| Battle Angel Alita | |
 First volume cover | |
| 銃夢 (Ganmu) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Yukito Kishiro |
| Published by | Shueisha |
| English publisher |
|
| Magazine | Business Jump |
| Original run | 1990 –1995 |
| Volumes | 9(List of volumes) |
| Original video animation | |
| Spin-offs and sequels | |
| Video game | |
| Live-action film | |
 Anime and manga portal | |
Battle Angel Alita, known in Japan asGunnm (銃夢,Ganmu;lit. 'gun dream'),[a] is aJapanese cyberpunkmanga series created byYukito Kishiro and originally published inShueisha'sBusiness Jump magazine from 1990 to 1995. The second of the comic's nine volumes were adapted in 1993 into a two-partanimeoriginal video animation titledBattle Angel for North American release byADV Films and the UK and Australian release byManga Entertainment. Manga Entertainment also handled English dubbing duties forBattle Angel Alita. Alive-action film adaptation released by20th Century Fox, titledAlita: Battle Angel, premiered on February 14, 2019.
The series is set in thepost-apocalyptic future and focuses onAlita ("Gally" in the Japanese version, and several other countries), a femalecyborg who has lost all memories and is found in a junkyard by a cybernetics doctor who rebuilds and takes care of her. She discovers that there is one thing she remembers, the legendary cyborgmartial art Panzer Kunst, which leads to her becoming a Hunter Warrior, orbounty hunter. The story traces Alita's attempts to rediscover her past and the characters whose lives she impacts on her journey. The manga series continued withBattle Angel Alita: Last Order andBattle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle.
Battle Angel Alita tells the story ofAlita, anamnesiac femalecyborg. Her intact head and chest, insuspended animation, are found by cyber medic expert Daisuke Ido in the local garbage dump. Ido manages to revive her, and finding she has lost her memory, names her Alita after his recently deceased cat. The rebuilt Alita soon discovers that she instinctively remembers the legendary martial art, Panzer Kunst, although she does not recall anything else. Alita uses her Panzer Kunst to first become abounty hunter, killing cyborg criminals in the Scrapyard, and then as a star player in the brutalgladiator sport of Motorball. While in combat, Alita awakens memories of her earlier life on Mars. She becomes involved with the floating city of Zalem (Tiphares in some older translations) as one of their agents and is sent to hunt down criminals. Foremost is the mad genius Desty Nova, who has a complex, ever-changing relationship with Alita.[5]
The futuristicdystopian world ofBattle Angel Alita revolves around the city of Scrapyard (Kuzutetsu in the Japanese and various other versions), which has grown up around a massive scrap heap that rains down from Zalem. Ground dwellers have no access to Zalem and are forced to make a living in the sprawl below. Many are heavily modified by cybernetics to better cope with their hard life.
Zalem exploits the Scrapyard and surrounding farms, paying bounty hunters (called Hunter-Warriors) to hunt criminals and arranging violent sports to keep the population entertained. Massive tubes connect the Scrapyard to Zalem, and the city uses robots for carrying out errands and providing security on the ground. Occasionally, Zalemites (such as Daisuke Ido and Desty Nova) are exiled and sent to the ground. Aside from the robots and exiles, there is little contact between the two cities.
The story takes place in the former United States. According to a map, printed in the eighth volume, Scrapyard/Zalem is nearKansas City, Missouri, and the Necropolis isColorado Springs, Colorado. Radio KAOS is atDallas, Texas. Figure's coastal hometown isAlhambra, California. Desty Nova's Granite Inn is built out of a military base—NORAD atCheyenne Mountain Complex,Colorado.[6]
Battle Angel Alita is eventually revealed to take place in the 26th century. The sequelBattle Angel Alita: Last Order introduces acalendar era called "EraSputnik" which has anepoch of AD 1957. The originalBattle Angel Alita series begins in ES 577 (AD 2533) and ends in ES 590 (AD 2546),Battle Angel Alita: Last Order is mostly set roughly in ES 591 (AD 2547), andBattle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle alternates between ES 373–374 (AD 2329–2330) and ES 594 (AD 2550).
Battle Angel Alita features a diverse cast of characters, many of whom shift in and out of focus as the story progresses. Some are never to be seen again following the conclusion of a story arc, while others make recurring appearances. The one character who remains a constant throughout isAlita, theprotagonist and title character, a young cyborg with amnesia struggling to uncover her forgotten past through the only thing she remembers from it: by fighting. Early on in the story,Daisuke Ido, abounty-hunting cybernetic doctor who finds and revives Alita, plays a major role as well, but midway the focus begins to increasingly shift toDesty Nova, an eccentricnanotechnology scientist who has fled from Zalem. Desty Nova is the mastermind behind many of the enemies and trials that Alita faces, but does not make an actual appearance until more than two years into the story, although he is alluded to early on. Finally,Kaos, Desty Nova's son, a frail and troubled radio DJ withpsychometric powers, also begins to play a crucial role after he comes in contact with Alita. He broadcasts his popular radio show from the wastelands outside the Scrapyard, staying away from the increasing conflict between Zalem and the rebel armyBarjack.
Alita was originally a female cyborg police officer named Gally in an unpublished comic calledRainmaker.[7] Publishers atShueisha liked her and asked Kishiro to make a new story with her as the main character. After he had come up with the plot for a storyline he was commissioned to make it a long-running series.[8]
Besides renamingGally toAlita, older North American versions of the manga also changed the city ofZalem (from Biblical Hebrew שָׁלֵםšālēm, "peace") toTiphares (afterTiferet). Since Kishiro also used the nameJeru (afterJerusalem) for the facility atopZalem,Jeru was renamedKetheres in the translation (afterKeter). More recent versions reverted the cities' names back to Zalem and Jeru. To further develop theBiblical theme in the original series,Zalem's main computer was namedMelchizedek, "the king of Salem" and "priest to the Most High God".[9]
The manga was first published inShueisha'sBusiness Jump magazine. It was then serialized from 1990 to 1995 in ninetankōbon.Yukito Kishiro moved from Shueisha toKodansha in August 2010. The company acquired the license rights toBattle Angel Alita.[10][11] A 6-volume special edition titledGunnm: Complete Edition was released in Japan from December 18, 1998 to August 18, 2000. The series was released inB5 format and contains the original story, but without the original ending, which wasretconned later in 2000 byBattle Angel Alita: Last Order. Also included are rough sketches, a timeline and the first threeBattle Angel Alita: Holy Night & Other Stories short stories. From October 5 to November 16, 2016,Kodansha republishedGunnm in three volumes inB5 format.[12][13] It was later reprinted inA5 format in five volumes from November 21, 2018, to February 22, 2019.[14][15]
A spin-off series titledAshen Victor (灰者,Haisha) was published inUltra Jump from September 1995 to July 1996 issues. It was released in a single volume on June 24, 1998.
A spin-off series titledBattle Angel Alita: Holy Night & Other Stories (銃夢外伝,Ganmu Gaiden) was published inUltra Jump from January 24, 1997, to December 19, 2006. It was released in a single volume on December 19, 2007. It is composed of four shortside stories: "Holy Night", "Sonic Finger", "Hometown" and "Barjack Rhapsody".
In North America,Viz Media originally released the story in a 25-page comic book, after which it followed the same volume format as its Japanese counterpart. Viz also released theAshen Victor spin-off series. Along with the rest of the series, Kishiro's originalBattle Angel Alita manga has been licensed for North American publication throughKodansha USA,[16] who republished it the five-volume omnibus format in 2017 and 2018, with the last volume includingAshen Victor.[17]Holy Night & Other Stories has also been licensed by Kodansha USA, who published it digitally on October 30, 2018, and as hardcover on November 20.[18]Battle Angel Alita has also been licensed for international release in a number of languages and regions. It was published in Spain byPlaneta DeAgostini,[19] in Brazil byEditora JBC,[20] in France and Netherlands byGlenat,[21][22] in Poland byJPF,[23] in Germany byCarlsen,[24] in Taiwan byTong Li Publishing,[25] in Argentina byEditorial Ivrea[26] and in Russia by Xl Media.[27]
A two-episodeoriginal video animation (OVA) was released in 1993, incorporating elements from the second volume of the manga with changes to the characters and storyline. According to Kishiro, only two episodes were originally planned. At the time, he was too busy with the manga "to review the plan coolly" and was not serious about an anime adaptation. It remains the only anime adaptation ofBattle Angel Alita to date and there are no plans to revive it.[28]
A 3-minute 3D-CGI rendered movie clip is included in volume 6 of the JapaneseGunnm: Complete Edition (1998–2000). It showcases Alita in a Third League Motorball race with players from two of her races such as "Armor" Togo, Degchalev, and Valdicci, and depicts events from both of those races.
In 2010,20th Century Fox and directorJames Cameron acquired the film rights toBattle Angel.[29] It was originally brought to Cameron's attention by filmmakerGuillermo del Toro.[30] Cameron is said to be a big fan of the manga, and he was waiting untilCGI technology was sufficiently advanced to make a live-action 3D film with effects comparable toAvatar.[31] The film would be alive-action adaptation of the first four volumes of the manga series; "What I’m going to do is take the spine story and use elements from the first four books. So, the Motorball from books three and four, and parts of the story of one and two will all be in the movie."[32]
Alita was originally scheduled to be his next production after the TV seriesDark Angel,[33] which was influenced byBattle Angel Alita.[34] AfterAvatar, he stated he would work onAvatar sequels before startingAlita.[35]
Cameron's producerJon Landau said, "I am sure you will get to seeBattle Angel. It is one of my favourite stories, a great story about a young woman's journey to self-discovery. It is a film that asks the question: What does it mean to be human? Are you human if you have a heart, a brain or a soul? I look forward to giving the audience the film."[36] Landau half-jokingly stated that the project may be titledAlita: The Battle Angel, because of Cameron's tradition in naming his films with either an "A" or a "T".[35]
In October 2015, it was reported thatRobert Rodriguez would direct the film with Cameron and Landau producing.[37] On April 26, 2016, bothThe Hollywood Reporter andVariety reported thatMaika Monroe,Rosa Salazar,Zendaya andBella Thorne were in the running for the lead role.[38][39] Near the end of May 2016, Salazar was cast as Alita,[40] and on February 7, 2017,The Hollywood Reporter reported thatJennifer Connelly would be joining the cast as one of the villains.[41]
On December 8, 2017, the first trailer forBattle Angel was released to the public,[42] and the film, titledAlita: Battle Angel and directed byRobert Rodriguez, premiered on February 14, 2019.
A novelization of the manga by Yasuhisa Kawamura was released on April 4, 1997, by Shueisha's JUMP j-BOOKS label.
In November 2018, Titan Books publishedAlita: Battle Angel—Iron City, a prequel novel for the film. The novel was written byPat Cadigan, a notable science fiction author.[43]
Gunnm: Martian Memory is an actionRPG video game for thePlayStation byBanpresto. It is an adaptation of the manga, following Alita (Gally) from her discovery in the Zalem dump heap by Daisuke Ido up through and beyond her career as a TUNED agent. The story includes additional elements that Kishiro had conceived when he ended the original manga in 1995, but was unable to implement at the time, which involved Alita going into outer space. He then expanded the story, which formed the basis for the mangaBattle Angel Alita: Last Order.[44]
Yukito Kishiro's fantasy world garnered widespread acclaim from critics.Manga Life reviewer Adam Volk described the universe as intricately crafted and deeply engaging, noting that the first volume alone demonstrated Kishiro's mastery of the genre. He highlighted the manga's balance of dynamic action and well-developed, independent characters—a rarity in comics, films, and television—ultimately declaring it a classic tale of life's struggles.[45]
Patrick King ofAnimefringe lauded the grandeur of Kishiro's creation, portraying it as a vivid, unsettling, and eerily plausible vision of humanity's future. He observed that the manga explored themes of human nature and authenticity, distinguishing it from Kishiro's more fantasticalAqua Knight with its grounded realism. While acknowledging the series' graphic violence as unsuitable for younger audiences, King argued that it reinforced the protagonist's motivations.[46]
Raphael See ofTHEM Anime Reviews regarded it as one of the finest cyborg-themed anime, praising its seamless integration of cybernetics into the worldbuilding without overshadowing the narrative. While he found the series lacking in innovation, its consistent quality left a strong impression. His sole criticism was its abrupt ending, which suggested a broader, unexplored storyline.[47]
Theron Martin ofAnime News Network commended Kishiro's meticulous worldbuilding and enduring artistic prowess,[48] emphasizing the clarity of the action sequences.[49] JapanVisitor.com noted the influence ofPhilip K. Dick (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) andIsaac Asimov (I, Robot) on Kishiro's work.[50]
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