For those who don't know the story, Kite is a rather controversial movie, so much so that it's been banned in several countries, most notably for the sex scenes involving Sawa. Despite the official word describing her as a college student, her appearance is that of a girl much younger in age, combine that with full penetration sex scenes and it's not too tough to understand the problems.
So, if you're not too keen on that, and you still want to watch it, you have the original release available which cut out all the nudity, whereas the more "popular" Uncut version has all the original content featured in the Japanese release. There's also an intermediary "Directors Cut" version that has all the gore and features nudity, but still has the sex scenes cut out.
As far as the story goes, it revolves around Sawa, a girl who becomes an orphan at an early age after her parents are murdered. She eventually falls under the guardianship of Akai, a detective who essentially forces her into becoming an assassin and sex slave. Eventually she runs into another young assassin named Oburi who is also working under Akai. So yeah, it's a pretty generic story, and to be honest, short of the ending, there's nothing really notable about it. They could have added a nice extra dimension to the plot if they would have elaborated more on the relationship between Sawa and Oburi, which would have also helped viewers get little more attatched to the characters, but sadly, that doesn't happen.
As far as the sex scenes go, there aren't really that many. The show has to be listed as hentai due to the fact that the sex scenes that are in it are fully depicted and contain full penetration, but if you're expecting this to be porn you'll be disappointed. They're used more for plot purposes and as easy "shock and awe" tools...though I'll admit the last sex scene caught me off gaurd; it's actually quite emotional in a disturbing way and rather effectively enforces your hatred of Akai.
Speaking of that, as far as the characters go...they're pretty bland, except for Sawa. Her backstory and character development is actually done pretty well. She's had a pretty awful life, and you'll likely end up feeling for her by the end of the movie, but the problem is that she's really the only character they go into any depth about. Oburi's story is delved into a bit, but not nearly enough to get a full understanding of him, and definitely not enough to get invested in him at all. Considering he's the closest thing Sawa has to a love interest, that's a shame.
In the sound department, things are kind of...meh. Watching the English dub is a somewhat painful experience due to the terrible VO work done on Sawa. I have no idea who Charlie Watson is, but it's all too clear why she's never done VO work before or after Kite. Completely devoid of any emotion whatsoever, Sawa sounds something like a female Ben Stein. And that's as horrifying as it sounds considering the content of the show, though I think the worst moment is actually Sawa screaming after jumping out a window during a certain scene. As far as the rest of the cast goes, they're passable, though they sound heavenly next to Sawa.
Honestly, the show has two things going for it; the art and the action scenes. The art is actually very well done for the most part, bearing some similarity to Cowboy Bebop. It is a show from the 90's, so it will look a little aged now, but for the most part, it still looks pretty impressive. The only issue is that this quality is somewhat inconsistent from character to character, the worst being Kanie. I get that they did it purposely to coincide with his personality, but he just looks so...terrible.
As mentioned the action scenes are also pretty well done too. They're mainly showcases for Sawa's unique bullets which explode after a delay upon entering the victim, and they're all extremely gory, but the results are pretty cool.
Honestly, this is a pretty skip-able show. The only real reason to watch it is to see exactly why it's so shrouded in controversey, but if you're not into extreme gore and graphic sex there isn't much to see. The art is nice, but if you really want to see good art from the era, you're better off heading towards the aformentioned Cowboy Bebop.
