A Kite

Short and to the point. The Action as is the best part of the anime well done and animated (aside from one or two parts). The art is the second best part of the anime it holds up even in 2011 with its nicely detailed world and characters. If you're a fan of the late 90s art style you're going to love the nostalgia factor.

Sadly it misses out on what I believe would have made the anime great, the relationship between the two protagonists. At just 56 minutes it's barely enough time to allow the viewer to see the two protagonists connect with each ... other. They waisted valuable minutes on sex scenes instead of relationships building.
The soundtrack is mostly poorly chosen saxophone based jazz pieces which, in my opinion, are not worth hearing.

Overall it gets a 5 out 10 for failing in the end to succeed in one of the anime's main selling point, how two teenage hitmen grow their relationship through the hardships of having two live on the edge of society.

This is… I don’t really know how to explain this one. It’s not all that enjoyable, and yet, it’s got a strange feeling. It’s not even what I would consider a Hentai since there were very few sex scenes, most consisting of story plot instead. The story is actually very easy to understand because it’s actually a plot that has been played out over and over again.

Sawa is a rather interesting character as she seems to only have two emotions, mysterious and shouting out. Seriously, out of all the characters, she being a main character should have more then those two emotions. It also ... seemed that there were more scenes of Oburi or Akai instead of Sawa.

The animation is pretty vintage and doesn’t really stand out much from most hentai related anime though it does have a small air of people holding back trying to make some things look too out of proportioned. Sadly, they did not hold back on the large masses that the men have. They feel rather unrealistic and way to big for the body and old man style.

The English Voices were hard to hear as I had to keep turning it up to listen to the voices, then turn it down at the sex scenes and fight scenes because of all the screaming and yelling in it. The music didn't stand out at all and really needed to be turned up a hair. Sawa was actually done pretty well for what it was worth though she was reading most of the lines it seemed.

The 90s were full of ambitious and creative pieces of art all over, in terms of music and animation. Great bands were redefining what pop music was, like Nirvana, REM, Green Day, Korn, Marilyn Manson, and various other alternative acts. While in animation, there was the slew of classic Disney films that came out at the time throughout the decade. However, what was even more important was the amount of edgy, bloody, “mature” anime direct-to-video OVAs that were coming out from Japan. While many people today would identify anime with something like Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon, Pokemon, Naruto, etc, the perception of anime was different ... during the early 90s. Whether it be with OAVs like MD Geist or movies like Ninja Scroll and Akira, anime had the reputation of being dark, gritty, and more mature than the usual American cartoon. Those were the shows that would always get localized in the states. Kite is reminiscent of those times when anime was a little more gutsy with it’s presentation and how it didn’t have any qualms with doing thinks differently. It has also stood out as a cult classic among the high volume of edgy OVAs that came from the same era. The question remains, however, is can it hold up now?

Our protagonist, Sawa, is a schoolgirl orphaned after the tragic double-murder of both her parents. At a young age, she’s been taken in by a corrupt and abusive cop, Akai. As Akai took the responsibility as her guardian, he promises her that if she complies with all his wishes, including being an assassin to kill other criminals, he can help her find her parents’ killer and avenge their death. Trapped in the hellish cycle of being a victimized cold-blooded killer, the only thing that has driven Sawa is her thirst for revenge. However, once she meets another orphaned assassin in a similar situation, Oburi, things begin to change as they strike a bond. Oburi strives to put an end to the abuse and help himself and Sawa find her parents’ murderers, breaking the chains once and for all.

One thing that’s immediately noticeable, and sometimes jarring, is the artistic style of this film. It’s surely not a flawless piece of work, as there are plenty of still frames that last way too long for a 45 minute OAV. There are also plenty of scenes when the art itself isn’t consistent, with characters going completely off model in certain scenes (particularly when Sawa kills someone). However, Kite makes up for that with plenty of action scenes with full animation (physics be damned!). The highlights include a sequence of Sawa fighting bodyguards in a public restroom to falling out of a window of a tall building. That was a thrill to watch along with Oburi fighting on the train. Kite, as a whole, may be very inconsistent and could only be considered nice to look at if you take out half the scenes and reanimate them. However, the good outweighs the bad in this case, as the good parts are really good.

The narrative itself, while edgy in terms of the concept of the story, is flawed in execution. It doesn’t seem like this showing is trying to be progressive by any means. Instead, it feels like Kite needed an excuse to have a sexualized protagonist that needs sympathy from the audience and kick-ass action scenes. While it does succeed in being fun and compelling to watch, nothing about the characters stand out as memorable.

The reason for not feeling memorable is the lack of detail. Sawa was the only character whose story was explained and all it really did was have the audience feel bad for her and hope that she can finally be free from all the madness. The detail was lacking everywhere else. It would’ve been nice to explain what the deal was with Akai and the corrupt police force that he worked for. There were brief glimpses here and there about what they were actually using Sawa for but not enough to really make it interesting or a focus. Again, it all seemed like vague excuses to make Sawa a vulnerable killer. The most disappointing aspect is Oburi’s character. He’s a character that should’ve had as much detail explained about him as Sawa. There wasn’t enough and he mostly just looked like the guy that played hero, admirable as that is. What could’ve caused the lack of detail was the lack of run-time. There was a lot more that could’ve been done with a story like this to really make it impacting to the viewer and make him/her think. Instead, what’s left is simplicity in 45 minutes. It should’ve been 90 minutes.

The music, while fitting the scenes appropriately, don’t come off as memorable at all. The only things that really stood out were the sound effects than anything. Having Kite released with remastered video and audio (5.1 Surround Sound) sure has it’s benefits.

The voice-over performances are done well in English. In fact, there seemed to be more passion in the English performances than the Japanese. The English script seems to take more liberties than need be. However, it felt appropriate. There was a lot more swearing the dialogue, for instance, in order to fit with how trashy the show is. Overall, this is one of those shows where the viewer will be more engaged when watching the dub rather than the original Japanese track.

Kite is one of those short films that are one of a kind in terms of the style that it has. The story, on the other hand, has been done better before and after it’s inception. Due to it’s short run time, it can be fun to watch as a spectacle alone in some scenes and the story is engaging enough to get someone interested in what happens. There won’t be much else if one is expecting more though.

Kite is perhaps one of the most controversial anime in the West. It was banned and censored in numerous countries due to its depiction of underage sex and remains so to this day. It is also, oddly enough, highly influential as scenes have been gleefully nicked by the pop punk band No Doubt for their Ex Girlfriend music video, Quentin Tarantino has cited the protagonist as an influence on the character of Gogo Yubari in Kill Bill and it has had an oft-maligned live action remake starring Samuel L. Jackson and helmed by South African director Ralph Ziman (of Jerusalema fame). But is this strangely ... prominent title any good? Well, that is the purpose of this review, so let's cut the bullshit and dive right in.

Kite's plot revolves a teenage girl named Sawa who is an assassin and sex slave under her guardian, named Akai, who had also killed her parents. The story kicks into gear when she strikes up an unlikely friendship with another young assassin named Oburi.

The OVA takes on numerous styles and that is its most notable flaw. It tries to be a John Woo-esque action film, a salacious exploitation flick and a serious character study in just 50 minutes. Due to it being confined to this short running time, the changes in tone and pace feel really jarring and thus break immersion. The sort running time also negatively affects the story as it tries to cram a lot into the last fifteen or so minutes resulting in the climax feeling rushed and is something of a trainwreck.

The animation wasn't bad however, as the action scenes felt fluid and were honestly well choreographed. The OVA opts for more realistic looking character designs with the exception of Sawa, who still looks very anime-esque.

The soundtrack consists mostly of jazz and has a film noir-esque feel. I personally ratherenjoyed it and it enhanced the somber mood of the more serious scenes.

In conclusion Kite is a bizarre little OVA which had potential to be a fun grindhouse-esque title but squandered said potential which resulted in a tonally jarring mess. I cannot call Kite good in all consciousness but it definitely has its redeeming qualities.

This may surprise some of you but I would actually recommend checking it out, if only for its place within the medium as an influential title.

The first thing that struck me about "Kite" is how squeaky clean the artwork looks. But after a while it started feeling *too* clean, like the characters are all made from porceline or something. Apart from the overly polished artwork, everything else about "Kite" feels rough and raw.

Kite tries to be stylish with the action, and though it succeeds at times, it often ends up being waaaay too over the top. There is one scene where someone comes crashing down onto a car that's on a flyover, and the force of this caused the part of the flyover that's beneath the car to crumble... ... the car then fell through onto a truck on the road below... which in turn caused that part of the road to collapse... and so the truck to fell through into an underground tunnel where it exploded, blowing the original guy who fell onto the car right out of that hole and through the window of a building some distance away. You may think I'm exaggerating, but sadly I'm not - the whole sequence is almost like a sketch from a Looney Toons cartoon.

The problem with Kite is that it comes to far less than the sum of its parts. Looking at each category individually, most of it is pretty well done, even if it is some way short of being sublime, but putting it all together gives you something that's strangely disappointing. The story in particular has buckets of potential - it can be brutal, heavy and intense in places and there are some shocking twists along the way, but ultimately it is under-developed and went to waste as the producers seemed more concerned with making pr0n rather than a good anime. Some of the scenes are disgustingly hardcore so I assumed that it was the uncut version that I was watching, but then I found out that the uncut version is an hour long and the version I watched was only about 45 minutes. I'm guessing they removed 15 minutes of kiddy pr0n, but what's left is still pretty bad.

I suppose "Kite" is meant to come off as very hard hitting, but its hentai nature leaves it feeling more exploitive than thought provoking. Are we really meant to feel bad for those victim of child abuse etc, when the explicit content itself appear to be catering towards the perverse? Still, I'm guessing as far as the hentai goes, you could probably do a lot worse than "Kite" - it has a story to tell to say the least.

You want an anime that catches a whole lot of hell and has been accused of having no story or anything worthwhile at all? Then look no further than Kite. There are folks out there whom would have a person believe that if you so much as think this thing is decent, then you should be outright executed.

Kite which is directed by Yasuomi Umetsu has a tad bit more story than it first appears. Still, it could have been a much better title had the director focused more on the psychological thriller aspects of the movie, instead of dishing out mindless hentai that had ... little to no point in regards to the plot or the story. As well as one very overdone action scene that crossed over into the complete absurd by the very second. I have seen this OVA at least three times since its release, and I still can't help but to roll my eyes every time I see that particular scene. Those who saw this know exactly what I'm talking about because it's something Uwe Boll himself would jerk off too.

I've heard many non fans say that this film is completely lacking in character development. I have to disagree with this point of view completely, because it appears that certain folks where searching for characters on the cheery side that they could relate to. This is simply not the case here, as Umetsu seeks to only exploit the negatives in human behavior. Sawa is developed rather well, as the viewer gets to know her through flashbacks, as well as the situations that goes on in her current life. There are many hints taking place which reveals Sawa as a very disturbed young girl who suffers from a traumatic past and a hellish present. Akai is a very twisted character who will be easy for people to hate.

The plot is a mixed bag if I ever saw one. This is where Umetsu's weakness in storytelling shines, and proves that his ideas were quite limited. Instead of focusing a little bit more on Sawa and Akai's development. He goes the route of injecting many graphic sex scenes that really has nothing to do with the plot. The only scene of any real importance is the first one, and you get a front row seat of the action, while it could have been left up to the imagination. All of the sex scenes are this way, and it's pretty much clear where the directors mind was at. In other cases, he well uses foreshadowing, and delivers small pieces of the story and plot that are missed by some naysayers; but I can understand this, because the sex scenes can easily put many viewers off to the point where they can care less about what is actually going on.

Kite does pretty well in the style department. The animation is pretty good and the action scenes will deliver to most gore hounds. They are very graphic and brutal, with blades that resemble icepicks, being used to impale hands and feet during battles. The shoot outs concerning the exploding ammo is almost reminiscent of Fist of the Northstar. The sex scenes are indeed XXX. You pretty much get the whole nine yards here; cowgirl position, doggy-style, and full penetrations. This is pretty much a porno here.

The anime is quite noir-ish with good attention to detail to city landscapes, and I really liked the use of lighting. The darker sets gave a good ambiance that captures the moody feel of the movie. This also goes for the somewhat lack of lighting in certain daytime segments.

The soundtrack consists of jazzy tunes that features light piano and saxophone laden backgrounds. At times, the songs fit pretty well, while during others it feels terribly misplaced. The character designs are very good for the most part and they fit with the anime well enough. The only problem that I have in this area, which happens to be a big one, would be the character design of Sawa. Although she appears to be somewhat on the mature side. I found her school girl appearance to clash with the noir-ish setting along with the other characters. Some may feel that this works into the "cute but deadly" thing, but I think it has a whole lot more to do with Umetsu's fetish concerning young school girls as well as his very childish mentality.

I will mention that I hate anime porn. I never understood the fascination with cartoons having sex. I originally picked up Kite because I wanted to see what the hype was about, and I personally believe it's way over-hyped. Now, in the eyes of those who are not familiar with hentai. Kite will appear to contain way too many sex scenes. However, to those whom are very well rounded in anime, I will mention to them that this has nothing on Legend of the Overfiend.

Personally, I look at this type of anime differently from the way I use to, so I won't overlook the story if it's there. Kite has a little bit going for it, but unless you're very action starved, a die hard anime fan, or love hentai, then I recommend skipping it. If you enjoyed Mezzo Forte then you'll probably like this.

Highs: Action, some kind of character development, maintains serious focus

Lows: Sex scenes add almost nothing, somewhat clashing of style

I remember first seeing this when I was 12. My mom let me rent it from blockbuster without checking the rating, and I watched it that weekend. At the time I didn't understand much of it, so I never put it on my completed list. I did like it a lot (probably because it was gory and had fight scenes) back then though. So how do I feel about it 9 years later?

First off, the story isn't anything new. Even for its time, the concept of an assassin group raising teenagers/kids into killers was far from novel. I do feel that this OVA was a ... contribution towards the better anime of the genre that would follow in later years (Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom and Gunslinger Girl to name a couple). There were many scenes that had me in disbelief, and one scene in particular involving twins was not thought out at all. The ending fit the OVA, but the execution of it and the open end left much to be desired.

The characters are barely passable, and don't have any development. At times their actions are downright unbelievable. I had a hard time understanding if the protagonists were trained assassins or not, as they made a lot of questionable choices when going after their targets. The antagonists fare slightly better only because they are meant to be seen as rotten to the core, so they do evil things like you would expect.

The art quality hasn't stood the test of time. It's not necessarily ugly, but unpolished. The animation has stood it's ground much better, and I was surprised at how well the characters moved and how convincingly the flesh... ripped. This OVA is definitely gory.

On a side note, this OVA is classified as a hentai. This is literally true, as there are a handful of sex scenes sprinkled throughout the total runtime of 50 something minutes. Yet, it doesn't feel like one. It is uncensored and graphic, but the scenes only last a minute at most. Despite what some people say, most of the sex scenes weren't necessary. Still, as long as you are mature enough to handle these scenes they shouldn't detract from the show. Just don't come here to get your jollies off, because it ain't happenin buddy (If it is happening with minute long sex scenes, you might want to get that checked out...). Surprisingly, the only scene of this I remember from seeing this as a kid was the guy shooting the basketball. You would think as a child with barely any exposure to sex that the sex would have stuck with me, huh?

Before I wrap this up, I'd like to talk about the sound. Perhaps it is a bias of mine, but I felt that the jazz BGM was a great fit for such a dreary OVA. I am a big fan of jazz music, but it has always seemed to suit dreary fiction set in cities. Meh, maybe it's just me. Either way, I don't see much wrong with the BGMs and think they were the best thing to come out of this.

All things considered this is worth a watch solely if you like gritty and violent stories. Of course I'm including fans of the assassin genre in that category, as this is a kick to watch if you want to see one of the bricks that helped build the genre to be capable of producing some original, quality entertainment. Unfortunately, this is neither original nor quality, but it still manages to entertain most of the way through.

There's nothing wrong with A Kite, I just didn't get a ton of enjoyment out of it. Would recommend to pass an hour if you have nothing better to do.

Story line is pretty interesting, but doesn't really create any "twists" that would put it over the top. Had they done a little better hiding who Kanie and Akai really were until the end, I think it would've pushed the story line into much better territory.

Art was average as was sound. I personally wasn't a fan of the nudity, but understand why it's in here. Even in the edited version, it seems a bit too much ... for my liking, but whatever.

Characters really aren't that good. They're surface characters - what you see is what you get. Nothing more, nothing less.

Did I enjoy A Kite? I wouldn't say it was bad by any means, but I also wouldn't say it was anything better than "fair."

There are two versions of this Anime: Original and HD. You are probably looking for the original, since it has the hentai scenes. For science I watched both to compare:

The hour long HD version is the censored one, with just a bit of nudity. The top rated review was referring to this version when it said that there is some nudity but no hentai. This version certainly has some inappropriate moments, but it would be considered ecchi at most. If it was American it would be PG-13. The HD is certainly a step up in quality from the original, but it suffers greatly in some ... scenes where HD wasn't available and it awkwardly switches back to the worse quality. It really takes you out of the moment. The content lent itself much better to watching all in one go, instead of breaking it up into two episodes. Overall this is the version I prefer and could recommend as just a regular OVA.

There is full on hentai in the original version, which comes in two half an hour long episodes. The hentai is somewhere between a kink and fan disservice, since there are elements of rape and loli, but the H scenes are clearly shown as bad things, and it's not quite as aggressive as normal rape hentai and the girl isn't as young as normal loli hentai. It strikes a middle ground where the point is not to turn the viewer on, but to make you feel somewhat disgusted. This version is also lower quality, but less jarring to switch from HD to regular in the middle of a scene. Overall, this is one of the few anime where the sex furthers the plot, which is likely why you sought out this otherwise average 90's anime. This is the version you are probably looking for.

I also watched the HD version dubbed and the Original subbed and would recommend subbed. The supporting dub actors are okay, but the two main actors are as flat effect as you can imagine.

As far as whether it is worth watching: I would consider it worth the hour to watch.
The story is really what makes it good. Despite somewhat flat characters, the plot manages to make you care about them.
I liked the weird woodwind music, and felt it contributed to the tone, but I can see why it would annoy people.
The art looks like it was lagging a bit behind for the late 90s, but it is still watchable.

There is a beauty to the contrast that this movie shows - it's just hard to watch at times.

Highlights:
- The visuals are overall really nice and have a cool, dark city setting that fits the mood well
- The most impressive aspect of the presentation is the sound direction, which adds to the atmosphere and brings the city to life
- Additionally, the funky jazzy score give the movie a distinct identity
- Deep, dark, and heavy story that is told with good pacing and addresses its violent theme perfectly

Criticisms:
- Downright disgusting gore and violence make it seem too edgy
- Even the likeable characters are very shallow and ... don't connect the viewer with much emotion
- Some of the adult situations portrayed in the movie are classless and don't really add anything to the story

Final thoughts - Well, this one is hard to straight up recommend to people. It is nasty and smutty at times and beautiful and intelligent at other times.

The cycle of violence/revenge plot is done well and it has some nice music. Just don't watch this thinking it will be heart-warming or sweet!

Check it out if you don't get easily offended.

6/10

First off, I'll address the elephant in the room here and say that I wouldn’t consider this to be a hentai. The director was quite literally forced to put the sex scenes in by the folks who funded the project and the story works fine without them. That being said, I thought they came across as quite dirty and deglamorized and not for any sort of ‘sex appeal’. I’d still consider this to be a Girls with Guns anime.

The action scenes and animation are fine, although I did feel a particular fight in a bathroom went on for too long (it ended up being close ... to a quarter of the total runtime). I really liked the art too, I’ve seen some criticism thrown its way because the characters look ‘soulless’ but it helped the sleaze factor and it added to the atmosphere. That’s probably what I liked most about the OVA, the atmosphere. Its hard to describe but 90’s anime had a cold, empty feeling which is hard to define; the best example I can give is not an anime but the video game Grand Theft Auto 3. Play that, and you’ll understand what I mean. The soundtrack is decent too. Some of the jazz pieces are a bit out of place but there’s nothing I’d call bad here. The ambient pieces are good as well. Its a shame the OST isn’t available to listen to in full. I did like the ending too, open endings are not popular with fans but it actually fit the tone they were going for (well, at least the tone up until the few minutes before it ended)

Moving onto the bad now and there’s unfortunately quite a lot to talk about. To begin with, I was very confused about the tone the director was going for, because at times it felt like I was watching several different shows at the same time. This is trying to be a serious dark psychological thriller, an 80’s cheesy over the top action film, and a gritty action film ala Luc Besson all in one. It didn’t work. Mixing loud and quiet scenes is fine, but the tone shifting so often was bizarre.

The next problem is the characters. We are only given backstory on ONE character and even that is minimal. This is a classic case of style over substance but there’s so little in the character development department its tough to truly care about any of the characters. The main hero in particular is a head-scratcher, the director missed a huge opportunity by not doing more with his character. Even character motivations are barely covered: Why is the main villain (the detective) killing off criminals anyway? He's clearly shown to be evil, so why is he doing this in the first place? Why does he care? Why were Kite’s parents killed? And so on... almost nothing is explained.

Another thing I want to bring up which I hated was instead of just shooting, the characters would monologue, have a pointless conversation or just stare at the enemy while pointing their gun. THIS HAPPENED AROUND 10 TIMES. Holy hell, I wanted to shout at my monitor anytime it happened. I mean these characters are trained killers, just shoot them and move on. I know this is a common trope in action films but it HAPPENED SO OFTEN. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GetItOverWith

When you take a step back and view Kite as a whole it becomes apparent how bare bones it really is. More character focus, a consistent tone and less reliance on cliché would have made this a classic. Its still entertaining, and I genuinely did like some parts of it which is why its hard to be negative here. But, all in all its mediocre. It’s tough to give it a good rating.

I feel like a broken record when I keep saying the animation was "gorgeous," but it's true here, too. Some really great fight scene choreography, especially in the bathroom and on the train.

I defaulted to watching the uncut version, but it's really just kinda gratuitous and they clearly weren't trying to do their best for the pornographic bits. I don't watch anime porn because I don't like the animation loops. Although they consciously tried to vary it here with positions and angles, it's ultimately the same old shit

I liked the way Sawa's characterization came out in the quiet moments, mostly between Oburi and her. She ... had a kind of sad swagger that I enjoy in protagonists. Although, none of these characters are particularly deep.

I liked this much more than I initially thought I would. On the surface, it does seem to be a sort of edge-lord "everything is terrible" kind of story, but there is more going on underneath all that than you might initially think. It can be graphic, but the violence is nearly comical, with how unrealistic it is. The most important thing to my viewing was the visuals: Sawa's red eyes, the red earrings, splashes of blood. The sex is unpleasant, and not eroticized like other similar works have fan service. Personally, I did not watch it, and it is easy to skip when it ... happens. The ambiguous ending could also be an issue for some viewers, but adds to layers for interpretation and potential rewatching. Mixed Feelings was selected because of the tone: Kite is not a pleasant work, and some people just don't want to engage with that kind of media, which is completely okay. The thing I enjoyed most was the animation, and as previously stated, the visuals, so if you see a clip or something and can handle graphic violence and sexual content, I would recommend watching that.

Well, let's review this weird action + sexploitation beast of an anime.
NOTE: Some possible spoilers, you have been warned.

Story - 3

There's nothing interesting with the story. In a runtime of almost a whole hour, it shows a girl (Sawa) who is an orphan and is working on a secret agency, and then gets the desire of willing to kill the culprits who killed her parents. Yeah, that's it. I watched this OVA to see how well a hentai can handle a more different, "let's not add 75% sex scenes to the storyboard and blow some guts instead" style of story. And this one quite failed ... on me. Yes, the thriller elements are good, they add a good factor to the entertainment of this and makes me feel interested. But it didn't really blew me away. Plot twists were predictable and noticeable, and most of the sex scenes weren't that needed. But yeah, this is a hentai after all.

Art - 7

As I would expect from 1998 I would think of this as one of the "decaying age of hand-drawn animation" as later animes started to experiment with the power of computers and that. Yet even while this is hand-drawn, it is still beautiful. The detail added is good, character design is great, the dudes didn't look a lot like scumbags for a hentai. I don't know anything to write about the art since it doesn't feel me too special compared to other hand-drawn shows.

Sound - 4

Personally, one of the other things I didn't like is the music, it was too freely improvised for me. It is skilled, but it doesn't help me concentrate on the action.

Taking off that and going to the voice acting, it is OK, since every character at least got a good voice personality for them. But still, along with some predictable dialogue and script, I don't know what else to write.

Character - 5

Since hentai mostly follow a small cast, this won't be too detailed. Each character does it's great job on their looks and their job on kicking butts for their lives. And also, as expected from the genre and short runtime, I didn't found too much development on them, but let's keep it as that. Sawa's assistant (Oburi) felt unnecessary for me, as I don't see anything else that he would help her on the way or do something else other than staying and very occasionally supporting each other.

Enjoyment - 6

The action + explicit sex thing was great, and was interesting to watch all the way through with the blood spurting and gunfights.
But yes, it suffered a lot from predictability, including the ending.
Since this is from the same studio that later debuted on TVs with Elfen Lied, I just can feel some of the adrenaline in this. Gore, nudity and that. But yeah, it isn't the most thought-provoking thing I ever saw.

Overall - 5
I need to go on a search and find another erotic action better than this.

Kite looks beautiful. It has the same bright colours and style as anime like Cowboy Bebop and Neon Genesis Evangelion. However, as opposed to those anime, Kite does not deliver on the story front. I would say the story is just a mess, the relationships between all the characters are super underdeveloped. There are also a bunch of sex scenes, which this show would be much better without. They show up out of nowhere and make almost no sense in the story.

Maybe I am too dumb and I missed it, but I do not see how the title is at all relevant to ... the plot. I assume the protagonist is supposed to be the titular kite, but I do not really see how that would fit. A kite makes you think of being adrift and apart from the world. But this is not the case at all, our protagonist still goes to school even.

Solid exploitation riff that's unfortunately pretty tone deaf and tries to mask its blatantly misogynistic "guardian" angle by allowing Sawa to flaunt her sense of badass female agency through contract killings, even though said killings are in service of her bullshit obligation to this literal child molester that uses her for sex in between the action bits. Oburi's kinda rendered an afterthought, mostly because he exists merely to bond with Sawa in a freeing/escapist sense as she's only known tragedy and the company of the patriarchal scourge that holds her captive, and the way they do him in during the final moments is pretty fucking ... thankless. Animation's definitely of a particular '90s ilk as is the admittedly stellar violence, and even though the aforementioned gender politics are kinda a mess, they're nowhere near as egregious as something like Ninja Scrolls' that's a very similar case of creative violence and storytelling beats over meaningful emotional subtext.

I like how the story explores themes of revenge, corruption, and the consequences of a broken society.
As Sawa carries out her assignments, she becomes entangled in a web of deceit and betrayal, uncovering secrets about the people she once trusted.
I enjoy its blend of dark storytelling, action and "mature" themes/scenes :)
The plot development might be foreseeable, especially if you are familiar with similar themes. However, you may appreciate the story for its atmosphere, style, and the exploration of morally complex situations.
The characters, including the protagonist Sawa, are not extensively developed in terms of depth. They serve more as conduits for the intense and violent ... narrative rather than being deeply explored individuals :/
Overall, it was entertaining, specially if you find this type of genre sligthly... "Interesting".