. When it comes to directors, he's definitely a maverick who flouts convention.

When I heard he'd made a sequel to Kite, I couldn't have been more excited to indulge in more of Umetsu's style. So imagine my disappointment when I saw Kite Liberator. Before I criticize, let me say what was good about it. As usual, the artwork was gorgeous and there was a sophisticated look to the film due to its muted palette. So it's definitely a visual feast for the eyes. Also, some of the CGI (some, being the operative word) is nothing short of breathtaking.

But for all its aesthetic strengths, Liberator suffers from a few problems. First of all, although it's called a "sequel", Liberator is really an entirely different story from the first Kite, so there's very little to connect the two other than one character mentioning that the two characters from the first film disappeared. If you were left hanging in Kite and are just chomping at the bit to get this "sequel" to find out what happened, you're in for a major disappointment.

Secondly, the story is terribly predictable and conventional-- halfway into it you already know where it's going, so there are none of the clever surprising twists and turns of either Mezzo Forte or Kite.

Thirdly, Monaka is not really an intriguing character in spite of her double life. When she's not being a killer, her "Clark Kent" personality is the standard nerdy, shy, fish out of water character you often see in children's anime -- you know, the cutesy kid who acts like a clutz, blushes when near the opposite sex, and is incompetent at school or work. You've seen that character a million times in anime-- Negi Springfield is a prototype comes to mind-- and she is interchangeable with all of them.

Fourth, a lot of the character design is oddly conventional. If you're familiar with Umetsu's work you know that there's a particular "look" he has in the way he draws his characters, especially the women. The character designs for the men are once again top notch (especially the manager of the greasy spoon), but this time around Monaka and the other females are standard designs.

Fifth, the CGI is all over the place. In the opening scenes of the space station, it's really incredible. But in some of the action scenes in the beginning it looks just plain sloppy.

Last but not least, it seems as if the heart and soul of Umetsu's gritty, edgy, signature style has almost all but disappeared. The unconventionality is gone, the grit is gone, the "underground" feel is gone. There's violence, but were it not for those bloody scenes, this film could easily be mistaken for a sentimental, mainstream kiddy flick about a girl reuniting with her father. Just have Manako bloodlesly dispense with enemies using magic powers and it would've made no difference. It's almost as if Umetsu was torn between making a cloying Hayao Miyazaki-type film or another gritty film like Kite, so he just decided to do both.

The funny thing about Kite Liberator is that it's not that bad a movie. If it were done by any other director, I would've even given it an extra star. But because it's from Umetsu, it's really a step down for him. I would definitely rent it for the gorgeous animation and curiosity factor. But if you buy it hoping to get "more of the same" of Kite or Mezzo Forte you'll feel disappointment at best and cheated at worst.

The original Kite was a hard-hitting, grungy, gutsy psycho-drama. Each of its characters (despicable though many of them were) had their own motivations, and psychological reasons for doing what they did. The art was wonderfully rendered and the voice acting (both English and Japanese) were well done. In short, it was so good that it became one of my favourite movies - and so dark that I don't watch it with polite company.
Kite Liberator, on the other hand, looks like it was entirely animated by the in-betweeners. Where the original was a street-level tale about an unwilling hitwoman, with hints of greater drama behind the scenes; Liberator is a four-colour tale about space invaders, with no moral ambiguity, motivation or deeper emotions. Frankly, it reminds me of the badly translated anime fare that used to show up on late night television.
If you're looking for a reminder of bad 80's anime (in the ilk of 8 Man, Genocyber and some of the worse episodes of Crying Freeman), Kite Liberator might be worth a look. Personally, I've only watched it twice since I bought the disc a year ago. The second time, I gave it another chance, just to see if it was as awful as it seemed the first time through... It was.

Not having seen the original Kite before buying Liberator, I didn't have much of a frame of reference to work with. Now, having seen the original Kite, I can accurately compare Liberator to the original.

And surprisingly, I like Liberator better.

One big reason for me liking Liberator more, is that the overall story line (young girl [in the original, Sawa; in the new, Monaka] becomes assassin to fight crime) just didn't seem like the right type of story to have explicit sex scenes in it, at least not as many as Kite ended up having. Kite Liberator doesn't have sex scenes in it at all, and nudity is kept to a bare minimum (only one short scene about halfway through the first episode).

The action is still there, though, and blood still flows freely as people get shot in the head, heart, or wherever else Monaka decides to shoot them. And Monaka is just about as athletic as her predecessor, though there's no real explanation as to why this is the case. It most likely, though, isn't because of her job- she merely works as a waitress, though her boss does have quite the penchant for sexual harrassment.

Which brings up my first (of two) points that I found odd about Kite Liberator. Monaka is a very shy and meek girl, yet somehow, she doesn't mind her boss's sexual advances. Judging from the smile on her face when he does so, it is almost implied that she enjoys her boss's behavior. Given her overall character type, it just seems a bit odd for that to be taking place.

The second point of my discontent is the very end of the second episode, where we are left hanging right after the creature re-emerges from the wreckage. There is absolutely no true ending to this story, neither did director Umetsu Yasuomi hint at there being a third Kite episode, dealing with what happened after the end of episode two. Thus, we are left with a very empty feeling, and not even one with a bit of suspense at the next episode. Because, apparently, there isn't one.

If you can get past that, though, most people will really enjoy Kite Liberator. If you're looking for something that is more in line with the original Kite, or are looking for an anime that actually has a satisfying conclusion... You might want to look elsewhere for that.

Pros:

- Same great art style as found in "Kite"
- Engaging new character
- Good voice acting/dubbing
- Somewhat continues the original storyline
- Not as bleak as "Kite"

Cons:

- Unfinished feature (where's the other half???)
- Sci-fi elements feel out of place
- No ending, no resolution
- No big set pieces, the action has been toned down

I was a big Fan of the original "Kite" anime, I got so excited when I realized there was a sequel called "Kite Liberator".
But as it turns out, it was worse than anything I could ever of imagined, as far as how bad a sequel to "Kite" could of been. I wondered if the version I bought had been heavily edited, because I remember thinking about how disjointed the edited BUT STILL HIGHLY PRAISED version of "KITE" seemed to be. THIS WAS OF COURSE after I had already seen the full length version of "KITE".
BUT this was not the case, this was in fact the uncut version of the "LITE LIBERATOR" movie, man what a let down. This is the most blatant case of "BATE and Switch" I've ever seen as far as I'm concerned. The Bate is advertising it as a sequel to "KITE" and the switch was the movie itself....
When it came to the end, I thought "What the, belp, da de belp was that?? Is that it? that's how they're ending it!!! I was so pissed.

Look if you are a purist, and you've just got to have this to go along with your copy of "KITE" than pick it up used at a cheat price, AND THAN DON`T WATCH IT !!
Just put it on the shelf next to your copy of "KITE" You'll enjoy it better that way I assure you.

With the exception of the last 2 sentences of this review, DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS DVD.

Don't buy this movie yet.... this is a rental. Own it and own kite, two great movies, two very different movies. This has the killin, not the sex. Doesn't have an ending at all. Seriously, it just stops. I loved it, but was left looking for the rest. Don't buy or even think about watching this, until they add a part two. This would get five stars from somebody who doesn't mind the lack of sex that kite had, and doesn't mind the crazy sci-fi, but i can really only give it 2.5 stars, cause its only half of a movie.

Ok so after owning the movie for a few years now, i have changed my review of it, and upped it a star. It ends so quick, but is still worth watching, for the time that it is around. I shouldn't fault the movie what what it doesn't do, juts rate it for what it did.

I like the animation in this "Kite/Mezzo" whatever series a lot.

The stories, on the other hand are rather warped. A mix of crime noir and in this case, cheezy 70's science fiction. Also some "Maido" titillation and lolicon... And since this is a "There are no good guys" type of fiction, plenty of gross perverts are "Protagonists" to some point, but that's usual in Kite.

This story is like the first half of an action movie that combines pulp fiction style settings with ?bad 70's sci-fi? and I'm wondering about the other half...?

But, it's well worth renting for the mild titillation and the excellent animation. I might buy it if I see it in clearance rental/pawn shop price.

Great KITE comeback but with one major flaw that people dislike... I know I speak for everyone when I say it. The anime ends with a major CLIFFHANGER! Not a clue if it's continued or what. I do like how they took KITE to a whole new level. Actually the ORIGINAL KITE (who does play a small role in this anime) is retired and trying to live a new life but just happens to work in the same late night fast food joint that the new KITE liberator (aka Monica) works at. Now for some reason and it wasn't really explained on how the new KITE became about being an assassin and it also seemed that this one almost had a tad bit of superhuman agility & strength unlike the original. Coming at you with the same cool animation that did the MEZZO series and the orignal KITE with adult situations makes it worth while looking at. But be warned the CLIFFHANGER will have you saying what the #@%* just happened? I thought the DVD skipped to the credits at first. Until I realized it was the damn end. Nice plot for the next generation of KITE fans with a different direction compared to the first. This one mixed in some sci-fi action horror in it which threw me for a loop but it was different and worth looking into. 4 stars for the action, the animation and the comeback of an old hero and the birth of a new one. But the cliffhanger took away the 5 star rank. Kite fans check it out!

Reviewing "Kite Liberator" is my way of giving creator Yasuomi Umetsu another chance. About 5 1/2 years ago, I made my first Amazon review on the original "Kite", an anime with style, grace, and explicit coitus. Despite all that pretensions, I didn't particularly like that anime, but that was a long time ago and my critical POVs have evolved since, and maybe that time has spent on Umetsu trying to improve himself. This anime is purportedly a whole new take of the original in a whole new setting, but even then, it's still the same old "Kee-tay." After watching it, I harbor the same feelings of discontent as long before, but not as much.

I probably fibbed when I said it's the same old story, because the content in "Kite Liberator" is all over the damn place. It's "Kite" with the inclusion of wacky antics, sci-fi elements and softcore fanservice (sorry, fans, no sex scenes this time around). Even the main characters take a contrasting approach to their parallel selves. Instead of being a cynical, megalomaniacal rapist, this new Akai is a grotesque, flamboyant tublard who looks a pirate and talks like Kermit the Frog (in the dub). Police officer Gaga (such a dignified name) is this anime's Oburi, and much like his predecessor, he can't shoot worth beans, but at least he has grunge hair. And last but not least is this generation's Sawa, the unoriginally-named Angel of Death. She's a cold-blooded hitgirl who takes mission objectives from a guy in a cat suit and throws a ball of wings after her kill (hey, a girl's gotta leave a calling card), but outside her job is schoolgirl Monaka, a borderline glasses-girl stereotype who can't seem to walk two steps without tripping and works in a maid diner owned by the same tublard.

Now I don't mind unusual changes like that if they manage to make a good story out it, so I went along with the ride up until I unexpected hit a brick wall. The story is like a mix between the vicious nature of the O.G. with the comedy moments of "Mezzo" with a hint of "Jason X" and "Yu-Gi-Oh!" It begins in outer space where a couple of astronauts got a case of the cramps because eating untested curry before exposing yourself to the radiation of the sun is bad for you, and taking things in Marvel logic, they later turn into monsters that look like Obelisk the Tormentor (hence the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" comparison). Unfortunately, one of the astronauts happened to be the father of schoolgirl/assassin Monaka, and when those monsters come to earth and her job calls in, the family get-together gets hellish. However, just when everything looks like it will come in full circle, the anime pulled the abrupt black-screen ending that shunned many fans of that HBO mafia program. I'm annoyed by how it ended, but what really frustrated me is that it ended and I haven't learned much about the characters.

In the original, Sawa's parents were murdered, she was sexually-abused as a child, and she was forcibly trained to kill...all by the same guy, which are valid reasons for her to take the vengeance route and "liberate" herself from the guy. Here, I'm not sure what Monaka's motivations lie. Her family wasn't murdered, she looks fine (with the exception of the inexplicable scar on her back) and she's well-adjusted, so I don't see a reason why her night-time gig is shooting people. The anime never explained what group she represented or how she even became an assassin in the first place; for all I know, she could've gotten that gig from a school job fair and she was trained by Milla Jovovich. I have nothing against mysterious characters, but for Monaka in her nature, I couldn't put two and two together.

"Kite Liberator" doesn't seem to bother about character development or how the characters deal with the overall content. For example, there's a scene in which Monaka saw her co-worker Mukai, who looks sort of like Mikura from "Mezzo Forte", walking out of a store with child. Okay, I can see that, but what does that have to do with the plot? The anime ventures little further about Mukai beyond that, so her role is rather unknown. There was Monaka's sister who was mostly there for comic relief, along with her uncle whose role is moot. The romantic interest between Gaga and Monaka seemed like an after-thought, although it's rather creepy to being with, given that he's near 30 and the main girl is 16. Action seems like the right recipe for these problems, but the action scenes are sparse and rarely exciting. In fact, the only sweet action scene in this anime doesn't include Angel of Clumsy, which is a space station scene where a biohazard monster massacres a whole police force.

I noticed there were some audio issues on the DVD, where the audio (5.1 AND stereo) didn't quite match the action in certain scenes, noticeably on the scene where the monster crashed onto a vehicle. On the subject of the audio, the dub is rather hit-and-miss, with certain characters that just sounded underwhelming. However, the girl who voiced Monaka was pretty good in capturing both her killer attitude and her goofy nature, so that's something worth complimenting.

At least this anime is not completely enigmatic. I know the hitgirl kills only criminals, this movie showed how the monsters were evolved, and who are the people responsible for that monstrosity. Still, I feel like "Kite Liberator" is an unfinished product; the original "Kee-tay" may be plagued with flaws, but at least it felt complete. A direct sequel could tie up some loose ends, but the director hasn't announced any plans to produce a second outing. Being self-contained, I really don't like how ambiguous this anime is, but then again, it could be worse. "Kite Liberator" is not bad after watching it a few times, I did chuckle on a few gag moments, and it looks great, but what anime isn't these days? Fans who like girls-with-guns could've made a poorer investment than this.


[Reviewer's View: Mukai]

This is just a hunch, but I have a theory that Mukai might actually be the real Sawa. Given how her character is presented, and since this movie has a few allusions to the previous film, it's a possibility. However, it gives very little indication about her history, and the timeframe between the original and now are unknown, so I am not 100% sure. If it IS true, I must say this is really clever.