Battle Angel Alita vol 1-3

Writer/Artist: Yukito Kishiro

Publisher: Viz, $9.95 for the new editions, $15.95-$16.95 for the old editions with a larger trim size

I haven’t been reading as much manga as I used to, so I felt like brushing up on a few favorite series of mine starting with Battle Angle Alita. I also wanted to catch up with Alita because of the fact that James Cameron has had his name attached to the adaptation for something like a decade now. The trick is, the technology necessary to translate the world of Alita just hasn’t been up to the task until now. With the advances in special effects developed for Avatar, Cameron now has the capabilities to bring the world created by Yukito Kishiro to life.

The story focuses on Alita, a cyborg whose remains were found and restored by a doctor named Ido. With no memories of her previous life, Alita discovers she can tap into a rare martial arts ability called the Panzer Kunst and is virtual unmatched in her fighting ability. Alita becomes a Hunter-Warrior, a sort of bounty hunter employed by the local factories since there is no police force in the Scrapyard. As the entire series progresses, the focus tends to be on Alita discovering more about her past while at the same time she develops a new and always developing personality. The entire series as a whole is an interesting journey that utilizes the large supporting cast Alita meets to help develop a number of themes focusing on fate, destiny, willpower, love, and the struggle that makes life worthwhile. Also, there is lots and lots and lots of violence. Lots and lots. Oh what fantastic violence.

The first volume establishes the basic world and main characters, with the main antagonist being a serial killer that eats brains named Makaku. While the series usually does have a sort of ‘villain-of-the-week’ feel to it per volume, the great thing is that each villain is used to a great extent to further Alita’s development as a mature and strong character. Alita herself usually ends up identifying with her enemies and developing some sort of bond, be it just through compassion or just learning to take strength from their encounters. The great thing about Yukito Kishiro’s writing is that he usually takes the time to develop some interesting back story to each antagonist so as to enrich the encounters they have with Alita and to make them more than just plot devices. Makaku is also a great example of some of the insane designs and characters you’ll see throughout the series. Some of these characters you only get for a single volume, and yet the overall development of their character and design make them incredibly memorable. These are the designs that make the series incredibly challenging to adapt into any sort of live action series, and after reading even just this first volume it becomes obvious James Cameron has waited so long before taking any major steps towards adapting this. Although after seeing the final battles in Avatar, you can see we aren’t too far away from seeing this series translated onto screen.

Volume two focuses on Alita’s relationship with a young boy named Hugo. Hugo is obsessed with the city in the sky Tiphares that floats over the Scrapyard, making it his life dream to finally make his way to the perceived utopia. Alita must deal her feelings for Hugo while at the same time defending him against other Hunter-Killers. This volume sets an interesting tone for the rest of the series, showcasing the creators willingness to do some horrible things to the characters and allowing these changes to completely alter the tone and direction of the series. These drastic tones are very intriguing however since they all go a long way towards developing Alita and exposing her to a great many number of ethical and moral challenges.

Volume three is a great example of such a tone change, as the story jumps a month and Alita has completely abandoned her old life in an attempt to distance herself from her pain. Alita chooses to become a challenger in Motorbal, a deadly combat racing game where losers often don’t survive. Loosing herself in the challenge and glory of the game, Alita makes her way through the ranks to challenge the star of the top league, Jashugan, a fighter whose legendary abilities might make him Alita’s final match.

A lot of the draw to this series is the very kinetic and action orientated art style. Kishiro creates a very fast paced atmosphere and invents a number of visually stunning fighting styles. The combination of character design and fluid action create some very stunning visuals, and the overall feeling of the series is very unique and satisfying. As you progress through the series, you’ll just get the feeling that the creator is a mixture of bat-shit insane and incredibly brilliant.

After reading this series again, I really can’t recommend it enough. If you like stunning art, inventive stories and concepts, and a very strong lead female character who develops and matures as you progress through the series then you really need to check this out. I’ll continue with reviews of the later volumes down the road here.

If you like this then try: Ashen Victor, Aqua Knight

Related Links: Battle Angel Alita Info