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Kite (1998)

 Kite (1998)
type
TVTItem
 Kite (1998)
label
Kite (1998)
 Kite (1998)
page
Kite1998
 Kite (1998)
comment
Kite is an Anime series in the action genre, written and directed by Yasuomi Umetsu. Originally released as a two-part Original Video Animation in 1998 by Japanese studio Green Bunny, it has since been edited for release in North America as a single "movie" by Media Blasters (general release) and Kitty Media (Kite: Director's Cut and Kite: Special Edition). The original series was followed in 2008 by a sequel, Kite Liberator.In Tokyo, a string of bizarre, unsolved murders have the police confounded and the media in a frenzy. The only known connections are the killer's use of exploding bullets, and the fact that each of the victims were famous, wealthy, or powerful individuals. Akai, the lead detective in these cases, knows more than he is letting on. Not only have he and his partner Kanie ordered each of the killings, but many of them have been carried out by his underage lover and adopted daughter, Sawa.Under the pretense of "cleaning up the city" by getting rid of corrupt politicians and child molesters that are outside the reach of the law, Akai uses Sawa as his personal assassin. Holding misguided affection for Akai after he "rescued" her as a child from the scene of her parents' murder, Sawa has done his bidding for years without question. When she meets her male counterpart, a young man named Oburi who has been trained by Kanie, Sawa begins to question her role in life and the events that led her there. However, Oburi and Sawa soon find out that giving up their current lives will be no easy task, for Akai is not the kind of man that will take "no" for an answer.Like Umetzu's similar work Mezzo Forte, it has received three releases in North America: a General Release with most of the sexual content removed, a subsequent Director's Cut that leaves most of the controversial material intact, and a Special Edition that is presented as being totally uncut.This page is for the General Release and the Director's Cut only.Has a Live-Action Adaptation by the same name directed by Ralph Ziman.
 Kite (1998)
fetched
2024-04-26T23:16:22Z
 Kite (1998)
parsed
2024-04-26T23:16:22Z
 Kite (1998)
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Kite (1998) / int_1713b00a
type
Your Head A-Splode
 Kite (1998) / int_1713b00a
comment
Your Head Asplode: Sawa, taking a page from Ghost in the Shell, uses bullets that explode five seconds after impact, typically causing the head to explode in bloody gore.
 Kite (1998) / int_1713b00a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_1713b00a
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1.0
 Kite (1998)
hasFeature
Kite (1998) / int_1713b00a
 Kite (1998) / int_1888979e
type
Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist
 Kite (1998) / int_1888979e
comment
Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Akai. Although he initially acts like he's a Vigilante Man or something, it is later made clear that he's only using Sawa as his personal assassin and sex slave.
 Kite (1998) / int_1888979e
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1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_1888979e
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 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_1888979e
 Kite (1998) / int_1e1aa82a
type
Diabolus ex Machina
 Kite (1998) / int_1e1aa82a
comment
Diabolus ex Machina: Oburi's death-from-out-of-nowhere that leads to the OVA's Downer Ending.
 Kite (1998) / int_1e1aa82a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_1e1aa82a
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1.0
 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_1e1aa82a
 Kite (1998) / int_295087bf
type
Non-Indicative Name
 Kite (1998) / int_295087bf
comment
Non-Indicative Name: You'd think by the title that the heroine is named "Kite," but actually it's Sawa. Nobody is named Kite, and kites are not a part of the film.
 Kite (1998) / int_295087bf
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1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_295087bf
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 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_295087bf
 Kite (1998) / int_318a6781
type
Body to Jewel
 Kite (1998) / int_318a6781
comment
Body to Jewel: Akai had some of Sawa's parents' blood fashioned into a set of earrings, which have been her most prized possession ever since. Naturally, she gets very upset when she loses one during a botched assassination.
 Kite (1998) / int_318a6781
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1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_318a6781
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1.0
 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_318a6781
 Kite (1998) / int_362461f6
type
Sex Slave
 Kite (1998) / int_362461f6
comment
Sex Slave: Which is what Sawa essentially is for Akai, who does with her as he pleases whenever she isn't on a mission assassinating targets for him.
 Kite (1998) / int_362461f6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_362461f6
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1.0
 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_362461f6
 Kite (1998) / int_49334c8e
type
Coitus Uninterruptus
 Kite (1998) / int_49334c8e
comment
Coitus Uninterruptus: Akai walks in on his partner Kanie having sex with a young girl. Kanie stops, draws his gun, sighs, says "Oh, it's just you," and then continues on with the sex.
 Kite (1998) / int_49334c8e
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1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_49334c8e
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1.0
 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_49334c8e
 Kite (1998) / int_4b316d47
type
Break the Cutie
 Kite (1998) / int_4b316d47
comment
Break the Cutie: Not only was Sawa forced to endure sexual abuse but also mental and psychological torture as was the case when Aki took away her earrings until she committed murder as part of her training.
 Kite (1998) / int_4b316d47
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_4b316d47
featureConfidence
1.0
 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_4b316d47
 Kite (1998) / int_4e3d253b
type
Downer Ending
 Kite (1998) / int_4e3d253b
comment
Downer Ending: After they escape their former "guardians" to start a new life together, Oburi is ambushed and murdered by the same young girl he encountered earlier while Sawa patiently waits for him at home. Even worse, the last shot is of the door to the apartment opening, heavily implied to be the child assassin that killed Oburi coming to eliminate Sawa as well.
 Kite (1998) / int_4e3d253b
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1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_4e3d253b
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1.0
 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_4e3d253b
 Kite (1998) / int_524f94d3
type
Rape as Backstory
 Kite (1998) / int_524f94d3
comment
Rape as Backstory: Aki did this to Sawa for 4 years in part to "condition" her.
 Kite (1998) / int_524f94d3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_524f94d3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_524f94d3
 Kite (1998) / int_55cd4012
type
"Everybody Dies" Ending
 Kite (1998) / int_55cd4012
comment
"Everybody Dies" Ending: Every main character save Sawa is dead by the end.
 Kite (1998) / int_55cd4012
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_55cd4012
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1.0
 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_55cd4012
 Kite (1998) / int_6bda9a30
type
Meaningful Name
 Kite (1998) / int_6bda9a30
comment
Meaningful Name: "Akai" means "red" in Japanese, and Sawa's flashback sequences often involve red (sometimes blood-related) imagery.
 Kite (1998) / int_6bda9a30
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_6bda9a30
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1.0
 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_6bda9a30
 Kite (1998) / int_6fc8bf2b
type
Corruption of a Minor
 Kite (1998) / int_6fc8bf2b
comment
Corruption of a Minor: Akai and Kanie are in the business of turning orphaned young children into ruthless assassins-for-hire.
 Kite (1998) / int_6fc8bf2b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_6fc8bf2b
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1.0
 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_6fc8bf2b
 Kite (1998) / int_8ed5c6e4
type
Asshole Victim
 Kite (1998) / int_8ed5c6e4
comment
Asshole Victim: The targets Sawa and Oburi are sent to kill are often Dirty Cops and Corrupt Corporate Executives.
 Kite (1998) / int_8ed5c6e4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_8ed5c6e4
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1.0
 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_8ed5c6e4
 Kite (1998) / int_928ca2cc
type
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness
 Kite (1998) / int_928ca2cc
comment
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Akai sends Oburi on a Uriah Gambit to supposedly kill an Amoral Attorney, who in reality was a SWAT officer who responds with a gun of his own. Oburi barely survives the encounter when Sawa intervenes.
 Kite (1998) / int_928ca2cc
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_928ca2cc
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1.0
 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_928ca2cc
 Kite (1998) / int_967809be
type
Small Girl, Big Gun
 Kite (1998) / int_967809be
comment
Small Girl, Big Gun: Sawa, though it's less the size of the gun and more about the size of the hole it makes moments after the bullets hit you.
 Kite (1998) / int_967809be
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_967809be
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1.0
 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_967809be
 Kite (1998) / int_9d12bbc1
type
Foreshadowing
 Kite (1998) / int_9d12bbc1
comment
Foreshadowing: After meeting Sawa for the first time, Oburi is struck by a puddle of water from an errant basketball as he walks by a pair of children playing in an alley. He overreacts slightly by tossing the ball at the basket before shooting it with explosive ammunition. Tellingly, while the young boy screams and ducks, the young girl just calmly watches him as he walks away.
 Kite (1998) / int_9d12bbc1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_9d12bbc1
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1.0
 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_9d12bbc1
 Kite (1998) / int_a188ac4b
type
Overly Long Gag
 Kite (1998) / int_a188ac4b
comment
Overly Long Gag: After a particularly lengthy and brutal fight scene, the mood is lightened somewhat after a bodyguard latches onto Sawa, throwing her and himself out the hole in the wall from said scene in a high-rise building. They then proceed to latch onto a neon sign, which breaks off at the hinges, sending them falling once more until they land on the roof of a car waiting on an overpass. The weight of their impact somehow sends the car through the bottom of the overpass, landing on a truck waiting below the overpass. This impact then sends the whole pile through the ground into a subway station. Then the neon sign falls onto everything, causing the truck to explode... sending Sawa hurtling through another window into an adjacent building. It's like They Live! crossed with Wanted.
 Kite (1998) / int_a188ac4b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_a188ac4b
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1.0
 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_a188ac4b
 Kite (1998) / int_b5c56995
type
Corrupt the Cutie
 Kite (1998) / int_b5c56995
comment
Corrupt the Cutie: Aki's MO; taking an innocent young girl and turning her into a cold-blooded killer who's also essentially his child sex slave.
 Kite (1998) / int_b5c56995
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_b5c56995
featureConfidence
1.0
 Kite (1998)
hasFeature
Kite (1998) / int_b5c56995
 Kite (1998) / int_b9bb56bb
type
Wrong Side All Along
 Kite (1998) / int_b9bb56bb
comment
Wrong Side All Along: Sawa believes that she is acting as a vigilante who ends up with the criminal scum, when the reality is that she is acting as Aki's hitman and personal sex slave.
 Kite (1998) / int_b9bb56bb
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_b9bb56bb
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1.0
 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_b9bb56bb
 Kite (1998) / int_b9c673a6
type
Market-Based Title
 Kite (1998) / int_b9c673a6
comment
Market-Based Title: In Japanese, it's known as A KITE.
 Kite (1998) / int_b9c673a6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_b9c673a6
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1.0
 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_b9c673a6
 Kite (1998) / int_c0d32460
type
Sexy Secretary
 Kite (1998) / int_c0d32460
comment
Sexy Secretary: During the above mentioned action sequence in which Sawa falls down a skyscraper, the action briefly cuts into an office building in which an old corporate suit is having sex with his young secretary as Sawa falls past the window.
 Kite (1998) / int_c0d32460
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_c0d32460
featureConfidence
1.0
 Kite (1998)
hasFeature
Kite (1998) / int_c0d32460
 Kite (1998) / int_c4db6423
type
Yank the Dog's Chain
 Kite (1998) / int_c4db6423
comment
Yank the Dog's Chain: Having had to live through hell, it seems that Oburi and Sawa could be happy together, only for Oburi to be killed before he can reunite with Sawa.
 Kite (1998) / int_c4db6423
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_c4db6423
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1.0
 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_c4db6423
 Kite (1998) / int_d52d28b6
type
Hypocrite
 Kite (1998) / int_d52d28b6
comment
Hypocrite: Both Akai and Kanie have Sawa assassinate corrupt cops and child molesters under the pretense of pursuing justice, when in reality they are corrupt cops themselves who have no qualms with raping underage girls.
 Kite (1998) / int_d52d28b6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_d52d28b6
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1.0
 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_d52d28b6
 Kite (1998) / int_dae5c997
type
Action Girl
 Kite (1998) / int_dae5c997
comment
Action Girl: Sawa, although Sawa didn't exactly choose to be one.
 Kite (1998) / int_dae5c997
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_dae5c997
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1.0
 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_dae5c997
 Kite (1998) / int_e542d889
type
Gorn
 Kite (1998) / int_e542d889
comment
Gorn: Sawa shoots her targets with exploding bullets that burrow into their target before detonating, blowing off limbs and splattering heads wide open.
 Kite (1998) / int_e542d889
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_e542d889
featureConfidence
1.0
 Kite (1998)
hasFeature
Kite (1998) / int_e542d889
 Kite (1998) / int_e75d4959
type
Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World
 Kite (1998) / int_e75d4959
comment
Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World: Sawa offhandedly mentions having schoolwork and exams between assassinations.
 Kite (1998) / int_e75d4959
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_e75d4959
featureConfidence
1.0
 Kite (1998)
hasFeature
Kite (1998) / int_e75d4959
 Kite (1998) / int_eaf5a1ac
type
Groin Attack
 Kite (1998) / int_eaf5a1ac
comment
Groin Attack: Happens to an unfortunate mook during a botched hit. In addition, Akai is shot multiple times in the groin by Sawa near the end of the film.
 Kite (1998) / int_eaf5a1ac
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_eaf5a1ac
featureConfidence
1.0
 Kite (1998)
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Kite (1998) / int_eaf5a1ac
 Kite (1998) / int_eb251937
type
Dirty Cop
 Kite (1998) / int_eb251937
comment
Dirty Cop: Akai and his partner Kanie, who make it a habit of kidnapping and raping young girls, as well as training children to be their personal assassins.
 Kite (1998) / int_eb251937
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_eb251937
featureConfidence
1.0
 Kite (1998)
hasFeature
Kite (1998) / int_eb251937
 Kite (1998) / int_f4bdd330
type
Trick Bullet
 Kite (1998) / int_f4bdd330
comment
Trick Bullet: Sawa uses special bullets that have a time-delayed explosion.
 Kite (1998) / int_f4bdd330
featureApplicability
1.0
 Kite (1998) / int_f4bdd330
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Kite (1998) / int_f4bdd330
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Kite (1998)

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Acrofatic
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Kite (1998)
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Banned in China / int_bf1dd022
 Kite (1998)
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Batman Cold Open / int_bf1dd022
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Bolivian Army Ending / int_bf1dd022
 Coitus Uninterruptus
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 Kite (1998)
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 Unrated Edition
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Kite (1998)