Kite Liberator

[HELLFIRE]

Yay! More Kite... or so I thought.

...I guess the words that got me on the back of the box were 'spiritual predecessor,'
so I figured guns, girls and gore galore... or so I thought.

Monaka's character works as a spilt-personality assassin-cum-schoolgirl / waitress,
and she certainly packs the same firepower and skills that Sawa did.
Unfortunately, while Kite had a very focused storyline, Kite Liberator seems
like an exercise in hitting as many targets as you can as fast as you can.

First off, there's the whole space zombies / unethical scientist subplot that really
takes away from what should be the main focus, ie. watching Monaka kick
deserving baddies' a$$ as the Angel of Death...

Then there's the necessary nods to Kite, including a cameo by a barely concealed older Sawa...

Then there's the romantic tension subplot between Monaka and the younger
cop figure which really ends up going nowhere, but had alot of premise if they
bothered to develop it that way...

All this capping off with a father-daughter reunion at the end that's so
unlikely... to say nothing of the guy's chara design -- somehow I kept
thinking 'Megatron with a bad body day'

I don't hate it... but I can't say that I liked it either. The full 57min version
drags its heels in some places and is so unfocused overall you can't help
but wonder who was running the popsicle stand, and the quote, unquote
Tokyo Int'nl Film Festival version feels like a work in progress, missing
many key plot points that makes the overall story important.

...as Taurec would say, one of those animes you watch while downing a
bottle of peach vodka and expect a bitching hangover the next morning.




Regards