AKA: カイト リベレイタ (Japanese)

Genre: Action, Sci-fi

Length: OAV, 57 minutes

Distributor: Currently licensed by Media Blasters.

Content Rating: 15+ (Violence, some nudity.)

Related Series: Kite

Also Recommended: Mezzo, Mezzo Forte, Noir, Gunslinger Girl

Notes: This is a loose "sequel" to Kite, although even calling the connection tenuous is a big stretch. Apparently, no adults-only version of this title exists.

Rating:

Kite: Liberator

Synopsis

(Taken from the Product Discription on Amazon.com.)
The teenage assassin Sawa discovered the man behind her parents deaths was her own foster-father, the police detective Akai. She murdered him. Years later her whereabouts are still unknown.

This is the story of a new killer. Stories of her have begun to circulate around the city. She is called the Angel of Death. She eliminates her targets with grace and precision and then vanishes without a trace into the darkness. By day the Angel of Death wears a different face though, the face of Monaka, an ordinary high school girl. But she seems so delicate and sensitive can it really all be an act? Her past is tied with Akai and her fate is a duel to the death with the one man who can protect her - the one she loves most. Which heart is real? The icy heart of the Angel of Death or the kind heart of Monaka?

Review

My first thought whenever I watch any of Yasuomi Umetsu's movies is that I love, love, love the artwork. I assume that I'm not alone too, seeing how popular Yasuomi Umetsu's other movies are.

With a pedigree like this, though, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that not much has changed over the years. Yasuomi Umetsu's character designs have always been gorgeous, well-detailed and interesting. Heck, that's the main reason people bought Kite way back in the day. I love the characters he creates for his movies. A vulnerable, accessible, gorgeously drawn teenage assassin? Yes please! I'll pay money to see that (which I assume is the point). Now, if only I could have a fair-to-good storyline surrounding that character to develop it and give her an interesting reason to kick some butt. Apparently though, that's just too much to ask.

Man, how good would it be if he could get someone to write him a passable storyline? Or even something on the level of the first "Mezzo TV series" episode? I mean, I'm not asking for Sopranos-level storytelling here, but is it that hard for them to entertain that super-niche' audience that they know will buy their movie? Instead, I'm stuck with great artwork and physics-defying action scenes that are well-choreographed and put together (even if half of the ones do involve a big, dumb "killer alien") lathered on top of a foundation of crap: A lame, shaky, sci-fi plot that's something of a holdover from the "Alien" copycats of the early 90's. They knew that I'd buy it hoping for a good or even passable continuation of the first Kite, and instead gave me some crappy A.D. Police - level Alien knockoff with pretty artwork that, in the end, is not even worth renting from a video store.

Thanks.

The dub over and music were nothing incredible, but I guess also noteworthy in that it didn't take away at all from the overall viewing experience. You were never really left with "What the heck did I just hear?!?" Which could further ruin this show for some.

On a side note: I don't know if this movie has a "director's cut" like the other Yasuomi Umetsu movies I've seen, but if so, I only saw the "edited" version. I'm pretty relieved to point out that there was no obvious lead-ins to the sex/rape scenes, if indeed there were any, which means that you are missing nothing by seeing the edited version. Unless, of course, that's what you want to see when you buy a Yasuomi Umetsu movie, pervert!

Only, and I mean only, because of the artwork. Otherwise it's a load of crap. Go watch the first one instead, or even better, watch the Anime Music Video called Hidden Fury. That's what I'd really want to see, not this crap. — Isaac Cynova

Recommended Audience: Older teens and above. Some pretty graphic violence throughout (yay!) And partial nudity.