Ask John: Is There an Uncut Version of Kite Available?

Question:
I am looking for the original uncut unedited Kite version anime dvd. I have already bought a couple version. and I have recently found out that they are edited Kite version that I have bought. Some from Media Blasters, Anime Works and others from Ebay and other site.

Answer:
The only existing 100% uncut and uncensored version of Kite available on DVD is ironically available only on a German PAL format Region 2 DVD that includes the original Japanese language audio and a German language dub, but no English translation.

The original Japanese version of Kite was released in Japan on two VHS and laserdisc volumes in 1998, followed later by a two volume DVD release. This original Japanese version was uncut but digitally censored in accordance with Japanese law. Unfortunately, this original Japanese release is now out of print in Japan. The only version of Kite still in print in Japan is the more recent “International Version” released to Japanese VHS and DVD in 2000. This “International Version” is a slightly different edit of the heavily censored American Anime Works version of Kite.

The debut American version of Kite released by Media Blasters under the Anime Works label is a heavily edited recut with extensive missing footage, scenes out of their original order, and the original two episodes edited together into a single film. The result is a fine action film, but not the anime that its creator intended. The American “Kite Director’s Cut” restores most of the missing footage and restores the proper sequence order to the two episodes, but is still missing roughly 20 seconds of a clearly underage Sawa having sex- footage considered too similar to child pornography for American release.

In effect, anime fans are left in a quandary over Kite. Enterprising fans with a DVD player capable of playing import European DVDs can have Kite uncut and uncensored, but not translated. American fans seeking a translated version of Kite have available the translated, uncensored and virtually uncut Kitty Media version. Unfortunately, there has never been a totally uncut English language version of Kite, and probably never will be one.