Gunnm

A great read! I think my favorite thing about Gunnm is Alita herself. She's incredibly well written, she's fun, and you want to root for her. Of all the comics and manga I've read, she's probably my favorite female protagonist, and definitely in my Top 5 overall.

Between all the action, there are some pretty good life lessons, such as growing up, your first heartbreak, trusting your parental figures, dealing with loss, and remembering that your value isn't tied to what you've won and lost.

I bought the Hardcover additions that Kondansha is currently running, so if you are looking to get into this series, buy them. The paper is high quality in a big book!

MOTORBALL IS THE NAME OF THE GAME! one of the best and essential thing´s that make´s the alita manga a cyberpunk Gem! the story , like the 2 ova´s starts great has an great number of chara, side chara with each an important, dark, filthy cyber backstory or past! With an animation thats fitting like hell and totally shows its true potential at the mecha design drawings wich made me melt , TOTALLY! as the story progresses further than the anime, with more about tiphares, the scrapyard that once was called earth, Alita´s past and the involvement with the cyberdoctors. Violence here is one thing that make´s this manga a damn must and as well the cyberpowers that some ppl develop, FOR MOTORBALL! and more.
years ago there was on internet an 3,5 min clip of alita in a motorball match in 3-d, soo damn excquisite and recommendable! we need a continuation!

Battle Angel Alita is the kind of manga that has a fan base that isn't necessarily huge, but seems to be incredibly avid about the book. This makes sense, as it is the kind of cult classic that isn't quite cult, but still remains classic. The book is an excellent sci-fi story with a very distinct art style and intriguing world. It is also one of the early stories that could be classified as cyberpunk.

The manga is about Alita, a cyborg who is discovered by Dr. Ido in the junkyard with no memory of her past. It follows her as she lives her life and discovers who she is, going from place to place and doing all sorts of incredible things. It is violent and often sexual, with sometimes unnecessarily exposed breasts as fan service rather than the panty shots of modern anime. Blood and gore splatters throughout, with eyeballs falling out of sockets and brains being eaten and kept in all sorts of places that brains don't belong. Though somewhat gratuitous, this all makes sense within the context of the story, which is set in a dystopian future in a place full of deranged and violent cyborgs known as the Scrapyard.

This is a book that is very much a product of the 90s. It looks and feels like most manga and anime to come out of that time does. The art is interesting because it is so stylized, while remaining true to anime form. The story itself starts out rather dull, but picks up pace as the series goes on leading to some high energy sequences and a satisfactory conclusion.

Although I enjoyed the book, it is not the kind of thing I feel needs to be read by everyone. I do not think I would be any less of a fan of the medium had I not read it, and after finishing, I did not find myself incredibly compelled to read the sequel/reboot (Battle Angel Alita: Last Order). This being said, it is a good read if you enjoy cyborgs and blood sprays, and I can see why so many people are so enraptured with this manga.

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Battle Angel Alita (or GUNNM) is a dystopia featuring Alita’s (or Gally, in some translations) journey as a moral, conscious being in the Scrapyard --a ruthless world that resides underneath the god-like Tiphares. What is right and wrong? And when is someone considered truly “human”? Battle Angel Alita delves into the realm of consciousness, morals, and staying true to yourself. As a manga, it's very, very good. Still, Battle Angel Alita is a far cry from a masterpiece.

The setting in Battle Angel Alita was one of the story’s most important features, keeping the reader engaged in it’s mysteries. Comparable to something like Nausicaa, it has a certain post-apocalyptic atmosphere. And along with it’s very picturesque, imaginative setting, it creates something that recent mangas seem to ignore nowadays. Though parts of the worlds may seem whimsical and airy, there is definitely something depressing. The setting itself (almost) never changes. Instead, in this static setting, Alita changes. The setting itself makes a perfect foil to Alita’s character; her change and growth, and her reactions in the environment. The two come together very neatly, and I must say, I am very impressed because it was as if she was actually living in that world.

I can’t say the same for Alita, however, or any of the characters.
The story dealt a lot about personal morals, and even though we did get to see some angst over Alita, we never actually saw any of her standpoints. I really can’t discuss this in further detail without spoiling a lot, but I can say that Alita doesn’t know the dividing line between friends and foes, the innocent and the criminal. Whenever something groundbreaking happens, her beliefs and ideals are completely thrown into another direction, making her a very clumsy, dynamic character (who unfortunately, isn't as complex as people like to think). Another thing: characters were introduced for the sole sake of the plot. If there was nothing propelling the story forward, then you could guarantee that a new character would appear, and coincidentally have ties with the main story. Those characters all fell flat, and there was absolutely no development on the original characters. The characters were a huge disappointment because a realistic setting and characters are the foundation for an excellent manga.

The narration throughout the manga was very fluid, keeping a certain level of intrigue and sub-plot mystery at the same time. I found that some parts were more boring and slow than others, and after an arc, nothing was really motivating me to start the next one. I could walk away from it for days, but it was easily picked up again, without any struggles. The story itself was a very captivating one, however, it did have it’s clique shounen moments (even though it’s a seinen) when a new villain would appear after every so chapters. There were some plot holes, but they were so insignificant it wouldn’t matter anyways. The ending was excellently done (no I won’t spoil), and it wrapped up everything nicely. It was probably the greatest part about this manga. There was this one, little thing I had a problem with it. Since Alita is practically immortal (still no spoilers, you learn that in chapter 1), you couldn’t see the effects of time. A few chapters may go by before you see a certain character again, their first remark is, “I haven’t seen you in ___ years!”. At the beginning, the mangaka does help the reader understand how much time has past, but later on she seems to neglect it, making some parts (and transitions between arcs) confusing. Other than that little thing that happened only a handful of times, it was an excellent story, and like I said before, it touches on topics such as what humanity really is, and the moral consciousness.

Honestly, I’m not going to even talk about the art. If you can’t get over early 90’s art (people have called it ugly before), then don’t read it. It’s artstyle visually enhances the setting and characters, and personally, I found it really fitting to the story. Sometimes it’s details/anatomy would be awkward, but it was perfect for Battle Angel Alita.

So all in all, it was a really great read, but it didn’t live up to the hype and expectations. It only had little problems, but the fact that it had so many of them was kind of disappointing. Not only that, but I felt it wasn't as mature as seinens go, and definitely not as mature as other reviews lead you to believe. Battle Angel Alita has a great premise that could’ve potentially been a 10, but it’s problems here and there took it to an 8.5. Though there are some characterization problems with Alita, her growth in the series was the most important thing. Battle Angel Alita is extremely interesting, and the way it presents it’s ideas in symbols sometimes are kinda neat to find. It deserves a 8.5. It wasn't a masterpiece, but it was very good.

★★★★★★★★☆☆

This review applies only for the first 6 chapters of the manga and it will not constitute the overall value of the manga and will instead focus on the aspects you might dislike, or like, in the first 6 chapters. If you happen to not consider anything as bad points or the good outweighing the bad, you should check the manga, because the manga itself wasn't the greatest pick for me but rather something I might've possibly liked on the whim of a friend, despite it being set in a world that isn't likely I would be the fan of. So I gave it a try.

What you might dislike about the story is the fact that it is set in a post-apocalyptic looking future with cyberpunk-ish elements. Personally, I am not a fan of any of these aspects so immediately going in I wasn't a big fan. Then the story of these 6 chapters start with Alita's unconcious head (she's a cyborg) being found by a doctor specialized in cyborg repairs and then the way Alita progresses through the story is gonna be through her remembering bits of her past and unlocking the potential of her new battlebody, which seems to be unknown. This gave the story a very shounen-ish feel, as she will have to unlock the potential of her body and mind in order to become more poweful. I dislike shounen in general and the post apocalyptic looking world didn't exactly draw me in, so if you also dislike these aspects, this will be a hard read for you.

The art of the manga is really good looking, as it does the look of a dirty futuristic world really well. Some mangas that draw this type of world make it look clustered and overly dirty, but Gunnm does it justice and doesn't flood it with any details it does not need and still manages to encapture that look really well. The fights so far in the 6 chapters looked really well and there's some gore-ish parts. Don't expect anything too over the top looking from the gore side so far, but it's still at a decent level. There's gonna be brains and lost limbs. That's basically what you should expect, it shouldn't be too extreme. I really liked the art myself, and I don't think I could find room to criticize on this matter. The only thing you might dislike here is the style of the world itself and the fact that it can be gore-ish. Those aspects were a plus for me, but they might be a negative for you.

The characters themselves are somewhat interesting, the doctor that saved her doesn't want her to see the fact that he enjoys his nighttime job and both see each other as someone really special, the doctor sees her as an innocent angel, while she wonders that if she is an angel what that makes him. It is an interesting dynamic, I'll give it that. There is another character that you might find interesting as a villain so far, but they didn't shine much light on me. Alita is basically has the overall personality of a cheerful innocent person that is gonna go bash the brains in of any monster and evil being she comes across, determined to do what's right, which is something that I find kinda generic. The relationship dynamic between her and the doctor is not something that drew me in too much and the villain that was there wasn't too interesting or didn't have enough time to become that, but they don't seem like the type of character I'd like. If you're not a fan of the kind of character Alita is you might dislike her, and seeing as she is the main character, that is a big factor. There's the possibility of change in her overall considering that she lost her memories, so maybe she will completely change after these 6 chapters, so you might gun for that if you want. The characters have some room and setup for good development, so there seems to be potential that they might grow. Even the villain that didn't really get me going had some interesting bits to themselves and a weird life which could draw in some people to want to find more about them.

So if you read what I've written so far you will have a pretty good idea of what you're getting yourself into. The reason I quit the manga is because I didn't find the characters interesting enough to continue and in the style of world that this is and the way it is built, there had to be a driving force to keep me invested in the manga. If none of the elements that I've presented can keep you invested and you found them as negatives, it's possible that you might end up not enjoying it either. However, if none or some of what of the things I said here aren't a problem or are elements you're actually looking for, by all means, you should check the manga and see how it is in its actual entirety, since there indeed is potential regardless of everything I said.

BBA was an amazing series from start to finish. I have truly enjoyed reading it and immersing myself into its fantastic world.

Story:

The story is excellent... I love the different themes that were constantly being presented, like what it is to live, moving on, doubt, love etc. and how the main character overcomes her problems.. The death race arc is my favourite one in the story .

Art:
The art is impressive... some of the best I seen recently. Love how every character was drawn with uniqueness and the action scenes were handle with professionalism with the panel space.

Characters: They were pretty impressive and easily relate-able although this is probably the weakest area with BBA. Some characters couldn't grow on me quickly and I felt that sometimes they were rush into developing..

but All and All I truly enjoyed the work so I will give it a 9/10

Let’s talk about a story about existentialism told with the help of our main heroine Alita/Gally. What’s the meaning of being alive? Everybody needs a reason to live and move on. A purpose in that world were the society is divided in two classes: The poor one living in the scrap yard and the ones with a social status living in Thypares . For those from the scrap yard Thypares is a place were many of them aim to go a manifestation of their dreams and hopes it’s like a oasis in a middle of a desert were travelers can rest after their journey.

The worldbuilding is fantastic in Gunnm. As the story progresses we found out more about the people from the scrap yard their lifestyle their hopes that they cling to them every day , the corruption and the ones who suffer from it and finally the environment they live their daily lives. What is another stunning factor is the care the author explained each element from that world into his manga panels who have a limited amount of space.
The manga is so detailed and every new element introduced is explained. For the art I must praise the author for its effort and talent. Every chapter is rich in content and the backgrounds of each panel are very detailed. The black -white contrast style is well balanced and the fights are well drawn making it easy for the reader to distinguish the small details. Nowadays manga uses to much black for the fights which ruins the quality.

The story is beautiful and emotional. Through each chapter our heroine Alita discovers through her experience and encounters the meaning of being alive. Each character gives a lesson about being alive for Alita and each experience is used for her further battles in the future. Some arcs may be boring but their slow pace has a purpose for the story later so don’t get fooled by that, everything has a meaning in Gunnm nothing is left untouched.

What I enjoyed and liked from this manga was Alita. She is one of the best girls from a work of fiction, because of her personality, her caring for everyone and helping them how she can despite her own circumstances. I love her ideals her thoughts her perception about the world her every word that she exchanged during her encounters and fights, from the bottom of my heart and she always will be my number one girl.

In conclusion the 53 chapters are just pure art. Yes pure art my friends in which the author poured all his soul and emotions. From each story there is a lesson to learn for its readers, a lesson about life and the meaning of being alive of leaving something to be remembered by others in this world which let’s be honest we all struggle to do that in our own society. FANTASTIC!

Gunnm is a cyberpunk visual novel with a cartoonist look. By that, I mean the unique character designs. But don't let it fools you, the author can really draw some mess up stuff.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and the adorable characters. But there're 3 problems I have with Gunnm

1. Death has no weight
Why? Because Alita casually killed villains and everybody is a cyborg. Firstly, Alita presents herself to be on the good side, even stopping Ido when she thinks he is doing something wrong. But when she and anybody she cared about life is in danger, Alia don't mind killing at all. This is due to her somewhat innocent outlook of the world and the twisted world where the things she does is the norm. But this created a double stander for me, why care about the life of Alita and whose she loved when everyone else life is treated as trash and disposable. Secondly, the fact that everybody is a cyborg takes away any weight of injuries. Alita again is a prime example of this, one of the first battles she took part in end up destroyed both Alita new body and her opponent body. And it's okay because as long as the brain remains intact, no one really cares about it. Not even the normal humans are safe from this because any injured body parts can be replaced by a mechanical one.

2. Alita's Panzer Kunst
Alita Panzer Kunst is a problem because the main way people gain power in the Scrapyard is by upgrading their body. But in every fight Alita won, she won because she knew martial arts and her opponent don't. And you'll soon realize any opponent that doesn't know martial arts or how to counter them is an auto loss.

3. The rusted ending
It's just silly how an amazing character like Den and the revelation about the true nature of Tiphares gets skim over for this ending. But luckily, Gunnm: Last Order undo the ending.

Finished a long time ago.

First read and completed all 9 Vol at 2005 or 06,

then watched the OVA, saw the movie on 2019 (its was good, could be better),

and it made me reread all 9 vol again.

I can't say I'm a mega fan, since I have not read The Last Order yet.
I know, it's a problem, I'll fix it.

I do consider Galley (Alita) my first Waifu.

And so far she has no competition with me, yet.

It's an 8 out of 10 on my list, and on my Favorites list.

If Kung Fu, Blade Masters, Gunslingers and Cyborgs in a Madmax setting tickles your tities, then put the pedal to the metal.

Nowadays, I seem to find that stories revolving around the nature of heroism, especially within anime, are rather stale. Stories about heroes, or what makes a hero a hero, are filled with protagonists who seem to be invincible, or rather, superficial in the sense that they contain no actual realism towards what makes them a hero. If you take your time to look closely and observe, you’ll find that conflicts within a majority of modern day stories are resolved with simple words of wisdom, or “power-ups” to defeat an obstacle blocking the hero from victory. This causes the heroes that we’re supposed to praise and care for to become uninteresting, cardboard characters that we can’t sympathize with, no matter how hard we try. However, if you look into the past, specifically within anime and manga, you will find that a plethora of stories centered on heroism are not only gripping, but they also contain heroes that are believable, flawed, and most of all, unique. One such story is that of Battle Angel Alita, a manga that perfectly grasps the nature of what heroism is, as well as the cost that comes with being a hero.

Within the category of sci-fi action stories, Battle Angel Alita is one of the very best. Written and illustrated by Yukito Kishiro, the story’s setting is the rundown and harsh, desert-like city known as The Scrapyard. This cesspool of a city contains the worst criminals that humanity has to offer, along with cybernetic freaks terrorizing citizens. The protagonist Alita is introduced to us by a caring doctor/engineer named Ido, who finds her body in a local dump within The Scrapyard. After getting her cybernetic body put back together by Ido, Alita almost immediately experiences the horrors of The Scrapyard’s criminal activity and decides to make it her mission to become a Hunter Warrior, a bounty hunter of sorts that acts as a police force within The Scrapyard. As Alita begins her journey to help the innocent people of The Scrapyard, she soon starts to realize that the job of a hero is filled with both tragedy and self-revelation.

What makes this manga have such an exceptionally well-written story is Alita herself. I don’t mean to exaggerate when I say that she is honestly one of the greatest fictional characters ever created within anime and manga. What makes her character so great is the fact that Yukito Kushiro wrote her to be a sort of “symbol” or representation of what it means to be human and the experiences that human beings go through in life (which is a bit ironic considering the fact that Alita herself is not fully human). Throughout the story, we follow Alita through many locales of an apocalypse filled with despair and fear for survival. And although she witnesses many horrifying events and experiences pain, both physically and emotionally, Alita keeps her image as a messiah among those who are weak and need salvation. Alita contains a sort of charm or spirit of a hero that rises up against evil.

Something that also makes Alita such a great character in the story is the element of her backstory and how she suffers from amnesia. Although Alita is constantly viewed as a girl with an immense amount of courage and willpower, she still contains one major weakness throughout the story, which is her past, which is a puzzle that she constantly tries to solve. Because of this obstacle of hers, many moments of the manga brilliantly portray Alita as a damaged and ultimately flawed individual. Her flawed behavior and individuality causes many undesirable outcomes to befall on the other characters of the story. When these events happen, we witness some of the manga’s very best writing, as it shows that Alita must learn from her mistakes and flaws in order to keep the ones that she loves close to her heart.

Not only is Alita a great character, but so are the many people that she comes across throughout the story, especially the villains she encounters. What makes these supporting characters so great is the fact, like Alita, they all contain some sort of aspect or characteristic that makes them feel human. Almost all of the characters within the story have regrets about their pasts, existential feelings of nihilism, love, and thoughts about their own meaning for existence. This allows the reader to not only connect with Alita, but the many others that she meets throughout her adventures, both good and bad. Sadly, there are some characters that are often forgetful throughout the story and stereotypical. However, that is only a minor flaw considering how many other great characters like Alita there are in the story.

Aside from the excellent writing, Battle Angel Alita also has some of the very best artwork that you can find in manga. Kushiro does a brilliant job of conveying the action that we see in the panels as very gritty, dirty, and emotionally resonate with the characters that are fighting one another. The artwork also allows for you to witness the action on an “epic” scale because of the sheer amount of destruction and chaos from environments that are illustrated. What I also found great about the artwork are the breathtaking illustrations of Alita and other characters’ facial expressions and movements, making you think as though the characters were truly real. Everything from technology, body language and postures, expressions, and action are drawn with superb technique from Kushiro.

Battle Angel Alita is a manga that deserves to be read by science fiction, action and drama fans alike. This manga contains some of the best character writing that you will ever find in a manga or any story for that matter. The artwork is outstanding and Yukito Kushiro does an awesome job at portraying the humanity of Alita and other characters. Alita herself is also the perfect representation of how a hero should be written in an action story. Reading this manga will make you feel as though you’ve seen one of the most exciting and explosive action films of all time, only that this is a manga. Battle Angel Alita is a must read for anyone looking for an exceptionally atmospheric action manga, with a protagonist that is not only badass, but is also realistically relatable.

(Side Note: 1st manga review!!)