Kids Return (1996)
1996 film by Takeshi Kitano
- Released
- 1996
- Country
- Japan
- Language
- Japanese
- Genre
- Boxing film
- Director
- Takeshi Kitano
- Screenplay
- Takeshi Kitano
- Producer
- Masayuki Mori
- Music
- Joe Hisaishi
- Cinematography
- Katsumi Yanagishima
- Editing
- Takeshi Kitano
- Starring
- Masanobu Andō, Ryo Ishibashi, Susumu Terajima, Yūko Daike, Kanji Tsuda, Ren Ōsugi, Takashi Hagino
- Running time
- 107 minutes
- Distributor
- Netflix
Kids Return (Japanese: キッズ・リターン, Hepburn: Kizzu Ritān) is a 1996 Japanese film written, edited and directed by Takeshi Kitano. The film was made directly after Kitano recovered from a motorcycle wreck that left one side of his body paralyzed. After undergoing extensive surgery and physical therapy, he quickly went about making Kids Return amidst speculation that he might never be able to work again. The movie is about two high school dropouts, Masaru (Ken Kaneko) and Shinji (Masanobu Andō), who try to find a direction and meaning in their lives—one by becoming a yakuza lieutenant, the other by becoming a boxer.
The music was composed by Joe Hisaishi, and the cinematographer was Katsumi Yanagishima.
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q670964 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.