Yukito Kishiro

This escalated quickly.

As story progresses, it is more than obvious that it is much darker than the original arc. In order to find the way to resurrect her friend Lou, Alita and her friends decide to participate in the so called ZOTT, battle royale organized in Kethares under supervision of Aga Mbadi and Ladder. While tournament allows for disenfranchised, and in general Ladded opposition to participate (during which time they enjoy full amnesty) it is obvious that there is more to this show more tournament than meets the eye (views of masses enjoying the carnage through direct TV broadcasts or in the arena is ...... unsettling .... original arc's rollerball like fights seem minuscule and safe in comparison).
During all of this time Alita tries to remember who she really is - contact with armies of children fighting to the death on huge colonial ship, now more acting as a space station due to danger of its engines, wakes something her that she has this urge to rescue these children and topple the order that enables such gruesome things. It is obvious she can do a lot, and has certain instincts that prove beneficial to her survival but she still gets mentally blocked in crucial moments. There is lots of philosophy here,very common in martial arts/lone warrior fiction and movies - our hero needs to find who she truly is and this can only happen at the end of the bloody path she finds herself on.

ZOTT participation is a diversion for all means and purposes, because it enables Alita and her entourage to get back to Kethares, unhindered by Ladder, in order to find out where are the brains (including her friend's Lou) stored. But this whole endeavor will start triggering memories that might prove Alita is maybe not who she thinks she is.

Of the characters in this book, Caerula Sanguis is very intriguing one. I expect her to play greater part as the story progresses.

I love this entire Jason Bourne vibe, and man does it end on a cliffhanger. I need to get my hand on volume 3 ASAP.

As was the case two non-Alita comics are included in the end, very ..... dark? this has become theme here I guess :) ...... story of a diver on newly found ocean world and very funny, but strikingly too-real Headman of Tokyo story, that while written in much lighter way than the diver's story is not light read at all if one takes into account the society of the story and corporation actions. Both are recommended.

Highly recommended, cannot wait for volume 3. show less

This is new story arc for Alita, and in my opinion this one is much much darker than the original story one.

Alita gets resurrected by the crazy scientist Nova on the floating city of Tiphares. She is awaken so she can help Nova with something but events go epically wrong and soon Alita finds herself wandering this giant city and trying to figure out what is going on. She is searching for her friend Lou (whom I have to admit I dont recall at all) and it seems that Nova is the only one who can show more help her find Lou. Unfortunately, path leads to heavens, through mysterious world of Ketheres that hangs above Tiphares, as a form of sword of Damocles, and seems to be the place where Alita might learn more about herself, maybe more than she wants.

And so story begins.

I have seen some reviews critical of the setting, but I am not sure why. It seems that Tiphares is just tip of iceberg - what we get introduced here is power arrangement in the whole Solar system. We get introduced to parts of humanity that have evolved beyond recognition on Jupiter and Venus and everywhere in between, we see glimpses of war on Mars that Alita barely survived as a child, and this is not beautiful picture. This is world of immortal population who sees kids as existential threat and tries to exterminate them wherever found under nuts pretenses of limited resources. This is cruel world of people who have forgotten what being human really is, and (considering how elites think and work) I shudder at the thought that some idiot might read this and take anything from here as good idea, instead of just enjoying the story.

With sudden appearance of Aga Mbadi, enforcer of what is called Ladder (sort of a UN in Solar system) it becomes obvious how something happened in the past, monumental f***k up that created Alita's world in the way that it exists today.

At the end of the omnibus we get two comics by the same author that are not related to Alita at all. They show some very interesting ideas that author also found their way into Alita story line.

Very interesting story arc, definitely worth attention of all SF and cyberpunk afficionados.

Recommended. show less

This is one of the most beautifully drawn graphic novels I ever had pleasure to read. Presented in large format, with clean black-and-white [and occasional color] pages it is truly a gem.

Named Alita by a cyborg engineer that found her in the scrapyard under floating city of Zalem our protagonist tries to recall her past and soon finds out that she is a very experienced fighter with quick and deadly reflexes that help her find her way into bounty hunter guild. Although she looks very young, show more her chassis (for a lack of better word) is couple a hundred years old. She is remnant of long lost past and technology that was once available to humanity.

Volume #1 follows Alita as she fights maniacal cyborg murderers (Makaku is very, very disturbing) and falls in love with a very shady character Yugo. It ends with a cliffhanger that gives more insight into true nature of Zalem and in general social divide between those above (in the floating city) and those below (on ground).

Cannot wait for the volume #2.

Highly recommended to all fans of manga, cyberpunk and action SF in general. show less

Conclusion of the original Battle Angel Alita story line.

As is always the case, heroes in epic stories like this cannot make it out unscathed. Book has two endings - first one is pretty much in line with what one might call realistic ending. After all after surviving the madness at the hands of Dr. Nova, Alita (very like Nicholas Cage in 8mm) tries to find place of love and peace. But as it is usually the case in world driven by madness it is very difficult to escape. So this one was quite a show more surprise for me, quite dark ending that is the only to be expected considering that Alita cannot discern friends from enemies any more, since everyone seems to have secret agenda or two.

We are given details of the very disturbing torture of Alita herself, not unlike Neo's isolation on ghost sub station. She is aware that she is forced to live in the "dream" somehow constructed by Dr. Nova. And this is where we can see how Alita has become true human - because even aware that what she sees around is not real she takes refuge in this fantasy because it is so good to see back the people she loves. For people who think this real-or-not aspect is silly, trust me there is nothing more cruel than skewering ones view of reality.

Second ending is more of a link-up to spin off volumes. Only way to save the Scrapyard is to sacrifice oneself so that Zalem does not fall on it and destroys it. Alita accepts this and in unselfish sacrifice for all means and purposes becomes the rock on which new world blossoms. ending is touchy but would resonate with anyone who read old legends and myths. Through sacrifice comes transformation and new world follows immediately after. Through exposure of Zalem's great secret (purge of GIB was truly a twist) both Scrapyard and Zalem finally link to the outer space and there is future for for both sky-dwellers and ground dwellers.

What resonates with current times is reaction of Zalem's youths when they are told they can continue as independent personas, true human beings. Enslaved by years of tyrannical world of utility-means-life they are terrified of the prospect of making decisions on their own. Dystopia at its best. And also what we find about about Alita shows us that she was a zealot at one time, uncompromising and blood-thirsty. And man, how changed she became since Ido found her in the waste pile.

Art as always is excellent, everything I said before remains the same. Pure joy for the eyes.

I cannot wait to start on follow up volumes :)

Highly recommended to fans of SF dystopia and pure SF/cyberpunk action.

P.S.

This volume also contains SF noir story Ashen Victor. Centered around motorball player Snev story is placed in the Alita universe but it is standalone story without usual Alita cast. Snev is motorball player that continuously ends up destroyed on the tracks. His career is in the air when suddenly his friend, prostitute named Beretta ends up murdered in a most gruesome way. Soon, story takes a twist that includes motorball league, club management and various crime elements.

Art approach here is different from the usual Alita art - it is more akin to the Sin City, large black and white panels with constant dance of the shadows. In my opinion here we have much more realistic figures (Sin City was full of abstract forms like in Mignola's work) and this makes it much more enjoyable for me. In any case as a standalone story I guess it would be for people that need to have every issue for completeness sake. For other I would recommend it but keep in mind this is standalone story that is in no way related to main (or any follow up) Alita volume. show less