Kite Liberator

Synopsis

Continues the story of Kite

Sawa is a school girl, an orphan, and an assassin. A corrupt cop controls her, assigning targets to kill and listing the crimes these men have committed to make their deaths seem justified. Some of that control is tied to Sawa's deceased parents and the promise of revenge. When another orphan, a teenage boy named Oburi, is brought on to assist Sawa, the two teenage killers form a bond. As they heal each other's emotional wounds, they begin to dream of a life that no longer unfolds under the shadow of murder. Note: The work originally debuted in Japan as a two-episode OVA, and over the years it has been re-edited and reissued in numerous forms. Japanese releases: • A KITE (February–December 1998) — the original two-episode OVA. • A KITE INTERNATIONAL VERSION (July 2000) — re-edited to combine the episodes into a 45-minute single OVA with all sex scenes removed. • A KITE PREMIUM COLLECTORS VERSION (December 2007) — a bundle containing the original Vols. 1+2 and the INTERNATIONAL VERSION. • A KITE Special Edition (April 2015) — a digitally restored Blu-ray re-release carrying a smaller censorship mosaic. North American releases: • Kite (April 2000) — based on the international version; sex scenes are removed entirely and the story is presented as one combined episode. • Kite: Director's Cut (January 2002) — released under Media Blasters' Kitty Media (Adult) label; restores the sex scenes except for roughly 12 seconds of footage involving a minor, also as a single combined episode. • Kite: Special Edition Uncut (September 2004) — also on Kitty Media; restores the previously removed footage and is presented in two episodes like the original. • Kite: Integral Version (September 2024) — released by Discotek Media; contains all three previous North American cuts on a single Blu-ray disc. For simplicity's sake, only the first OVA release is counted in this entry.

In this installment

In the wake of the original Kite, the assassin Sawa vanishes without a trace after avenging her parents' deaths. As time passes, a mysterious figure surfaces in the bustling city, swiftly taking out targets with deadly accuracy before disappearing into the night. Meanwhile, Monaka seems to live a typical high school life, but this peaceful exterior conceals a hidden reality. She secretly works as an angel of death, assuming a perilous alternate identity.