Forum - View topicJason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - Battle Angel Alita
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tuxedocat
 Posts: 2183 |
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I'm with you. No longer reading until we get a plot again. I actually prefer the gecko ending compared with the Dragon Ball Z territory we are getting now. I just can't see Frank Miller spinning wheels in a tournament arc like this, no matter how much the art style is compared to Frank Miller. Frank Miller is a good storyteller as well, and would have moved the story forward by now (actually - a LONG time ago). I'm wondering if and when Kishiro finds another publisher, if the ZOTT arc may finally end. Who knows? Maybe it was the publisher and editor who was pushing this unending, generic, shounen-fest that is the ZOTT arc. ("ZOTT: Kai" anyone?) 
--in any case, Thanks to Jason for a very entertaining read! Your column makes me want to re-visit the original series. |
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Rolando_jose
 Posts: 240 Location: Ahhhh it's vacation time again! |
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In the spanish edition is volume 18. Also, correct me if Im wrong, but I seem to remember that Nova killed Gally in GUNNM, and the in Last Order he re-created her. |
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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It sounds like the Spanish edition kept the count going once the first series ended...? Anyway, he actually kills and then recreates Gally/Alita in both story lines, the original and the extended Last Order version. Last Order isn't a strict sequel; it branches off from the main story a few chapters before the ending of the first series. The parts original to the first ending was the spoiler[Space Flower, plus her reunion with Figure Four]. I actually like that happy ending, though the pacing is far too swift, especially with Desty Nova's sudden change of heart. He stays his Magnificent Bastard self longer and more consistently in Last Order. That said, Last Order has gone in the opposite direction of being too bloated and drawn out; get back to the plot already, we love the plot!!!! |
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ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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I haven't gotten around to reading the manga yet but I quite enjoyed the Battle Angel OVA. It's something of a hidden gem in my opinion.
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taster of pork
 Posts: 594 Location: My House |
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I've wanted to read the first Battle Angel Alita for a while, but I can't find it anywhere. Recently I watched the OAV and I thought it was alright. Guess I'll just have to settle for Last Order.
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14756 |
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Ah, it's such a long time ago since I finished Alita. I only recall some parts anymore. I even remember playing the PS1 Gunnm Martian Memory game.
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Generic #757858
 Posts: 1354 |
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QFTFT. IMHO, Last Order was great until volume 10 (spoiler[awesome twist!]), but after that the quality really took a dive. Jason might not accuse Kishiro of dragging things out, but I damn well would, because that's exactly what he does in the later volumes. For every interesting development with Alita and the story we have to endure tons of pointless fighting with Sechs and the karate guys. The final match of ZOTT is propably the worst example, made all the worse that thanks to current situation it might be years before it's actually finished! Also, fun fact: Panzer Kunst was originally just something that Kishiro came up with in the beginning of the series when his old editor proposed that the heroine should have some kind of finishing move. Originally Ido was supposed to save her from the mutant woman with his rocket hammer. |
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Hardgear
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Wow, Alita is my first manga as well, though I admit I read it MUCH later than most of y'all. I read it after watching the OVA a few years back and finding myself wanting more. I had been an anime fan for bout a decade before that, but I was never really into manga until then. That being said I still haven't read any of Last Order yet, though perhaps I should before they go out of print.
I still think that Alita would make a great 12-episode anime series, but unfortunately it is likely considered too old to be revisited these days. |
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Lord Geo
Posts: 2544 Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey |
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Age isn't as much of a detriment in Japan as it is in North America. We got another Hajime no Ippo anime 9 yers after the first anime, Ring ni Kakero 1 got a third season 4 years after the second season (not to mention that the manga wasn't even animated for 27 years after its debut), as well as many other examples of manga that debuted in the 70s, 80s, and 90s getting animated decades after their debuts. The real question to be asked is "Is there any money to be made out of another Battle Angel anime?" I will say, though, that a Battle Angel TV anime being made now would most-definitely be an otaku-aimed title that would air at a late-night slot and would probably never get more than just that afterwards. |
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Monumension
 Posts: 268 Location: Norway |
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Still one of my 3-4 favorite series, and I DO mean BAA + BAA:LO.
Last Order have gone somewhat downhill I agree, but 2010 nonetheless became a pretty $#%¤ year when Kishiro went on hiatus. I have been living with it for several years and things are not the same without it. And even if people say LO have gone shounen, Bleach just aint that much of a BAA-substitute! |
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ptolemy18
Manga Reviewer/Creator/Taster
Posts: 357 Location: San Francisco |
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Well, he *is* drawing it for a Jump magazine. -_- Your theory is very plausible... |
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DerekTheRed
 Posts: 3544 Location: ::Points to hand:: |
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It's also in TRSI's Christmas sale for 8 bucks, if anybody is interested. |
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ptolemy18
Manga Reviewer/Creator/Taster
Posts: 357 Location: San Francisco |
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At the risk of taking this discussion off-track into total guesswork territory, I'd say that the James Cameron adaptation of Alita is at least plausible. Cameron has actually at least *bothered* to mention Alita in his post-Avatar interviews, saying he still wants to do it, which means something. And Alita, with a hot female lead, science fiction, cyborgs, heroic-quest structure and a non-Japan-specific setting, would probably make a better American movie than most of the anime adaptations that have been talked about:
* Akira: Too Japanese * Star Blazers: Too Japanese * Evangelion: WAY too Japanese and way too depressing * Parasyte: Actually, this one would have made a good movie... Stu Levy has been talking about it for nearly 15 years though, and it still hasn't happened, so there must be something standing in the way. Then again, Dragon Ball also had action, heroism, no mother-son clone incest, and a non-Japan-specific-setting, and look how that turned out. Hollywood is a monstrous thing. It makes Weekly Shonen Jump look like a brilliantly underground, creator-friendly, anarchistic generator of new, uninhibited ideas. Last edited by ptolemy18 on Fri Dec 10, 2010 5:33 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Upstart
 Posts: 6 Location: Helsinki, Finland |
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I didn't much care for the grotesque, insanity and gore. There was just too much of them, I'd have preferred the manga to play it straighter.
However, I loved the character of Alita, who is the most multilayered female action hero since Ripley. A machine but sexy, caring but deadly, vulnerable but strong, made of metal but quick, innocent but mature. And the art was absolutely gorgeous. And there were Yes and Alan Parsons Project references. How could this be anything else but my favorite manga? I've never read Last Order, though. |
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trilaan
 Posts: 1054 Location: Texas |
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Someday I'll pick up the Battle Angel series. Afterall, where else am I going to find a manga with such major references to my favorite rock group of all time, Blue Öyster Cult.
If you didn't know, Desty Nova is named after the character of Desdinova from several songs by Blue Öyster Cult. Desdinova is also known as Imaginos, also the name of one of Alita's bodies. Zapan uses the Blue Öyster Cult symbol. That is just awesome to me. |
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