Ask John: What Went Wrong With Kite Liberator?

Question:
I just finished watching the recent OVA Kite Liberator. I was really, really enjoying it and then it just ended. Well, maybe even ended isn’t the right word; it just stopped in the middle of everything and the credits rolled. What’s going on? Is that it? Are there plans for a second episode, or is one likely at any point soon? After so many years, we finally got a sequel to Kite. I’d hate to see it just stop right in the middle of everything like this.

Answer:
I’d like to be able to definitively explain what went “wrong” with Kite Liberator, but regrettably I haven’t encountered any statements from either creator/director Yasuomi Umetsu or American co-producer/distributor Media Blasters. I have encountered consistent and unanimous confused and disappointed responses to the OVA from viewers that have watched it.

Fans have anxiously waited ten years since the 1998 release of A-Kite to see a sequel. Countless anime fans are also familiar with director Yasuomi Umetsu’s other “girls with guns” anime titles Cool Devices operation 7: Yellow Star, A-Kite, Mezzo Forte, and Mezzo. Regrettably, the long awaited Kite Liberator doesn’t match up to the quality of any of these prior titles, including even the very uneven Mezzo television series. Unlike Umetsu’s previous action anime projects that were produced primarily for Japanese release, Kite Liberator was co-financed by an American distributor and was released practically simultaneously in Japan and America. I don’t know how much, if any American influence compromised the content of Kite Liberator, but plans for an American release certainly do seem to have affected the production.

While Kite Liberator isn’t entirely sanitized, the graphic sex of Yellow Star, A-Kite, and Mezzo is gone. And the graphic violence in Kite Liberator feels lessened in both frequency and visual impact. Furthermore, the tense, exciting, and death-defying action that characterized A-Kite and Mezzo Forte is noticably absent in Kite Liberator. It’s sad to say that despite having a longer running time than either A-Kite or Mezzo, all of the action scenes in Kite Liberator combined aren’t as exciting as singular action set pieces from Umezu’s earlier work.

In November 2007 Umezu’s anime studio, Arms, announced that the release of Kite Liberator would be delayed in order to give the staff more time to work on the project. Apparently the additional time provided by the delay wasn’t enough to salvage the work. Despite its slightly longer length, Kite Liberator has significantly less character development and atmosphere than either the original A-Kite or Mezzo. The OVA never clarifies whether Monaka is a simple professional assassin or a vigilante seeking justice. Why Monaka works as a killer is never explained. The OVA never explains exactly who Azuki is, nor clarifies her relation to Monaka. The OVA hints that Monaka’s co-worker Manatsu Mukai may actually be Sawa from the original Kite, but that connection is never clarified or solidified. Exactly who Apollo Resturant manager Torokurou Amuzu is, and his relationship to the Tsuin brothers, is never fully clarified. The OVA takes care to focus on a scar that Monaka has, but doesn’t care to explain its significance. Manaka tries to avoid being recognized by a particular older man, but the OVA never clarifies who the older man is, nor what relationship he has to her. The space station’s crew doctor literally disappears from the narrative three-quarters of the way through, without explanation.

The OVA also suffers from technical flaws apart from its story. As I previously mentioned, Kite Liberator never approaches the excitement level of its predecessor anime. Editing and cuts from shot to shot throughout the OVA feel abrupt and disorienting. Camera pans over digitally colored backgrounds early in the episode look distractingly artificial and cheap. And most disturbing, the OVA seems to have no ending. It doesn’t end with a cliffhanger. It ends as if the animation staff simply ran out of time and money after completing an hour of animation. Regrettably, the official Kite Liberator website reveals no plans for a second episode. The Japanese limited edition DVD release of Kite Liberator is a double disc set that includes a running audio commentary from creator/director Yasuomi Umetsu. It’s possible that Umezu’s audio commentary explains why Kite Liberator feels more like a work-in-progress than a completed, finished film, but Umezu’s director commentary was excluded from the American release.

The chances of a second Kite Liberator episode will naturally increase should the existing episode sell well, either in Japan, America, or both countries. It’s also possible that vocal criticism from viewers, such as this critique, will encourage the production of a continuation to satisfy fans. However, considering that Yasuomi Umezu’s film Kiss and Cry was first announced in 2003 and remains unproduced, there’s no certainty that Umezu will ever get around to working on a second episode of Kite Liberator.

I do truly wish that I could explain what went wrong with Kite Liberator, but unfortunately all I can personally do is offer my own criticism of the production. Kite Liberator isn’t anywhere near the worst anime I’ve ever seen. Taken in isolation, Kite Liberator is a respectable, if underwhelming, self-contained OVA. Compared to its predecessor and creator Yasuomi Umezu’s earlier works, it’s quite a disappointment. Unfortunately, unless a longer, more complete version or a sequel is announced in the future, fans will be stuck with what we’ve got; like it or leave it.