Customer Reviews

Battle Angel Alita: Last Order, Vol. 7 - Guilty Angel

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Really, as a reviewer type person I should have reviewed all the Last Order books, not just 2 and 7. Be that as it may, I can now write a comprehensive review of the series till this point and its "major" plot thrusts.

The Last Order books have been filling in for the some-what rushed ending of Battle Angel book 9, a treasure though it was. Readers had yet to learn who Yoko really was, about her life on Mars, and the events of the past that led her to being dumped in the scrap pile. The short vision we did see had us believe Yoko was an a-moral terrorist type who fought for the wrong side in a war and was brought low by a totally unexplained ethereal enemy.

Now Yoko, aka Alita, is a fully formed character who lives, has emotions, as well as regrets and such. Although to this point Alita only see's Yoko in flashback, she now comes face to face with her past self as a actual personality. And she, in the seventh book, finally becomes one with her past. After 15 books(right? or is it 16?) that is a awesome plot evolution for long time readers.

This growth of Alita takes up the first section on the book and is well enlivened by a classic fight, the first between Alita and another Panzer Kunster. The rest of the book is taken up by the ZOT battles which, I found, to be equally well written and story progressive, even if not in the main plot. An underlying story of how even the best intentions lead to unintended results* is one which has present day resonance. In its second social attack, book seven not only illuminates the deadlieness of an innocent mind given too much power, it also highlights that creating something dark to defeat something dark still leaves you with something dark, whichever wins. All this boils down to a slow fight but a pleasant, if bloody, introspection. Well worth hitting the second half of the book for, critics aside.

As a personal note, I notice that many reviewers, whom I respect seeing as they obviously love these books enough to write about them, are dismissive of the sub plots in the Last Order books. That's fair, given these subplots have little to do with the original books and they keep these books from moving towards conclusion. However, I think Kishiro is smarter than he is being labled. The ZOT is laden with symbolizm and hidden meaning which seems lost on many. So while the main story only gets half the play, Kishiro's wonderfully cynical mind gets to speak out about what he really wants to say. And since these books are art, it seems only fair to cock our heads, look at it ascance, then make opinions based on the subject matter rather than the medium.

* By this I mean the squeaky clean image of the Stellar Nursery Society gets a shot in the kidney. All too often people stand for an ideal without truly weighing what their position leads to.

When volume 9 of Battle Angel Alita was made non-canon and Last Order was announced, the sequel promised to provide answers to questions such as the fate of Alita's creator, Ido, and new questions posed by the rewrite, such as the result of the Secret of Tiphares arc and the location of Alita's operator, Lou.

Instead, the plot of Last Order is advancing at a glacial pace and these answers are nowhere to be found. Ido and Lou, as well as the vast majority of characters introduced in Battle Angel Alita, have yet to be seen except in brief flashbacks. Plot reveals are scarce and those given, such as those of Alita's past, are somewhat trivial and unsatisfying as compared to discovering the fates of characters we've seen in the first series. If this series resolves everything it set out to, it will likely span *another* 9 volumes.

The last few volumes have not dealt with search and advancement, and have instead been dedicated to a tournament, seemingly little more than a plot device to introduce numerous unnecessary new characters; it is certainly telling that the end of recent volumes includes a "create-a-character" contest. Of course, Kishiro has done massive filler before with motorball, but a tournament is nowhere near as novel or interesting. Hell, I'm not sure how many old-school shonen animes *don't* have a tournament scene, which makes it seem all the more tired.

It would be unfair of me to claim outright that Kishiro does not know where he is going. Instead, I will state my opinion that he worked better when pressured into condensing an ending into a single, more satisfying volume 9 of the original series. His current work appears to be a case of too many plot ideas interacting and inhibiting the series's potential.

Despite my complaints, Kishiro's strengths are on full display in Volume 7. The ZOTT tournament allows beautiful full page fight scenes and great characterization of Alita and her clones, easily the most interesting of the newly introduced characters. The advancement of art and style can be easily seen when comparing this volume with Kishiro's initial work. The man can draw.

I will buy future volumes and wait for resolution, but I'm beginning to wish I just pretended that Battle Angel Alita volume 9 really did end the series. If you haven't read the original series, read it. However, consider waiting for this current series to be resolved before diving into it.

This is a great, fun BAALO. You get to see Yoko's (Alita's) past, and a whole lot of Sechs (who happens to be my favorite character)!

The art is great, very cool fights, and a good story to boot. This is actually my fav in the Last Order series.

Definately worth it!!!

PS, the only so-so part are the multiple "Diary of a Clown" parts.

I first got hook on Alita, from the anime short done years back. Since then I've been hook on the managa series and this no different. Once you read one you will be sure to want the rest of the series.

I thought this book almost merited a 5 rating. I was disappointed in the beginning volumes of the Last Order series but as it goes along, the volumes definitely improve and volume 7 will not disappoint.

I read Vol. 7 tonight and the first quarter clearly explain's Alita's past so that her story comes full circle. The rest of it, is sort of boring ZOTT stuff, mostly starring the new and improved Sechs. The ending is strange, and I can't really guess what will be in store for Vol. 8, but It'll be probably be better than this one, since Alita will be able to forge ahead, without her past weighing her down, and her decisions will impact the whole galaxy. She will inevitably meet up with Caerula & Trinidad again, since they have recently become important and powerful figures in the books. I give it 3 stars because Alita's past is uncovered which is a seminal moment in the entire series, but the rest of the book seems like it's just filler material (in other words, not much of what happened furthers the story too much; Alita's team is still in the ZOTT while she attempts to navigate Melchizedek.

Yukito keeps pleasing his reader's especially with this next entry into the Gunnm (or Battle Angel Alita)saga. Comparatively quite short to other recent books, volume seven still packs plenty of action and intellectual background that we all know and love Yukito Kishiro, as well as this series, for. Volume seven unveils many of the mysteries of Alita's past and is a definite must have for the collection. 5 out of 5 stars, as are all Alita graphic novels.

I have the entire original series (Battle Angel Alita). I have read it and enjoyed it enormously!
This 'Last Order' series is missing the soul that the original series had.
The characters are flat, caricatures of the originals just going through the motions.
Disappointing!