[18+ / US] Kite

[WTK]

via TRSI...

• Kite Uncut (Blu-ray) - 60 minutes - $29.99 - 2/28/12 (under Kitty Media [18+])

Removed from solicitation

• Kite (Blu-ray) - 45 minutes - $24.99 - 2/21/12 (under Media Blasters / Anime Works)

[Rhodes]

Originally Posted by WTK

via TRSI...

• Kite (Blu-ray) - 60 minutes - $24.99 - 2/21/12
• Kite Uncut (Blu-ray) - 60 minutes - $29.99 - 2/21/12

dang I'll wait but I might buy the uncut BD if it is really uncut... the "pedophile"* version.

*an employee at MB once said folks who ask for the original JP (uncut) version are nothing but pedophiles... MB eventually released it totally uncut.

[kakugo]

After that absolutely miserable UROTSKIDOJI release... I'm not sure how to feel about this.

There should still be 35mm film for this somewhere, right?

[Buster Darkwings]

Originally Posted by Rhodes

dang I'll wait but I might buy the uncut BD if it is really uncut... the "pedophile"* version.

*an employee at MB once said folks who ask for the original JP (uncut) version are nothing but pedophiles... MB eventually released it totally uncut.

Yeah, and she got banned from posting on AoD after that comment as well.

If this does turn out to be an actual remaster from film, I wonder if all the scenes with sex/nudity will conveniently end up being crap upscale quality, like Urotsukidoji.

[javaandjam]

I assume the "cut" disc will be the International version? It's good they've made these versions available; IIRC, Umetsu has claimed that he used porn to get his start as a director and Kite was a struggle for him to downplay the obligatory sex while trying to show his capabilties?

[Rhodes]

Originally Posted by javaandjam

I assume the "cut" disc will be the International version? It's good they've made these versions available; IIRC, Umetsu has claimed that he used porn to get his start as a director and Kite was a struggle for him to downplay the obligatory sex while trying to show his capabilties?

dunno... but the sex in Kite works and fits the story unlike in Mezzo. In Mezzo wasnt one of the sex scenes a dream and/or with an android and not a "real" girl?

[russ869]

Strangely enough as it sounds, I think I prefer Mezzo Forte. I'm not exactly enthused about owning the "pedophile" version of Kite, myself. But I just may get this... (in the unlikely event that it isn't a stupidly bad master like Overfiend).

It's surprisingly common that brilliant animation is coupled with elements of horrible garbage, resulting in me owning some pretty embarrassing things. We call those "guilty pleasures," I guess.

Originally Posted by Buster Darkwings

If this does turn out to be an actual remaster from film, I wonder if all the scenes with sex/nudity will conveniently end up being crap upscale quality, like Urotsukidoji.

Then it'll be just like Fist of the North Star.

Originally Posted by Rhodes

In Mezzo wasnt one of the sex scenes a dream and/or with an android and not a "real" girl?

That describes all of the nonsense sex scenes in Mezzo Forte. Although for the later, I think the viewer isn't supposed to know at the time that they aren't raping the "real" Mikura.

[kakugo]

The plan was always for A-KITE to have some sex appeal, but a producer who worked with Umetsu convinced him to pitch it as an 18+ OVA. Not because it wouldn't work without blatant porn scenes, but because he didn't think the extreme gunplay angle would work as a TV series in the mid 1990s with the budget and level of violence it required. I actually think the nasty, over the top sexual aspect of the final product works into its favor much like it does in Thriller: A Cruel Picture and Violence Jack: Evil Town, but to each their own. (Mezzo's porn is indeed garbage, but to be fair, it's awesome garbage... )

The "International" version was released through Anime Works with a 16+, so I'm assuming the edited version will be the Kitty Media "Director's Cut". We won't know for sure until it's out, though, I guess.


Eh, Urotsukidoji and FOTNS aren't really comparable: The majority of the gore in FOTNS has always been distorted intentionally - the cheesy 80s music video blur effects is simply a part of the film negative. In the case of Urotsukidoji, MB only had access to a chewed up theatrical print missing several minutes worth of footage, so rather than find a second print to fill in the gaps they just upscaled the missing footage from the analog video master they used for the DVD.

You can't get the gore scenes from FOTNS uncensored (outside of the trailer) because they no longer exist. This isn't true of Urotsukidoji, unless the producers have lost all film elements completely.

[Buster Darkwings]

Originally Posted by kakugo

Urotsukidoji, MB only had access to a chewed up theatrical print missing several minutes worth of footage, so rather than find a second print to fill in the gaps they just upscaled the missing footage from the analog video master they used for the DVD.

I thought that all the upscaled parts just happened to have all the money shots (for both sex and violence)?

[kakugo]

If only it was that simple...

While yes, most of the sex scenes are (in part or in whole) upscaled, so are most of the reel changes. In other words, even if MB used a British release print, they sourced several "extra" minutes of non-offensive footage from analog video because the elements they had access to were literally a chewed-up Grindhouse quality print, and an analog video master from the late 80s.

The suggestion that it was sourced from a British print actually makes a lot of sense - something I didn't even consider in my rage fueled viewing session because everyone with google knows it's f**king cut - but it's only part of the story. I counted a total of just under 8 minutes sourced from analog video. The BBFC certified "18" UK prints ran 1:02:55, where as the uncut Blu-ray runs 1:46:41 (with a 12 second disclaimer).

Out of the 7:53 of upscaled footage, only about 3:36 can be blamed on censor cuts! That means MORE THAN HALF of the footage upscaled was shown in British cinemas, and that there is no other possible explanation for it to be missing than they literally used the scummiest theatrical print they could get their hands on. ARGH.