Kite

"Dangerous things come in small packages."

1998 0h 50m JA

👍

6.6

SOLID

⭐

6.6

IMDB

★6.6TMDB · 189★6.6IMDB · 6,271

AnimationActionThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Sawa, orphaned as a child by murderous thugs, now targets the scourge of society as a trained killer for a mercenary syndicate. Coquettish and capable of unimaginable violence, she's grown into the perfect weapon — but doubt takes hold in Sawa's mind when her fellow assassin, Oburi, decides he wants out.

“Dangerous things come in small packages.”

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Cast

Konami Yoshida
Sawa (voice)
Kousuke Okano
Oburi (voice)
Kinryu Arimoto
Akai (voice)
Rokuro Naya
Kanie (voice)
Dai Matsumoto
Investigator (voice)
Rei Igarashi
Reporter (voice)
Naho Hirokawa
Street Kid A / Boy (voice)
Itsumi Sawada
Street Kid B / Girl (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Yasuomi Umetsu
Writers: Yasuomi Umetsu, Yasuomi Umetsu
Languages: Japanese, English
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 50-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

28 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Japanese, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Kite Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Yasuomi Umetsu, shot by Yosuke Moriguchi. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by An Fū. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Hiroshi Honda shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Konami Yoshida and Kousuke Okano and Kinryu Arimoto carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Yasuomi Umetsu directs. Yosuke Moriguchi behind the camera. An Fū scores. Hiroshi Honda cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 50-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
228 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Japanese, English.
4Part of the "Kite Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Yasuomi Umetsu, shot by Yosuke Moriguchi. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by An Fū. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Hiroshi Honda shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Konami Yoshida and Kousuke Okano and Kinryu Arimoto carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Dangerous things come in small packages.".
10IMDB entry: tt0246734 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 9 themes, including "assassin", "killing", "gore", "revenge".
12Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Yosuke Moriguchi
Original score: An Fū
Editing: Hiroshi Honda
Runtime: 50 min · 0h 50m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: JA
IMDB: Kite (1998)
IMDB rating: 6.6/10 · 6,271 votes
MPAA: TV-MA

Part of

Kite Collection

The online rights to the film were acquired by Sony Pictures, but the home video rights belong to Anime Works. Unlike the first film, Kite Liberator does not have any sex scenes at all, and includes a different cast of characters. It was released on March 14, 2008 and bundled with Kite: Director's Cut. KITE Liberator is an American-released, Japanese-produced direct-to-video anime film and sequel to Kite. It was also adapted as a manga serialized in Comic Valkyrie magazine.