KITE (1998) blu ray - what happened?

[Monroville]

blu-ray.com page

So what ever happened to this blu-ray? It was supposed to have come out last year, but now it's "to be announced." Anyone know what happened?

UPDATE: okay, I did find this: Media Blasters Cancels Kite Blu-ray, Fushigi Yugi OVA Releases (11-29-2012)

That is a shame. Even so, has anyone checked out the German DVD release? Apparently, it has a different cut than the US director's cut, as well as being 16:9 enhanced and 1.78:1 aspect ratio. There is a review here, and a comparison between the US dvd and the German dvd here.

[Clark Kent]

Media Blasters' collapse cost us several possible releases. I guess we'll never see the second season of Squid Girl, either.

[Kriztoffer Swank]

John Sirabella posted on Facebook a few weeks back that he's not content to let Media Blasters crumble and mentioned he has big plans in store for the sub-label Kitty Media this year. Hopefully that means uncut Kite in HD will actually happen.

Sounds like MB has been stripped down to just AnimeWorks, Kitty Media, and Tokyo Shock. Shriek Show is permanently gone it seems.

[KillerJuan77]

Wait a minute... Media Blasters is still alive?

Anyways, I hope we get a decent Blu-Ray of this (I'd honestly prefer the cut version, repeated loli rape with hardcore footage is a no-go for me) along with Kite Liberator. Even if we can't get it from a US distributor I wouldn't mind an australian or UK release of it.

Originally Posted by UseY0ur1llusi0n

ahhhh 1998...what a year ~_~

It was a phenomenal year to say the least.

[Xenonas]

Record of Lodoss War is from 1990.

[Talyn]

Originally Posted by Kriztoffer Swank

John Sirabella posted on Facebook a few weeks back that he's not content to let Media Blasters crumble and mentioned he has big plans in store for the sub-label Kitty Media this year. Hopefully that means uncut Kite in HD will actually happen.

Sounds like MB has been stripped down to just AnimeWorks, Kitty Media, and Tokyo Shock. Shriek Show is permanently gone it seems.

Not content? pft...he should have thought of that 4 years ago. I don't wish ill will on him or the company, but he's not in a position to do much more than live-action and hentai labels. His bottom line needs to stablizie, then distribution issues, then cost of license issues (he stated they paid way too much for Ah! My Goddess and Berserk, etc...

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Xenonas

Record of Lodoss War is from 1990.

The original was, but the remake/sequel was in 1998.

[llj]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

The original was, but the remake/sequel was in 1998.

Most people don't consider the TV sequel on the same level as the OVA. It was a decent show, but not a "WHAT A YEAR" kind of show you'd put on your "best of 98" list.

That said, Mediablasters is in dire shape. Their recent releases have had issues too. I got the Shamanic Princess DVD they released this summer and it was AWFUL. Looked like a VCD. I don't think it was the master either, because the trailers on the disc exhibit the same problems.

[Kriztoffer Swank]

Originally Posted by llj

Most people don't consider the TV sequel on the same level as the OVA. It was a decent show, but not a "WHAT A YEAR" kind of show you'd put on your "best of 98" list.

It is for me. Where the story and drama are concerned, I like the TV series more than the OVA. I just wish it could have also started from the very beginning and not midway through the original characters' adventure.

[llj]

Originally Posted by UseY0ur1llusi0n

Media Blasters has always been a broke company. Look the Kenshin TV box-sets they released. I swear the first 8 episodes on that Kenshin season 1 box-set have the worst bootleg quality I have ever seen. its almost as if Media Blasters took the transfer from a crappy vhs tape and dragged it through the mud. Yeah, it's that horrible. Luckily after episode 8 the animation and transfer quality increase drastically and same goes for the 2nd season box-set, So at least they didn't completely screw us over. Must've been on a tight schedule with a small budget. I know media blasters was a poor company back then but still...the way they released that felt cheap, half assed, and and completely rushed. Not so professional and the prices they were asking for them back then were outright theft. Those releases are long out of print, hopefully in the future the series gets rescue licensed and re-released with proper restoration on blu-ray! Along with the rest of their catalog titles left to die - Kite, Iria, etc.

Some of their stuff in the early 2000s were fine. I bought a couple of stuff from them and they looked good. Giant Robo was for the most part excellent, other than some artifacts here and there if you looked closely. Twelve Kingdoms had a very good release too.

[Thomas Guycott]

Originally Posted by UseY0ur1llusi0n

Along with the rest of their catalog titles left to die - Kite, Iria, etc.

Oh mother, I'd love a BD release of Iria - Zeiram the Animation. Such a 90s anime classic.

But who knows if that's even possible.

[KillerJuan77]

Originally Posted by llj

Some of their stuff in the early 2000s were fine. I bought a couple of stuff from them and they looked good. Giant Robo was for the most part excellent, other than some artifacts here and there if you looked closely. Twelve Kingdoms had a very good release too.

I don't have much experience on their anime releases (I do own their Invader Zim sets and Kite: Remastered but that's it) but their horror releases were pretty good (House On The Edge Of The Park, Ichi The Killer and many more look pretty damn good) but their horror Blu's are utterly abysmal.

[BigManDeath]

Originally Posted by Thomas Guycott

Oh mother, I'd love a BD release of Iria - Zeiram the Animation. Such a 90s anime classic.

But who knows if that's even possible.

The Japanese DVD release of Iria is gorgeous, so a better master does exist, so I would think a blu-ray release would be totally possible.

[ApocalypseKnight]

Just saw this thread and while it's old news it's not mentionned here.

This was posted on MB's facebook on October 30th in the comment section of their Comikaze Con post:

Media Blasters FB Page Now you know why the wait. We are hoping to do a release during the film release.

[Talyn]

Given J.S.'s propensity for exaggerating things and making up bs excuses for delays and cancellations.... I will believe it when I see it, not a moment before.

[Kentai]

Originally Posted by KillerJuan77

Wait a minute... Media Blasters is still alive?

Sure, if you can call being Media Blasters living.


Here's what was said in December of 2012 on the official Media Blasters Facebook page, for what it's worth:

- Question:What is happening with Kite on Bluray I preordered it and rightstuf says no longer in purchase?

- According to MB, the negatives were in terrible shape, so the release is cancelled...for now.

- [MB] Agreed....way too much work.

- What was the point of soliciting the release if you didn't even know the state of the masters?

- [MB] We were told from the producers that they had the film elements and were in good condition. After doing the transfer, they were wrong.


So first it's cancelled because the materials are crap... and now it's back on to cash in on that live action film nobody wanted? Fair enough, I guess.

Before anyone gets their hopes up, keep in mind their last "adult" anime Blu-ray release - LEGEND OF THE OVERFIEND - contains about 7 minutes of upscaled SD footage to fill in the gaps of their cut, beat-to-hell 35mm source. It was also in the wrong aspect ratio and was the least graphic cut of the material available... doesn't exactly bode well for KITE: UNCUT getting the HD treatment, does it.

Y'all know I trust John Sirabella as far as I could hammer throw him, but if we actually get a Blu-ray... f**k it, I'll buy it. Can't be any worse than the STORY OF RICKY or MACHINE GIRL BD they put out, can it?

[Radical Ed]

I wouldn't mind seeing a double feature disc with this and Mezzo Forte.

[Kriztoffer Swank]

I own plenty of Media Blasters DVDs and Blu-rays and can't think of any that don't look like garbage. Their Shriek Show line seems to be particularly problematic.

Well, there was Queen's Blade. That looks good, but I suppose it's hard to really muck up an already nice digital source.

I'd have considered the Legend of the Overfiend disc pretty good if it weren't for the SD upscaled footage that actually looks worse than the accompanying DVD. It's a ratty print, sure, but looks decent if only the presentation could have been consistent. They could have provided an option to view just the print-sourced footage.

But, hopefully Kite happens, offering multiple versions. I don't doubt it'll look like garbage, but it has to be better than existing copies, right? Hell, I bought Riki-Oh just because it's drastically better than the DVD that I've had all these years even though it is just an upscale.

[KillerJuan77]

Originally Posted by Kentai

Sure, if you can call being Media Blasters living.


Here's what was said in December of 2012 on the official Media Blasters Facebook page, for what it's worth:

- Question:What is happening with Kite on Bluray I preordered it and rightstuf says no longer in purchase?

- According to MB, the negatives were in terrible shape, so the release is cancelled...for now.

- [MB] Agreed....way too much work.

- What was the point of soliciting the release if you didn't even know the state of the masters?

- [MB] We were told from the producers that they had the film elements and were in good condition. After doing the transfer, they were wrong.


So first it's cancelled because the materials are crap... and now it's back on to cash in on that live action film nobody wanted? Fair enough, I guess.

Before anyone gets their hopes up, keep in mind their last "adult" anime Blu-ray release - LEGEND OF THE OVERFIEND - contains about 7 minutes of upscaled SD footage to fill in the gaps of their cut, beat-to-hell 35mm source. It was also in the wrong aspect ratio and was the least graphic cut of the material available... doesn't exactly bode well for KITE: UNCUT getting the HD treatment, does it.

Y'all know I trust John Sirabella as far as I could hammer throw him, but if we actually get a Blu-ray... f**k it, I'll buy it. Can't be any worse than the STORY OF RICKY or MACHINE GIRL BD they put out, can it?

So... could someone like Sentai Filmworks buy the rights from him? Lets face it, they've released Queen's Blade and the HOTD OVA so I'm pretty sure they could at least release Kite without the explicit sexual content that also includes violence.

I bought two Media Blasters Blu-Ray's, Tokyo Gore Police and Ichi The Killer and the both of them looked atrocious, even compared to my DVD's so the idea of John Sirabella releasing Kite on Blu-Ray makes me want to hurl.

BTW Is Urotsukidoji really that bad of a transfer? I remember watching a DVD copy of it a while ago and it looked OK, I guess? The animation (And the content) were a bit of a turn off for me but the print looked as crisp and sharp as it could. I'm probably going to buy a decent Blu (If they ever release one) of it just for the sake of trolling friends with it and to let them know an animator (Or character designer IIRC) from Gundam worked on it .

[Kentai]

Originally Posted by KillerJuan77

So... could someone like Sentai Filmworks buy the rights from him? Lets face it, they've released Queen's Blade and the HOTD OVA so I'm pretty sure they could at least release Kite without the explicit sexual content that also includes violence.

They could, assuming John Sirabella's in the mood to sell. Keep in mind that Sentai is an offshoot of what used to be ADV, and they released adult anime as recently as a few years ago under the "Happy Carrot" sub-label. No clue if they'd be willing to tackle the "lolita" footage in this, though... even MB themselves wouldn't touch it for several years.

That said, Kite is one of those titles Media Blasters has had for over 10 years now, and they even co-produced a (mess of a) sequel... call me crazy, but I think what remains of Media Blasters is just too fond of Umetsu's hard-boiled masterpiece to give it up.

BTW Is Urotsukidoji really that bad of a transfer? I remember watching a DVD copy of it a while ago and it looked OK, I guess?

The DVD was made from an analog tape master minted in 1989.

That said, I deal with archival masters on a daily basis. It's entirely possible that what you and I consider "OK" might be slightly different.

The MB Blu-ray appears to be a new scan of an English dubbed 35mm print shown in UK cinemas about 20 years ago. it's missing footage due to BBFC censorship, and also missing entire scenes due to heavy print damage; this was all replaced with the same master they used for the DVD, except cropped to 16:9 and with the contrast tweaked, hiding shadow detail. Keep in mind the majority of this footage was made for VHS release in the 4:3 standard; the fact that the Blu-ray is widescreen to begin with is a problem.