Kite: Liberator...
I picked up Kite: Liberator -- not to be confused in any way with Kite, despite appearances to the contrary...
There is quite a bit of red ink and gore on exhibit in Kite: Liberator. The violence includes some indiscriminate killings and some violence against children. And, although there is quite a bit of innuendo and some mild fan service in the form of panty shots, some inappropriate groping and a couple of bare breasts, Kite: Liberator is nowhere near as sexually charged as Kite. Even so, the younger anime fans among us should probably stay away.
Apart from the unusual story, which had more than a few Kite fans scratching their heads, one of the more annoying aspects of Kite: Liberator is that the climactic battle at the end of the feature is left unresolved. It's not the first time an anime has left me hanging. Kite had a surprise at the end and most notably in my experience, Mighty Space Miners built to a wonderful climax and then it was just over. I don't mind the surprise ending, if everything leading up to that ending was really good, but, while the signature scene in Kite was, of course, the bathroom fight, there isn't really a signature scene in Kite: Liberator. Don't get me wrong, there's bloodshed, explosions and gun play, but, nothing really over-the-top.
While Kite and Mezzo are both really good examples of the great work that Yasuomi Umetsu has done in the past, Kite: Liberator isn't in the same league. When viewed as a successor to Kite, Kite: Liberator falls far short of the mark set by Kite. And as for its pure entertainment value, Kite: Liberator is somewhat lacking in general. Overall, I gave Kite: Liberator a 2 out of 5.
First off, aside from being part of the girls with guns genre, Kite: Liberator should NOT, in any way, be confused with Kite. The basic premise has our heroine, Monaka, killing her way through the feature on one hand while being a mild mannered student and a maid cafe worker on the side. Meanwhile, an accident in space, unleashes monsters on Earth and it's up to Monaka to save the day. So, if you were expecting Kite: Liberator to be anything like Kite, you'll be disappointed. That being said, there are cameos of Sawa and some attempt is made to indicate that these two features are related, but, don't be fooled -- any relation is in name only.The teenage assassin Sawa discovered the man behind her parents' deaths was her own her foster-father, the police detective Akai. She murdered him. Years later, her whereabouts are still unknown. The story of a new killer has begun to circulate around the city. She is called the Angel of Death. She eliminates her targets with grace and precision, and then vanishes without a trace into the darkness. By day, the Angel of Death wears a different face; the face of Monaka, an ordinary high school girl. But she seems so delicate and sensitive, can it really all be an act? Her past is tied with Akai, and her fate is a duel to the death with the one man who can protect her - the one she loves most. Which heart is real? The icy heart of the Angel of Death, or the kind heart of Monaka?
There is quite a bit of red ink and gore on exhibit in Kite: Liberator. The violence includes some indiscriminate killings and some violence against children. And, although there is quite a bit of innuendo and some mild fan service in the form of panty shots, some inappropriate groping and a couple of bare breasts, Kite: Liberator is nowhere near as sexually charged as Kite. Even so, the younger anime fans among us should probably stay away.
Apart from the unusual story, which had more than a few Kite fans scratching their heads, one of the more annoying aspects of Kite: Liberator is that the climactic battle at the end of the feature is left unresolved. It's not the first time an anime has left me hanging. Kite had a surprise at the end and most notably in my experience, Mighty Space Miners built to a wonderful climax and then it was just over. I don't mind the surprise ending, if everything leading up to that ending was really good, but, while the signature scene in Kite was, of course, the bathroom fight, there isn't really a signature scene in Kite: Liberator. Don't get me wrong, there's bloodshed, explosions and gun play, but, nothing really over-the-top.
While Kite and Mezzo are both really good examples of the great work that Yasuomi Umetsu has done in the past, Kite: Liberator isn't in the same league. When viewed as a successor to Kite, Kite: Liberator falls far short of the mark set by Kite. And as for its pure entertainment value, Kite: Liberator is somewhat lacking in general. Overall, I gave Kite: Liberator a 2 out of 5.
