KITE (1998) blu ray - what happened?

[Talyn]

Another thing to keep in mind is that all licenses have an expiration date on them and a renewal cost to keep them. Previously they let Ah My Goddess, Queens Blade and Ikki Tousen just float away. I would not be surprised at all if someone acquired the license from MB as it neared it's end. I'm thinking Nozomi might pick those up....they have a hentai label and could get a good deal out of it.... If I was running an anime company in R1 land, I'd be looking at MB's titles and inquiring with the licensor when it's up and make interest known in acquiring it. John can't afford to keep half of what he's got to begin with and he can't really contribute to the industry any more. His excuses and stories change every other day depending on whether he feels like playing the fans or being an ass. I think he's forgotten why he got into releasing anime in the first place. Once they lost Voltron (WEP), from that point forward MB gave up... As much as I don't like Robert (Anime CornerStore) atleast he gives a sh*t and has real passion.

[llj]

Originally Posted by 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.

You should check out Shamanic Princess. It's only $10 in most places I've seen, and online deals might be out there. It is horrible and I have a high suspicion it's not just the source materials. I have heard the old CPM release was actually better, CPM's DVDs don't exactly hold up well today. The trailers on the Shamanic Princess disc even have the same video problems. Just a horrible encoding job.

[MOONPHASE]

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/112526..._introduction/

The first trailer for the live-action anime-based Kite film from director Ralph Ziman (Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema) began streaming on Friday. The trailer previews the film's action sequences after an introduction by film star Samuel L. Jackson.

Ziman took over directing duties for the film after the passing of director David R. Ellis. The film was in pre-production in Johannesburg when Ellis passed away.

The film stars lead actress India Eisley (The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Underworld: Awakening, Maleficent) and and Callan McAuliffe (I Am Number Four, New Director). The Deadline website describes the project as "a character-driven action film that charts the story of Sawa (Eisley), a young woman living in a failed state after the financial collapse, where a corrupt security force profits on the trafficking of young women. When Sawa's policeman father is killed, she vows to track the murderer down with the help of his ex-partner, Karl Aker (Jackson)."

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...trailer-posted

[K i r a]

I just ordered the Kite with T-SHirt bundle from RightStuf, so I will watch when it comes in, but I must say that as an outsider... this movie looks pretty bad. Most obvious in production, as the sound design sounds very cheap and like some "bought this camera at Best Buy on sale and using the mic on it" and looks almost like a made for YouTUbe movie-- Hell, even the Mortal Kombat webseries looks better polished.

[Tiberius]

How on earth did Samuel L. Jackson really get roped into this movie?

[KillerJuan77]

Originally Posted by K i r a

I just ordered the Kite with T-SHirt bundle from RightStuf, so I will watch when it comes in, but I must say that as an outsider... this movie looks pretty bad. Most obvious in production, as the sound design sounds very cheap and like some "bought this camera at Best Buy on sale and using the mic on it" and looks almost like a made for YouTUbe movie-- Hell, even the Mortal Kombat webseries looks better polished.

Jesus, I have to agree with you. I was expecting it to look decent to say the least. Instead it looks like Dredd combined with Ultraviolet.

Look, the original film isn't that visually stunning compared to Akira, Ghost In The Shell or most anime films from the era but at least ARMS (The studio that made it along with Elfen Lied, Maoyuu Maou Yuusha and... Ikki Tousen, Queen's Blade and Night Shift Nurses? What the hell?! ) made the animation as badass and fluid as possible so you'd think Hollywood would do the same. Oh how wrong I was.

Also, they used the theme for Syndicate (Made by Skrillex) in the trailer and I love that game so it's even more sad to watch that trailer. Just... why?!

Originally Posted by Tiberius

How on earth did Samuel L. Jackson really get roped into this movie?

[MOONPHASE]

Originally Posted by Tiberius

How on earth did Samuel L. Jackson really get roped into this movie?

He was also in Afro Samurai.

[Xenonas]

He also said that he is a big fan of Kite and read the graphic novel... Has there ever been one, because I can't find any info on that...

[Kentai]

Originally Posted by KillerJuan77

Jesus, I have to agree with you. I was expecting it to look decent to say the least. Instead it looks like Dredd combined with Ultraviolet.

I wish this looked half as good as DREDD... still, I guess I'd take this parkour filled dystopia over the '95 Fist of the North Star movie. Or that first Guyver flick. Or Devilma-- nope, not even going to remind myself that train wreck exists.

Look, the original film isn't that visually stunning compared to Akira, Ghost In The Shell or most anime films from the era but at least ARMS (The studio that made it along with Elfen Lied, Maoyuu Maou Yuusha and... Ikki Tousen, Queen's Blade and Night Shift Nurses? What the hell?! ) made the animation as badass and fluid as possible so you'd think Hollywood would do the same. Oh how wrong I was.

Arms was founded by Yasuomi Umetsu so that he and the multitude of animators he'd worked with in the past could produce "adult" projects, with one of the most prominent animators there being Rin-Sin, who was character designer and a lead animator on La Blue Girl and Twin Angels.

So yeah, the fact that Arms made the least offensive Night Shift Nurses spinoff isn't that big a shock.

Originally Posted by Xenonas

He also said that he is a big fan of Kite and read the graphic novel... Has there ever been one, because I can't find any info on that...

There is no Kite graphic novel. There was a Mezzo Danger Service Agency manga released 10 years ago (just an adaptation of the TV show), but that's about as close as it gets.

[Bobo1313]

Does the Kite Remaster DVD look any better then the original DVD release?

[Talyn]

Originally Posted by Bobo1313

Does the Kite Remaster DVD look any better then the original DVD release?

No. Take "Remastered" from Media Blasters with a bag of salt, not a grain, but a whole BAG! Don't get me started on the Berserk remaster. That's still a touchy subject for me....

[KillerJuan77]

Originally Posted by Talyn

No. Take "Remastered" from Media Blasters with a bag of salt, not a grain, but a whole BAG! Don't get me started on the Berserk remaster. That's still a touchy subject for me....

I have the remastered DVD. It's the cut version (No loli rape with explicit penetration for me ) but it looks fine I guess? I'd still prefer a Blu-Ray release but that'll do for the moment.

It's not unwatchable, like the first DVD of In The Realm Of The Senses which was censored, cropped to fullscreen and it felt like a VHS rip. Now that's horrendous.

[Kriztoffer Swank]

My only run-in with MB's "Remastered"-branded DVDs is Golden Boy, which really pales in comparison to Discotek's release. Both are from a cruddy analog video master, but at least Discotek color-corrected it and got rid of as much video noise as possible. MB came out with theirs in 2006 or '07 and it still looks like an ancient DVD from the late '90s with bad encoding and the lot.

[MOONPHASE]

The only Media Blasters remastered release I have is the 15th Anniversary of Magic Knight Rayearth: Season 1 boxset.

As for Golden Boy, mine is the ADV Films Essential Anime Collection DVD.

[Talyn]

Originally Posted by KillerJuan77

I have the remastered DVD. It's the cut version (No loli rape with explicit penetration for me ) but it looks fine I guess? I'd still prefer a Blu-Ray release but that'll do for the moment.

It's not unwatchable, like the first DVD of In The Realm Of The Senses which was censored, cropped to fullscreen and it felt like a VHS rip. Now that's horrendous.

Sure....it's watchable, there was no pq imrovement at all, but that's about as far as I go about that release.

I still have a few other MB releases (aside from Berserk and Kite (uncut) ) like Voltron, Gunparade March, Samurai Deeper Kyo and 12 Kingdoms....everything else got sold off.

[Cat III]

Originally Posted by Thomas Guycott

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

Iria has my vote too. Just started watching it this week. Haven't finished yet, but I'm already a fan. Blu-ray deserves more 80's and 90's anime. Truly a golden age.

Kite also has my interest. Usually I avoid anything censored, but this is one where there's strong opinion that the cut version loses nothing and may indeed be superior. Hmmmm.

[KillerJuan77]

Originally Posted by Cat III

Kite also has my interest. Usually I avoid anything censored, but this is one where there's strong opinion that the cut version loses nothing and may indeed be superior. Hmmmm.

KITE suffers from the same problems as 98% of the visual novels out there. Great story, gameplay and characters get thrown out of the window as soon as you mention the explicit near-pornographic ero scenes thrown in.

[K i r a]

Originally Posted by KillerJuan77

KITE suffers from the same problems as 98% of the visual novels out there. Great story, gameplay and characters get thrown out of the window as soon as you mention the explicit near-pornographic ero scenes thrown in.

Anime movies have gameplay? Will my 360 pad work with it?

[Show spoiler]

[KillerJuan77]

Originally Posted by K i r a

Anime movies have gameplay? Will my 360 pad work with it?

[Show spoiler]

In the sense that it's clear the sex was added for commercial purposes. Most VN's suffer from that problem and Kite suffers from the same problem, only in anime form.

[Bubblegum2032]

Both Kite & Kite Liberator have a new release date of 11/25/14 to seemingly coincide with the live-action film:
http://i.imgur.com/gIuli3d.jpg

Kite's runtime is listed as 50 mins, so that would indicate this will be the uncut version does it not?