Gunnm

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Ganmu

Japanese: 銃夢 GUNNM

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 9

Chapters: 53

Status: Finished

Published: Nov 1990 to Mar 1995

Genres: Sci-Fi

Demographic: Seinen

Serialization: Business Jump

Authors: Kishiro, Yukito (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 8.38¹ (scored by 28,949 s)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #233²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #186

: 88,839

Favorites: 4,775

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Kodansha USA

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8.38

Ranked #233Popularity #186 88,839

Kishiro, Yukito (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /9

Chapters: /53

Battle Angel Alita

Volume 1
$10.99

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Synopsis

The utopian metropolis of Zalem soars high in the skies, its presence dominating the horizon. Beneath it is the noxious underbelly known as The Scrapyard, where the city stockpiles all of its waste. Living amongst the vast heaps of garbage are humans and cyborgs, surviving by any means necessary.

Daisuke Ido, a doctor specializing in cyborg repairs, finds the head of a young female cyborg while scavenging a pile of old android parts. Proceeding to build her a new body, he names her Gally. Upon activation, Gally does not seem to anything about her past life. Nonetheless, she does not seem to mind as long as she stays by Ido’s side.

However, she soon discovers that Ido has a side job as a hunter-warrior, a bounty hunter working for The Scrapyard’s government. Despite Ido’s warning, she decides to become one herself, awakening her forgotten knowledge of fighting techniques. Equipped with newfound strength, Gally is determined to fight through the alleys of The Scrapyard and beyond, retrieving fragments from her past to rediscover her true identity.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Gunnm was published in English as Battle Angel Alita by VIZ Media in comic book format, with 68 VIZ Select Comics issues split into eight parts from July 1992 to March 1998. It was republished under the VIZ Graphic Novels imprint from July 6, 1995, to December 6, 1998, and again under the VIZ Action imprint from December 31, 2003, to March 1, 2005. Kodansha Comics took over the license and released the series digitally from May 26, 2017, to July 31, 2018. The series was also published in Brazilian Portuguese by Editora JBC; in French by Glénat; in German by Carlsen Verlag; in Spanish by Planeta DeAgostini; in Italian by Panini Comics; in Dutch by Glénat Benelux; and in Polish by Japonica Polonica Fantastica.

Oscar winning director James Cameron was introduced to Gunnm by fellow director Guillermo del Toro, and subsequently purchased the rights to a live-action film adaptation in 2000. Production was halted numerous times due to Cameron's commitment to other projects, until October 2015, when Cameron handed over the director position to Robert Rodriguez. The film premiered on February 14, 2019.

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Reviews

Apr 5, 2008

lonestar6969

Recommended

What a great original story this was. The art is very detailed and clear in the sense that you can actually understand whats going on in the fight scenes. For some fighting manga's it was very difficult to imagine what went on during a fight scene but Alita didnt lose me. I got a sense of excitment following Alita's develpment from innocent cyborg to bounty hunter to elite sportwomen to warrior as there was not a single boring moment. It was a thrill to see what new weapons or body she would get and how she would defeat or catch her enemies.

Not only was the ...

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Jan 29, 2018

comiclove

Mixed Feelings

Battle Angel Alita (or Gunnm) was intriguing in the sense that it somewhat defied expectations. I knew virtually nothing about this franchise besides when I watched the OVA + saw the trailer for that weird live-action adaptation, so I'm coming into this like a baby. Ultimately, it's not as great as some people have claimed, but it has redemptive factors that are hopefully expanded upon in the sequel 'Last Order'.

[Story - 6]

Our story follows the adventures of a cyborg named Alita (or Gally) in the post-apocalyptic United States; Specifically, we follow her 'coming of age' as she goes from a cloudcuckoolander amnesiac to a hardened ... wasteland warrior. Along the way, we see her as a bounty hunter, athlete, and a mercenary for the 'elite' citizens of the U.S. (or rather, an atmospheric colony hovering above the industrial sector + scrapyard where the story starts).

While I have issues with the characterization, this story alone is pretty intriguing. It certainly helps that the world-building is exquisite, with details both minute and major being part of the current arc or the much-speculated-about backstories of various events + characters. The characters (well, really Alita and Ido) receive a lot of monologuing; Regardless of my opinions of them, they are well-timed and definitely reflect their growth.

The pacing is pretty solid; 9 volumes might seem a bit short for a story of this magnitude, but it manages to give each arc enough breathing room for adequate plot AND character development. However, the ending is rather infamous for how rushed it is: between a huge infodump, sudden twists primarily for shock value, very little introspective dialogue, and a pointless time-skip of an epilogue, it's no wonder that the mangaka had to retcon it for Last Order to happen. This is what dragged the score for 'Story' down from an '8', unfortunately.

[Art - 7]

The artwork's an interesting aspect. While the settings/backgrounds are grimly realized, with details of destruction and decay rampant all around, some of the character design leans more towards a 'cartoony' aesthetic. The humans/cyborgs are typically a bit 'fluffier' than if they would be rendered more realistically; in other words, they look like Castle in the Sky rejects. Alita, in particular, is noteworthy in that she resembles a doll; This was obviously done for symbolism, but it adds an unsettling factor when you see her in action (especially in the back half of the manga). Even some of the non-human characters (i.e. the various factory bots) look rather goofy, with somewhat-exaggerated facial features.

However, other characters have designs much more suited for the cyberpunk dystopia (for better or worse) - most of the antagonists (Jashugan, Zapan, etc.) have bulky bodies, both natural and modified, with stony expressions and great displays of power. The robots look a bit more menacing than these characters, but they mostly have a stereotypical feel to them. Desty Nova's probably my favourite character in of design; While he's definitely human, his design just SCREAMS 'total creep' (which he lives up to rather spectacularly).

The action is pretty well-rendered; Especially during the Motorball arc, it was very clear as to what was happening, along with being visually engaging thanks to the gritty style of the setting. I'm not particularly keen on some of the designs (if that wasn't obvious enough), but the action setpieces and backgrounds saved this aspect.

[Character - 5]

This is where the title failed me, surprisingly. There is definitely substantial development, but it feels WAY too drawn out (like, characters having Big Life Lessons several chapters past when they should have realized (coughDAISUKEIDOANDHISPOSSESSIVENESScough) ); Certain character actions and choices feel really stupid (Den is notorious for this), and not just because of genuine character flaws; Other characters are just way too campy/goofy for their own good sometimes (Desty Nova is the epitome of a mad scientist); And of course, some people are just simply underdeveloped despite an expectation for us to care about them (Makaku, Hugo, Zapan, for example). This is as short as I'll keep it, because otherwise I'll just be whining about how much I loathed Alita up until the very last volume due to her sustained immaturity in the form of brattiness and arrogance.

[Enjoyment/Overall - 6]

To sum it up; it's not as amazing as some people have made it out to be, but it has enough positives that I can see why people feel that way. I'm interested to see how Last Order builds upon this title, both in continuing and changing various elements. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants a cyberpunk title with substantial action and intriguing worldbuilding, despite a lack of appealing AND well-rounded characters.

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Nov 23, 2024

Mara2463

Not Recommended

Funny

Battle Angel Alita – Spoiler Free – Not Recommended

TLDR
Story – 2/10 – 2 x 0.275 = 0,55
Art – 8/10 – 8 x 0.2 = 1,6
Characters – 3/10 – x 0.225 = 0,675
Enjoyment – 1/10 – 1 x 0.3 = 0,3
Total: 3,125

Story – 2/10
... It's such a sadness...
Battle Angel Alita’s story is a mess, a huge mess. It is difficult to describe how such a story can be so flawed. The story doesn't make sense, has many leaps of faith, and is poorly written overall. What started as an interesting premise completely forgot its purpose. This manga is anything but a coherent story, being just a collection of random things happening to Alita.
Romance is also a big part – or at least the prospect of romance – of Battle Angel Alita. Characters know each other in one volume, and they are already falling in love in the same volume. Alita’s main crush – Yogo – appeared out of nowhere, was never developed, but still played a major impact in the story for no absolute reason. Understandably, a story about cyborgs should have a part about love and human feelings, but this is simply not the way to do it. Moreover, she repeats so many times she is human that you completely forget that she is a cyborg.
There are also some time-skips, and although they aren’t poorly executed, they just make up for a case of bad writing: there are things that only make sense IF there is a non-declared time-skip: with one exception right in the beginning (a two-year time-skip), time-skips must be intuited.
But not everything in Battle Angel Alita is downright bad. For once, the world-building is quite interesting, and significant aspects of the lore are mentioned in the manga. In that sense, it is a very lore-rich story.
The ending is also poorly executed.

Art – 8/10
Art is Battle Angel Alitas's main strength – and probably the only one, for that matter. The art is very functional, stylish, impeccable, and a joy to read. The character design is beautiful, making it very easy to recognise characters from one another. There are also good s, although no awe-inspiring ones. If only the story and characters were better…

Characters – 3/10
With one exception – Ido – the characters of Battle Angel Alita are downright bad. The main character is in fact incredibly annoying, looking like a teenager during its teenage angst phase, changing opinion on a whim; characters appear and disappear out of nowhere. It's just a mess.

Enjoyment – 1/10
Enjoyment must be definitely very low for Battle Angel Alita. This is a Not Recommended without a shadow of a doubt: the story and the characters make for an explosive mixture that renders the manga a painful and frustrating experience. Battle Angel Alita may, according to some criteria, be considered a classic (it says so on the cover of the manga), but quality is not one of them. It is a terrible manga that only has a good world-building and lore. It is also interesting to note that a manga that relies so much of its energy on the human concept of love has such a robotic approach. There is also no reason to read the sequel for the time being since it is based on a non-canonical version of the ending of Battle Angel Alita, and I definitely won’t reread it.

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Gunnm
Battle Angel Alita
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