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Summary: A cyborg's dystopian world
Review: Alita begins as a dystopian tale of life in the Scrapyard, a trash heap built on the refuse of the floating city of Tiphares, inhabited by cyborgs, and seemingly devoid of any recognition of life's value. This is cyberpunk as it really would be, without even the false veneer of progress or utility. In the trash, Doc Ido finds Alita and rebuilds her. This cute, amnesiac girl soon finds her skill is death and the only purpose she sees is bounty hunting. Suffering is in abundance around her, and her first real encounter is with Makaku--most feared of bounties, the eater of brains.This book is the first of nine volumes. Although here, the principal story is Alita vs. Makaku, the whole tale is not episodic. There is a point to this battle, and it will not be followed by another supervillain. The artwork is superb, especially given the need to depict lightning quick combat between immensely powerful cyborgs. Yukito Kishiro's artwork is more than up to the task, conveying motion and speed with seemingly effortless skill. The character designs are interesting--Alita in particular. She is cute rather than pretty or sexy, and this provides an interesting contrast between her own appearance and what she's doing in the story. One is tempted to see her, as Doc Ido does, as the only flower growing in the Scrapyard, but she is the flower of death.
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Summary: Majestic and moving: must buy!
Review: "Life itself remains undefined to me. Whether its ugly, or beautiful, a sin or a great gift to cherish-- I don't know. But I'll find out! I need a sense of purpose; being a bounty hunter lets me search for myself through battle. The money you speak of is meaningless to me! I walk in faith. The faith that we choose who we want to be...... and grow into that identity, ugly or beautiful!" The previous was a ingenius quote from Yukito Kishiro's futuristic masterpiece, "Battle Angel Alita", also called Gunnm (gun dreams), which is aruably one of the greatest manga's of all time. Not only is the art exquisite, but the characters are incredable, and the manga is truly exceptional enough in itself that it can be deemed the greatest manga ever. The plot is also of literary quality. "Battle Angel Alita" tells the dark tale of Alita (her name was changed to Gally for the anime for pronoucetional reasons). One day, Dr. Daisuke Ido finds the remnants of a young cyborg girl in a scrap heap, with her brain still intact. A find such as this is a true gem, like buried treasure, and so Ido takes her to his home and repairs her. Like a father, Ido loves his "daughter" more than he loves himself. Ido is fascinated with Alita. Unfortunatly, Alita has amnesia, and cannot recall anything about her previous life. Being fairly low on money, Alita is suspicious of Ido and how he has aquired enough money to buy her an expensive body. One night, Alita follows him while he goes to his "work" and sees him fighting a fugitive mutant. Alita is forced into battle, and somehow is able to pull of the powerful "Panzer Kurst" fighting technique, used by formitable humaniods, also called "Armored Arts". Alita's supprising skill in combat leads to the gruesome death of the mutant. After the battle, Alita begins her mysterious past. How could she, a inexperenced cyborg, use the lengendary "Panzer Kurst", a tenchnique that only the strongest of cyborgs know? Alita makes the difficult descion to become a bounty hunter, like Ido. Alita runs away home and registers for the job, against Ido's will. And so the young angels journey into self-discovery begins. Yukito Kishiro's story telling is brilliant and beautiful. Without hesitation, I would label it masterful. The plot for this is of epic quality, unlike anything your ever going to discover in a fantasy novel. Tiphares is often portrayed as utopia, the ultimate solution for the poor surface dwellers, a sort of heaven on earth. It floats in the sky, almost mocking the poor, as the very high in class dwell in Tiphares. The condition for the Scrap City is, unfortunatly, horric and horrendous. Man eating cyborgs stak the streets, consuming human flesh. Each character in this drama is incredibly deep, and not as they seem at first. Alita's first criminal to go after is the malicous Makaku. Makuku is easily, estimated, ten times bigger than Alita. Makuku steals and then consumes human brains. Sounds pretty evil, huh? At first, you will hate him. But after reading the final chapter, you will understand his pain. When people choose a baddie from now on, they should model it after Makuku. He has an amazing amount of depth and sensitivity. Even Ido, who serves as the father figure in Alita's life, is far from perfect. "I kill for the rush, this moment was ecstasy", Ido remarks as he skillfully slides behind a wanted criminal and smashes his mallet-esqe weapon against the criminals head. Also excellent is the artwork. Every panel is exquistetly drawn. I've read many manga's, and this is some of the most lavish artwork I've ever seen. For me, however, the greatest aspect of the manga its sentimental value. Dispite its often unbearable, belevolent violence portrayed in this manga, it is still very rewarding. Even in translation, it remains so emotionaly powerful and majestic that one cannot finish the book without a tear in their eye. The following is a except from a quote made by Alita, but my poor words cannot fully capture the raw emotional value this manga offers. "I don't know if it's a sin or something to be proud of, if it is hatred or saddness, but I am moved by tears, something I can't exactly explain..." It is rare to find such a touching presence in a novel of any sort; those not particulary familar with Manga with be pleasantly suprised. "Battle Angel Alita" is truly majestic. After finishing this wonderful manga, you will feel strangely refreshed, like you have just woken up from some beautiful dream.I give this manga my highest recommendation.
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Summary: Need I say more.......well, I will.
Review: This manga is absolutely awsome. I wish I could give it 6 stars. It was totally amazing in the way it was drawn and the character designs were perfect. To anyone who loves cyber punk anime and manga, this manga is for you. If you don't, and if you like the giant robo animes, then, this should still please you. The point is, is that this book can be loved and enjoyed by everyone. Scroll up and buy it.
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Summary: Beautiful artwork, but very gut-wrenchingly violent
Review: Making his very first break at the tender age of 17, Yukito Kishiro very skillfully spins out a very long series of well-drawn sci-fi tales about a beautiful young girl who happens to be a very deadly war-making robot right underneath her innocent-looking skin. Discovered all mangled and strewn about in a mucky junkyard, Alita was tenderly nursed back to health and brought up by a loving father-like scientist. Now resurrected, Alita becomes a very brave cyborg warrior who sets out to fight hideous monsters, crafty villains, and evil clones of herself. Very dramatic shots, strong facial expressions on all the characters, clever camera angles, a very imaginative sci-fi setting, and...the most of all, such startlingly GORGEOUS drawings so deftly drafted in each panel with the most amazingly microscopic details and such breathtaking depth. Unfortunately, those truly magnificent visions are just not for the ones with prude minds, faint hearts or weak stomaches. For the very same art that I'm just talking about is also full of such eye-popping violence, very wet bloodbath, and just plain sick sadism so graphically depicted here that anyone with an inexperienced eye would just reel back with horror and nausea upon picking up this book for the very first time. But if you could get past this mucous layer of such shocking material, you would definitely enjoy this very thrilling adventure with all its remarkable characters and a very interesting storyline!
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Summary: quite possibly the greatest manga ever published.
Review: Featuring terrifying, gory battles, bueatiful artwork, excellent story and plot, etc, etc, and you have a excellent manga. I also love the main characer, Gally, also called Alita. she is so curous. This isnt a normal english comic. It has several vilolent fighting scenes.
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Summary: A classic sci-fi novel of epic scale.
Review: The Battle Angel Alita series of graphic novels are an absolute masterpiece. The characters are as alive and engaging as any I have ever met in a work of fiction, the story is as suspenseful and exciting as any I have ever read, and the artwork is, well, a work of art. If you find the time and money to read all nine books, I promise you that Alita is someone you will never forget. If you enjoy movies like Akira, Blade Runner, The Road Warrior or The Matrix, you will not be disappointed with these novels.
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Summary: beauty behind all that violence
Review: well, i got interested in this title from a friend, i saw the anime first and was so impressed i went out to look for the manga, to my surprise i found 30 books on the shelf. well i bought two of them and was so amazed by the beauty of the art it was so detailed and exciting. also the storyline is so intriguing and gets you involved the second you open the book. i think Yukito Kishiro is one of the best manga artists ever! i am so excited, please i urge you to get this, and all the other graphic novels in the series! its so great!
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Summary: ghost in the shell
Review: this book just plain out ROCKED! The animation was great and story was very gripping but confusing if you haven't seen the movie. i would reccomend it to all anime fans
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Summary: best manga out there
Review: this s the best manga i've ever read... none of the others compare, but for some reason the movie isn't that popular... i had alot of trouble finding it
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Summary: oh my god...
Review: This graphic novel blew me away. The art is amazing, but the story is really what sells it. If you can only afford one graphic novel, then you'd be foolish not to purchase this one.
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