Kick-Heart is a Japanese animated short film produced by Production I.G. through crowd funding via Kickstarter, and created by Masaaki Yuasa, the creator of Mind Game. The film follows Romeo Maki, a professional wrestler going by the name of Maskman M as well as CEO of an orphanage where the roof leaks and a "python" has taken over the toilet. Working there is a novice nun, Sister Juliet who, unknown to Maki, moonlights as another wrestler - Lady S. The two meet in a $50,000 winner take all bout where they discover how well matched they truly are: he gets off on pain while she loves inflicting it. The North American premiere was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center during Anime Expo 2013, on July 5th. The short film is rated TV-14-SV.
The film premiered on Adult Swim's Toonami block on August 31, 2013, at 2:30 AM, as a special surprise after the premiere of Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance. The film also aired a second time that night, at 3:45 AM.[1] Kick-Heart also aired on Toonami on one other occasion: November 2, 2013, during the extra hour added by the end of Daylight Savings.
Synopsis[]
The short opens with Masked Man M taking on a humongous female wrestler in the ring. She traps him in between her breasts, but Masked Man M manages to escape. The giant wrestler tags in her partner Lady S, who kicks Masked Man M in the chest - a move he appears to greatly enjoy. This prompts him to accidentally tag in his partner Chicken, who tries and fails to attack Lady S. She proceeds to beat him while an envious Masked Man M watches, begging for Chicken to tag him in. Chicken succeeds, but at this point Lady S also tags in the giant wrestler, to his dismay. Masked Man M manages to beat the obese wrestler, which angers The Boss. He storms down to the dressing room to confront Masked Man M and Chicken, as Lady S was supposed to win the match. The Boss just barely misses the two as they flee the arena, with Masked Man M carrying a box of Lady S dolls he stole.
Masked Man M, whose real name is revealed to be Romeo Maki, manages to make it into a bathroom where he changes his clothes and drives to a vending machine that distributes pornography. He tries to purchase a BDSM themed magazine, only for the machine to loudly thank him for his purchase - alerting all of the people that live nearby. Romeo takes off with his magazine and arrives at the rundown orphanage he manages. The children happily greet him and Romeo is introduced to the new nun, Sister Juliet. The other staff members extol Sister's academic achievement in the field of psychology, while Romeo finds himself instantly attracted to her. Meanwhile, one of the other staff members, an elderly nun, brings in the dolls Romeo brought home... as well as the BDSM magazine. The children are then shown playing with the toys while one boy discovers the magazine. Sister Juliet quickly confiscates the magazine (which is wrapped in plastic) and hands it back to the little boy a few moments later. The elderly nun takes it from the boy, which panics Romeo. However Sister Juliet has swapped it out with a regular wrestling magazine that features Masked Man M on the cover.
Later that night Romeo receives a call from The Boss, who tells him that Lady S has specifically asked to fight him. The winner will receive $50,000 in prize money. Romeo agrees, and the next night, he eagerly goes out into the ring as Masked Man M. The two proceed to fight one another, much to Masked Man M's joy. The fight progresses until Lady S traps Masked Man M in a headlock, suffocating him while telling him "This is what you want, right?" She brings him to a near death experience while telling him that he should just remain in his fantasy world. However, the children from his orphanage are attending that night and beg Masked Man M not to give up, which spurs him to touch one of the wrestling ring ropes with his foot. This forces Lady S to release him from the headlock, but she then proceeds to continually beat him. Lady S overestimates the power in one of her jumps and ends up getting knocked out by the impact when Masked Man S moves out of the way at the last minute. He holds her down and almost wins, but, at the last minute, is signaled to throw the match, which he does. After the match Masked Man M's popularity takes off and Romeo returns to the orphanage where he realizes that Sister Juliet is Lady S, as she has used the money to fix the place up.
Characters[]
Voice Cast[]
| Character | English Voice Actor | Japanese Voice Actor |
|---|---|---|
| Masked Man M / Romeo | Neil R. Sumter | Tatsuhisa Suzuki |
| Lady S / Juliet | Natalie Hoover | Takako Honda |
| The Boss | Edwyn Tiong | Mitsuaki Kanuka |
| The Sister | Joanna Thornton | Makiko Nitta |
| The Father | — | Wataru Takagi |
| Parrot | Patrick M. Seymour | — |
| Devil Chicken | Stephen Weese | Shinobu Matsumoto |
| Vacuum Fat | — | Miyuki Sato |
| Announcer | — | Yoshihisa Kawahara |
Gallery[]
Toonami Broadcast History[]
- August 31, 2013 at 2:30 AM[1]
- August 31, 2013 at 3:45 AM[1]
- November 2, 2013 at 2:45 AM (Daylight Savings)
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "8-31 Schedule - One Night Only ". toonami.tumblr.com. August 27, 2013. http://toonami.tumblr.com/post/59470586892/8-31-schedule-one-night-only. Retrieved on September 28, 2014.
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