5/5 Prepare to be shocked
  by lain4ever (Los Angeles, CA)
At first, "Kite" appears to be a cyber-punk action anime, with plenty of brutal assassinations. However, with four graphic sex scenes, it's clear that "Kite" would cause quite a stir among American audiences.

But anime viewers can't look away--"Kite" is a gripping story of a girl trying to escape the sexual grasp of her captors.

The tale centers around Sawa, a girl packing both regular and explosive bullets in her pistol, as well as miniature time bombs. She's an assassin who kills people for the male police officers who "adopted" her. Actually, they killed her parents. And they keep her for their own sexual pleasure and to kill other wanted criminals.

Sawa's world is frightening, portrayed by grotesque sex scenes, in which her captors rape her if she makes a single mistake. While American audiences understandably would want to censor it, "Kite" is one of those dark films that shouldn't be censored.

Certainly, "Kite" can easily be seen as a no-holds-barred post-war depiction of the sexual prostitution and injustice which took place after World War II. The film is an even sharper criticism of sexual violence in general. Anime fans will be frightened as Sawa struggles to survive against some of the most dangerous bodyguards in one of her jobs. However, Sawa finds a way to liberate herself, even if only for a short moment.

The final resolution is even more antagonistic--showing that Sawa is not the only female assassin under the control of masochistic officers. "Kite" is a picture-perfect depiction of injustice within criminal enforcement. And even though this version of "Kite" is somewhat censored, it still is an excellent film revealing the problems of post-war Japan.

4/5 Kite
  by Goddess Anjanee (United States)
I haven't seen this movie yet. From what reviews I've read it is a must see. It is a shame that Kite is less than fifty minutes. I've learned recently that this movie was cut down because of its subject matter. I think this was an unwise move. This movie should only be purchased by people 18 years and up. I think there should be a voting poll posted on this site and on any anime site where you can buy this movie. We should have the option of buying this movie in its full uncut 90 minute to 100 minute version. From what a friend told me, the movie was cut in half down to the 45 minutes that you see now. I know when any movie is edited it takes away from the storyline.

If anyone knows were to purchase this uncut, unrated extended version for a good price let me know. I want to be the judge on how bad or good this movie really is.

4/5 Just as good as Mezzo but still just like Mezzo: edited version=good action plus plot development
  by sevenbeat (St. Louis, MO USA)
First and foremost Amazon doesn't sell the unedited version of Kite. So, I should say don't bother looking here since the edited version leaves out the huge sex scenes that are, in this anime movie, crucial to the plot and character development but there is a catch to one of the sex scenes as they include an 11-13 year old ,Sawa (the main character). Other than that, I enjoyed this movie, unedited. It has good action with lots of gore, blood, and sex scenes. Another thing I liked about it was the variety of symbolism. Such as Sawa's earrings. One thing I disliked about this movie was the voice dub. The dub could have been better. It seems for hentai shows or movies they always get the mediocre actors. So, all in all, if you are not comfortable with sex scenes, hentai in general, animated cp, or a little more blood and gore. Then invest your money in the edited version. If none of those things bother, then invest your money and time in the unedited version.

If hentai was more like this, then I would gladly watch more.

5/5 Solo para adultos
  by Jaime M. Mejia V (Bogota, Colombia)
Una excelente película en la cual se destaca la fluidez de la animación, los personajes tienen conflictos internos y motivos ocultos. Espere al final un giro inesperado en la trama.
Recomendada sin lugar a dudas

1/5 OUCH!!! ...And I thought "ARMITAGE III" was bad!
  by Ace-of-Stars (Honolulu, Hawaii)
*
It's a rare anime feature that moves me to rate it with the lowest marks possible, but this one accomplished the once-thought impossible!

The premise sounds intriguing enough: A girl left orphaned after the double homicide of her parents is taken in (in more ways than one) by a couple of psychos with vigilante desires who groom her to become their instrument of assassination. Their targets tend to be high-profile members of society & public figures who have a tendency to stay just enough out of reach of the law to prevent being legally apprehended and paying the necessary penalties for their criminal misdeeds (child sexual abuse and related activities being high on their list). But suspicion mounts that she may be just being manipulated like a puppet and that the people she's being instructed to kill (all men, of course) may not necessarily be everything she is being informed that they are.

Unfortunately, the execution (no pun intended) of the story & action, the lack of character development, the limited (almost non-existent) background & motivational information on the girl's "mentor(s)", the totally contrived plot devices, and the highly & irritatingly irrational action sequences (extremely absurd even by typical "anime" standards) makes this feature-length OAV the biggest animation TURKEY I have ever had the privilege(?) of viewing. Even the (very lame) "fan service" scenes cannot make up for its lack of interesting story and action. (Apparently, this is not the true "unrated" version as indicated, since reviewers make references to more graphic & disturbing "hentai" scenes. Still doesn't change my opinion of the whole thing, however.) Okay, I'll admit that it scores a couple of minor points for its visuals & animation, but that's about the only thing of any material substance I can come away with from this loser. In essence, if anime features were rides at the carnival, "KITE" would be the merry-go-round -- without any accompanying lights or music.

Normally, something clocking in at only 45 minutes would get a point for "fair consideration" from me because of the feature's not being given enough time to really allow an indepth story to unfold (e.g., "PLASTIC LITTLE," which I actually like, despite its oversaturation of needless "fan service" which serves no purpose), but I give NO such consideration for "KITE" -- I believe that any additional amount of time given to this animated drama would have made it only that much worse than it already is.

Not an outright "zero-stars" junker, but I cannot in all good conscience rate it anything higher than a "one-and-a-half" at best.