Customer Reviews

Battle Angel Alita, Vol. 1: Rusty Angel

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There are several manga series that enjoy popularity in the US, but have never completely broken through to best-seller status here. We seem to be too much influenced by the availability of a corresponding anime film or series. With manga like 'Battle Angel Alita,' this is a particular shame since I think the comic would make a perfect transition to automation. Yukito Kishiro's art is graphic and finely detailed, there is a tremendous amount of action, with plots that are full of unique twists.

The story opens with Ido Daisake, part time hunter-warrior, part time humble repairman, pawing through piles of technological super junk for robot parts. Unexpectedly, he finds the head and torso of an attractive cyborg and sets out to rebuild her. After some work collecting what he needs, Alita (named for his dead cat) is up, about, and in trouble. Alita, it turns out, has surprising battle skills, and sets out to become a hunter-warrior herself. The second half of the manga tells the story of Alita's first major conflict - with Makaku, another cyborg who is all head and tail (except when he is 'borrowing' what parts he pleases).

All of this takes place in the ground level (and sewer) of a Bladerunner-esque under-city called the Scrap Yard. It is the industrial plant and trash can for Tiphares, the upscale city in the clouds where jury-built cyborgs never get to go. Most residents are at least partly artificial and many are like Alita, a brain and central nervous system inside a mechanical contrivance. Despite all this dehumanization, Alita manages to be more than a machine operator. Somehow, her ethics and humanity have survived the fall to make this series much more than a choreographed hack and disassemble story. This is a manga with exceptional artistic and narrative values.

From the moment I picked this up, to the end, I was totally enthralled. This is definetly #2 on my list of Good Manga, #1 being the Nausicaa series. This manga tells the story of Alita, a 300 year old cyborg, and the man who "raised" her, Ido. Ido is a bounty hunter, and Alita decides to follow Ido, and registers as a hunter. This volume tells of Alita's bouts with Makaku, a horrid brain-eating monster. YOU MUST READ THIS! The art was incredible, and the story engrossing, and amazingly emotional. This is a definite must-read.

This manga was one of the few series that were able to cut to the core of me. The world our main character Gally lives in is a cold and dangerous place where anyone you care for could die at anytime. Fighting loneliness and fear she struggles to find meaning in her life. I think anybody that reads this book will understand what it feels to live in a bleak world full of terrible things that you just can't understand. We've all been there...where the world seems to loom over you and you just want to give up. Gally is an android but just as human as you and me. At times she wants to give up...but she will inspire her readers by getting up once again to face the dark world she lives in. The art is a bit grimy and messier than the newer mangas, but it fits the atmosphere of the story perfectly. You can even see it improving with each volume. This is the best manga I have read to date. And I highly recommend it to anyone that is willing to look at the world in a honest light.

After reading the first book in the Battle Angel Alita series all I can say is WOW! From the moment it starts you are drawn into the futuristic trash heap of a city known as the Scrap Yard. It is located under the floating city of Tiphares, and is an opposite of the gleaming, floating structure, full of brothels and endorphine junkies (you'll find out about that later on in the series), where there is no police force and crime is enforced by bounties placed on criminals. The book opens as Dr. Ido, a loveable scientist with a dark side, stumbles upon the remains of a cyborg while digging through trash for parts. She remembers nothing of her past, so he takes her under his wing, naming her Alita.
There's not many bad things to be said about this book. It draws you into to its futuristic yet strangely realistic world with its dark, grungy atmosphere and keeps you convinced in its realism with characters that are so well developed you'll be questioning who are the real heroes and villains. It does rely a lot on the battle scenes(pointed out by the title and by the fact that the chapters are called battles) which leads me to think that anime might be the better medium for this story, and it also is extremely gory, featuring decapitation, blood, and sadistic villains. These drawbacks aside, Battle Angel Alita is one of the best manga i've read and I would strongly recommend going out and buying it.

"Life itself remains undefined to me. Whether its ugly, or beautiful, a sin or a great gift to cherish-- I don't know. But I'll find out! I need a sense of purpose; being a bounty hunter lets me search for myself through battle. The money you speak of is meaningless to me! I walk in faith. The faith that we choose who we want to be...... and grow into that identity, ugly or beautiful!"

The previous was a ingenius quote from Yukito Kishiro's futuristic masterpiece, "Battle Angel Alita", also called Gunnm (gun dreams), which is aruably one of the greatest manga's of all time. Not only is the art exquisite, but the characters are incredable, and the manga is truly exceptional enough in itself that it can be deemed the greatest manga ever. The plot is also of literary quality.

"Battle Angel Alita" tells the dark tale of Alita (her name was changed to Gally for the anime for pronoucetional reasons). One day, Dr. Daisuke Ido finds the remnants of a young cyborg girl in a scrap heap, with her brain still intact. A find such as this is a true gem, like buried treasure, and so Ido takes her to his home and repairs her. Like a father, Ido loves his "daughter" more than he loves himself. Ido is fascinated with Alita.

Unfortunatly, Alita has amnesia, and cannot recall anything about her previous life. Being fairly low on money, Alita is suspicious of Ido and how he has aquired enough money to buy her an expensive body. One night, Alita follows him while he goes to his "work" and sees him fighting a fugitive mutant. Alita is forced into battle, and somehow is able to pull of the powerful "Panzer Kurst" fighting technique, used by formitable humaniods, also called "Armored Arts". Alita's supprising skill in combat leads to the gruesome death of the mutant.

After the battle, Alita begins her mysterious past. How could she, a inexperenced cyborg, use the lengendary "Panzer Kurst", a tenchnique that only the strongest of cyborgs know? Alita makes the difficult descion to become a bounty hunter, like Ido. Alita runs away home and registers for the job, against Ido's will. And so the young angels journey into self-discovery begins.

Yukito Kishiro's story telling is brilliant and beautiful. Without hesitation, I would label it masterful. The plot for this is of epic quality, unlike anything your ever going to discover in a fantasy novel. Tiphares is often portrayed as utopia, the ultimate solution for the poor surface dwellers, a sort of heaven on earth. It floats in the sky, almost mocking the poor, as the very high in class dwell in Tiphares. The condition for the Scrap City is, unfortunatly, horric and horrendous. Man eating cyborgs stak the streets, consuming human flesh.

Each character in this drama is incredibly deep, and not as they seem at first. Alita's first criminal to go after is the malicous Makaku. Makuku is easily, estimated, ten times bigger than Alita. Makuku steals and then consumes human brains. Sounds pretty evil, huh? At first, you will hate him. But after reading the final chapter, you will understand his pain. When people choose a baddie from now on, they should model it after Makuku. He has an amazing amount of depth and sensitivity. Even Ido, who serves as the father figure in Alita's life, is far from perfect. "I kill for the rush, this moment was ecstasy", Ido remarks as he skillfully slides behind a wanted criminal and smashes his mallet-esqe weapon against the criminals head.

Also excellent is the artwork. Every panel is exquistetly drawn. I've read many manga's, and this is some of the most lavish artwork I've ever seen.

For me, however, the greatest aspect of the manga its sentimental value. Dispite its often unbearable, belevolent violence portrayed in this manga, it is still very rewarding. Even in translation, it remains so emotionaly powerful and majestic that one cannot finish the book without a tear in their eye. The following is a except from a quote made by Alita, but my poor words cannot fully capture the raw emotional value this manga offers.

"I don't know if it's a sin or something to be proud of, if it is hatred or saddness, but I am moved by tears, something I can't exactly explain..."

It is rare to find such a touching presence in a novel of any sort; those not particulary familar with Manga with be pleasantly suprised.

"Battle Angel Alita" is truly majestic. After finishing this wonderful manga, you will feel strangely refreshed, like you have just woken up from some beautiful dream.I give this manga my highest recommendation.

Alright, this is the first of nine books with the femme fatale cyber babe Alita, also known as Battle Angel Alita. It all starts with doctor Ido finding the smashed to pieces cyber body of Alita on a mountain of garbage. He fixes her up, and she awakens. But she remembers nothing. Ido introduces her in the profession of bounty hunting. And she proves to have a talent for it. This is a pretty gory story. Lots of blood. But most of the time the violence isn't performed in the usual hollywood nihilistic fashion "no questions asked: da bad guy is dead". The villains are often portrayed in some sort of humanistic perspective. And the main character is very lovable, developing throughout the series. And she doesn't stay a bounty hunter for the whole time. The books are intriguing and after you've finished the last one, you can hardly wait to start all over again to see how it all could end like that. If you like cyberpunk, action and Manga, this is probably in your taste. The fifth star is lost because of sometimes exagerated violence and some too wierd cybervillains. But its very good.

Viz has just come out with a new, cheaper ($9.95) edition of the book. Click the "All Editions" link to go to it.

Well, for fans of Ghost in the Shell, there is another beautiful cyborg toughgirl and her name is Battle Angel Alita. Below the floating city of Tiphares, where the elite live, lies the Scrap Yard. It is composed of a massive junk heap of robot parts and other castoff machinery and a city serving as a junk heap of humanity. There is no longer a police force patrolling the streets so law enforcement, or more correctly, the killing of criminals is done by bounty hunters out to make a buck.

Daisuke, a robot scientist, is sifting through the scrapyard and comes across the battered head of a cyborg with its braincase still functional. He gradually rebuilds her body but her mind has been wiped clean of memory. So he gives her the name Alita to give her an identity she can call her own. During an encounter with a rogue mutant, Alita instinctively displays fighting skills only found in the top warrior cyborgs.

Failing to have any other role model than Daisuke, who moonlights as a bounty hunter, Alita too wishes to hunt criminals. Even though Daisuke forbids it, Alita chooses to do it because she wants to prove she has her own freewill. Plus, she feels as though she were made for the job. She will have her first great challenge in the form of the hulking, brain-eating, and insane Makaku, a cross between the Hulk and Satan.

Yes, Battle Angel Alita is beautifully drawn and has lots of action. But it has deep underlying themes under its skin. Alita has a lot of sass and does the things she does to show that she has freedom. She fights to have a purpose. She says that being a bounty hunter lets her search for her identity through battle. I doubt that in the end this method of inquiry will yield anything. At least she's making choices, be they wrong or right. Kishiro does a good Shakespearean twist by making all of the characters complex and never really judging them for good or evil. Even Makaku has some sympathetic traits even if he is a murdering monster. This is not to say that the action isn't handled well. In fact, Kishiro draws the most coherent action sequences that I've ever seen in a manga. I highly recommend Battle Angel Alita to mature readers and those readers who like a little brains with their brawn.

Battle Angel Alita is a breathtaking story. I've read nearly all of the series, and I can say for sure that it is a fascinating tale. A medley of hard sci-fi, philosphical ponderings, cut-throat action, inscrutable characters, and astounding artwork, it has something for everyone. The drawing style is detailed, dark, and gorgeous, and perfectly suits the nature of the very powerful, very confused, very mysterious (and very beautiful) Alita.

Battle Angel Alita is one of the best manga I've ever read. Plot, character, action, and art are all sharp. Strong characters and their development are the pillars of the story. In between are instances of dark humor, bizarre science and history references, and the epic struggle of ideas. The series is comprised of nine graphic novels about a woman's epic search for herself and the underpinnings of life, despite, and inspite of, the dystopia she's stuck in.
The first volume is an introduction to the story as a whole, the series write large, and one of the best. In a decaying city a cyberdoctor revives an amnesiac cyborg, "Alita," who remembers only the "Panzer Kunst," a martial art for cyborgs. Deciding that fighting is the best way to regain her memory, she becomes a bounty hunter, squaring off against the brain-eating criminal Makaku.
The three-dimensional characters constantly vie against themselves and each other in the fantastically violent Scrapyard, a life-is-cheap world that drags everyone down, forcing the strong characters to struggle constantly. Above it all is Tiphares, the utopian heaven in the clouds that is a mystery and a destination. Alita represents self-discovery and growth fueled by righteousness and power. Her father-figure, Ido, is conflicted in his role, trying to reconcile his hopes for her with her own free will while dealing with the dark side of his personality. Best of all, Makaku and later evil-doers are complex characters who work evil for more than just nihilism. Here, Makaku represents terror and domination, but with a purpose. His fight with Alita has a touching scene where Alita stops herself from killing him and later realizes that she wants to know what drives him, and eventually feels pity despite his horrible crimes.
Dystopia and giving a powerful character amnesia has been done before, but nowhere have they been done so well, or with such awesome art. Though the story has some inaccuracies in translation (the series is originally titled "Gun Dreams," Alita's real name is Gally, and Tiphares is actually "Zalem," which makes much more sense in the context of the story later), these are minor points that can be cleared up with some Web research. In the meantime, enjoy this post-apocalyptic Odyssey.