 Battle Angel Alita, or Gunmo, as it's originally known in Japan, broke into the scene back in 1990 by Yukito Kishiro. Starring the protagonist, Gary, or Alita, as she's known in the West, is one of the staples of Japanese cyberpunk stories, a visually striking character finding her lost memories in a post-apocalyptic future with cyborgs and questionable authority. This may surprise you, but this is my first time reading and talking about Battle Angel Alita in this channel. Growing up, I knew of cyberpunk. I love the genre, but for some reason I never found out about Alita. I knew of Ghost in a Shell, but Battle Angel just went completely undetected in my weeb radar. When James Cameron first announced that he wanted to adapt the story, I think that is when I first learned of Battle Angel Alita. The articles referenced the OVA from 1993 with a specific image that caught my interest, but I never sought the book afterwards. Fast forward to 2019 and doing live streams about manga and comics, friends and viewers of the channel kept mentioning Alita in the release of the Kuransha Heartcover set. I never picked them up because of space reasons, until they announced a smaller, updated Tankobon 6-volume set with the latest translations for the series. I definitely had to pick those up and chat about it here with you guys. What is the story about? Battle Angel Alita tells the story of an earth far into the future, a lawless settlement of scrap yard beneath the colossal space city Xelum. A disgraced cybernetics doctor, Daisuke Ito, makes a strange find, the detached head of a cyborg woman that has lost all her memories. Naming her Alita, he equips her with a powerful new body. Alita herself has no recollection of her past life, but now through her experiences with Ito and this new lease on life, she sets out to protect the innocent as a hunter killer, as well as looking for clues regarding her mysterious past. The world of Battle Angel boasts a pretty diverse cast of characters, from our fierce protagonist to a multi-layered list of antagonists that challenge different aspects of our main character, whether that be physically or mentally. This manga gives us a pretty neat view into their lives, highlighting the problems of modern society through the lens of a futuristic and post-abocalyptic story. So the people include the fatherly character of Daisuke Ito who finds and helps the amnesiac Alita, sheltering her and teaching her about the city, until her rebellious nature takes her out of that home and into the world at large. Makaku. Alita's first major villain, a degenerate beast that rose from the worst aspects of the city, literally raised in the gutters, escaping death and being transformed into the metallic ogre-ish creature that he is, fixated and challenging Alita out of spite and gratitude for finally having someone take notice of a beast like him. Zaban. A former hunter warrior frustrated by the humiliation he faced at Alita's hands, an anger turned into obsession after he targeted our lead character and her love interest. And then the mysterious Nova, a man driven by his quest to define good and evil through science and willing to put people's lives at stake just to get the next variable in his equation. However, it isn't all bad news. The scrapyard has good people, trying to survive and make the most of it. Characters like Gonzu, a former veterinarian that helps out Ito. Young Hugo, Alita's first love, with a troubled past, trying to escape to Zailam. The naive but wholesome Shumira, and the spunky Koyomi. All these characters have an impact on not just our lead character, but to us, the reader, as they help flesh out this world. The art. This might upset some people out there, but ear me out. I wasn't 100% on board when I first started reading the series, but Yukitokishiro's art grew on me quick. Certain character models and stylistic choices were a little rough, but very quickly found their footing. A book, graphic novel, or comic book is easily remembered for its main lead characters design, and Alita's is simple, yet effective. From her first time on page to the very last, she is an unmistakable force of nature, elegant in her slick body frame, but fierce and filled with rage as she unleashes her various fighting techniques. When Alita moves, you take notice. The paneling and the way Kishiro frames his action scenes are a lot of fun. They are kinetic and never feel dull or stagnant. In a battle manga like this, there's always something happening, and when a big fight occurs, it all feels smooth and easy to follow, allowing you to enjoy the high octane action, but also admiring the intricate details in these characters' bodies, and the way their anatomy has changed into something more advanced. Speaking of the mechanical, one of the best looking aspects for me is the way the scrapyard is constructed and displayed on paper. A thing of beauty, if you ask me. A chaotic but beautiful mess of a city, which contradicts its neighboring one up in the sky and how ominous and perfect it seems. This post-apocalyptic, futuristic earth has amazing vistas outside the cities, beautiful yet scarce. There's a sense of emptiness in them, as I am reminded of mankind's struggle to survive and group together. Just as diverse are the inhabitants of this world, so many fantastic designs, each random augmented civilian, every villain, bounty hunter, and rebellious anarchist, they all just ooze personality, from stylish outfits to all the crazy mechanical designs in the world of motorball. Each augmentation is a reflection of the nature of the scrapyard, and how they are at the mercy of the scrap heap that falls onto them from the city above. At its core, Battle Angel Alita is the story of one fierce woman's journey to reclaim what she's lost and make sense of the world around her, challenged by different people into what the true nature of living is. But it also advises us with the dangers of war, the misuse of technology, prejudice, classism, and the potential dystopian societies that may form in real life. This no doubt strengthened by the author's usage of worldbuilding, the scrapyard feeds and builds itself from the scrap that the high-admighty Xelum discards, creating a hodgepodge of a society of all walks of life down below. The somewhat moderately wealthy, the poor and the disenfranchised, all altered with cybernetics to shoulder the weight of living. I found it funny that at one point in the story, a terrorist group emerges, Barjack, with their goal of upsetting the status quo and knocking down the powers that be for the true liberation of Earth's people. While citizens inside the scrapyard feel the inequality and misery, they hide it through sporting events and an alarming rise in crime. Some might say it's a side effect of being oppressed. The people have been conditioned to mislabel these terrorists as bandits, not knowing their true intention. In order for us the readers to grasp the world at large, the author skillfully opens it up through Alita herself, learning with her and seeing her first love, betrayals rebellion, the thrill of motorball, and the true nature of a city in the sky that isn't as grand as the people are led to believe, hosting secrets far too dangerous to be revealed. On a more technical aspect for this manga, it is a fast-paced read for the most part. We aren't bombarded with too much dialogue concerning the world at large, instead focusing on the now as Alita ventures through the city and encounters different characters. The storymeats follow a steady pace of trading exposition for high-octane action and then settling down to understand what Alita is going through. The cycle then repeats itself on a grander scale as the plot continues to grow and more elements are introduced. Also, the technical jargon and aspects of this manga aren't too busy and you kind of understand what's happening without having needless explanations on the terminology and all the bells and whistles. I found myself understanding what was happening a hundred percent of the time. Now imagine my surprise when I get to the final chapter in the sixth and final volume only to discover the massive cliffhanger. I knew of the sequels, but I thought the first story would at least have somewhat of an ending and not literally forcing me now to hunt down more books. I guess a retrospective is an order or a full-length analysis at some point whenever I do get around to reading Last Order and catching up with Mars Chronicle as of this video. But for now, the story's on hold, waiting as I contemplate on what I've experienced. I really did enjoy Battle Angel Alita. I didn't know why it took me so long to get to the book, but I am very happy to do so. The art, like I mentioned, is fantastic. The story is great. It really does open up as you go along. I love the character interactions and I love Alita herself. She is a fantastic main character. I didn't want to spoil anything just in case. This is sort of a fancy first impressions video on the world of Alita, but I did like the themes of politics intertwined with war and cybernetics and just a character discovering more about herself. And one more thing that I want to tell you guys in this video, especially if you have some hesitance towards a popular franchise and you don't feel like going in and experiencing the weight of such a popular book for example, especially if you are into anime and manga, you know of Battle Angel Alita and its legacy and all that stuff. This may seem like the most simplest of videos and it actually took me a really long time to put together because I sort of psyched myself out of making this review discussion, I guess, on Alita. I kept shouldering the weight preconceived notions that people would not care for what I had to say when I am a new reader towards a property that debuted back in the early 90s. And that sort of mental block that weight grew into an anxiety of sorts and I put this video off for no real reason. At the end of the day I just wanted to give you guys my thoughts on Alita in a nice simple way and just express what I felt from the heart about the characters, the art, the overall story, a brief synopsis without spoiling anything. I do recommend wholeheartedly checking it out and I do recommend you guys read whatever the heck you want to read and ignore what people say online about things, whether they be good or bad and just go in and experience the story and have a lot of fun with it. I know I did and I'm looking forward to picking up the other volumes in this series and continuing the adventure. So eventually I will come back and do like I mentioned a retrospective or some sort of spoiler-ific in-depth review on The World of Alita and all that fun stuff. So thank you everybody for tuning in. Thank you for watching. I really, really, really do appreciate it. If you want to subscribe, please feel free to do so. I do content like this talking about all the manga that I read, going over all the halls and talking about all the anime that I watch as well. Thank you so much everybody. God bless. Stay safe out there. I will catch all of you on our next video.