So I know this comic is iconic in the world of scifi/cyberpunk type fiction and that it's a well loved manga but... I just didn't like it that much??? I'm no regular reader of manga so that could also be a reason why it was so weird to me. Anyway, it was still interesting to read as a SFF nerd.

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While I like the concept, I'm a little mixed on the manga artwork holding up, as well as character motivations and emotions.

Loved the artwork in this. Alita is an amnesiac cyborg, rescued by a cyber doctor and given a new body. She becomes a killer, taking down those who take advantage of others. The martial arts particularly drew me to this, enjoyed the action.

A dystopian syfy cyberpunk manga

The upcoming movie is what made me seek out this manga and I was not disappointed!

Alita is an amnesiac cyborg that is drawn to battle. The story is great and the art is fantastic! Alita is a badass and I will be finding more volumes to read...I want to know her secret past.

Such a good old-school manga! Reading this directly after Blame! probably impacts on my opinion, but since they're both sci-fi works, I would have drawn comparisons anyway. And honestly, Battle Angel Alita delivers more cyborg action, artistic satisfaction, and entertainment in general. I loved the detailed drawings and recognizable character designs! It's perhaps not the most meaningful of stories, but retro enough (god, that was the early 90s) to induce severe nostalgia.

i didn't enjoy this overall. i thought the girl was slightly too cutesy and the guy too overall male and american esque and it did not sit well with me and made me feel uncomfortable at times.

i love this manga. I have watched the anime but couldnt find the manga anywhere. it has a great plot and great artwork. The plot is interesting and keeps you entranced till the end and the characters aren't one dimensional.

A well done classic manga. It's the first time I've read this particular manga, but I found it enjoyable. The art is good, the story is good.

An awesomely illustrated cyberpunk story which deserves its reputation as a fan favourite.

I have to say this manga is fantastic. The art style is beautifully drawn and the storyline is something I think would easily appeal to both men and women. A futuristic world with cyborgs, creatures, and Hunter warriors. Very cool!

A beautifully illustrated manga, with some truly spectacular splash pages. I did not expect to find myself rooting for the cyborg Alita, and yet I did just that . Aside from the stunning artwork, the storytelling is also strong ,and relatively easy to follow.

I'm continuously amazed by the haul of old manga that pops up on Netgalley. These manga have fallen out of recent memory. I am so glad that the publisher's have given reviewers the opportunity to experience these groundbreaking pieces of art that enrich the cyberpunk and dystopian genres - especially in a reading environment where the same dystopian concept is reused and regurgitated with minor changes.

A man named Ido finds a battered cyborg woman and makes it his mission to restore her. She has no memory of her past. Ido decides to name her Alita. Ido becomes obsessed with taking Alita's scant frame and making her beautiful.



Soon you find out that Ido isn't the sweet, bumbling idiot he seems. However, Alita is not the empty-headed and child-like grown woman she comes across as, either. Luckily, she escapes the popular trope of becoming the child in a woman's body that many female characters in fantasy (who are alien in some way) fall victim to. Here's looking at you, Bright and Fifth Element



Books with character development always hit a sweet spot for me. From very early on, Alita is faced with a terrifying dilemma (view spoiler)

Alita is kind and innocent-looking, but does not take too kindly to pressure from Ido to conform to his ideas for her appearance and future. The conflict between Alita's devotion to Ido and her suffocation from being restrained by him is a major theme in the manga, and it is well-developed throughout.



What I love about older manga is that character design is much more unique and detailed than in the latest manga and anime.



The character developments, characters' perceptions of others, the influence of their past on their present self, motives and conflicts are subtly but beautifully portrayed. A character with all of these is a well-rounded and great character. These are things that are frequently thrown aside and replaced by superficial characterisations that make a book fall flat.



There are elements common in cyberpunk - bountyhunters, cybernetic surgeons and noir themes. Battle Ange Alita manages to combine these elements in a balanced manner while still forming new, interesting concepts. In Alita's world, cybernetic enhancements are something that everyone has, but it is never enough - just like money. Because of the importance of these enhancements, people steal and kill others for something as trivial as stronger arms or as dangerous as human mince-maker of an arm.

In this book, people battle against internal strife as well as cybernetically enhanced monsters. In this book, characters do not have conflict over the idea of having mechanical parts - instead they are in conflict over what it means to be human and to have to live with yourself despite your past (or lack thereof).

I chose this graphic novel on NetGalley because I saw a preview of the upcoming movie adaptation. I was curious about the story, because it looked unique.

The story was good. I liked that Alita was a strong fighter. Depending on the body she is given, she has different abilities. But she was always strong. The villain, Makuka, was so creepy and gross. He was often just a head that rolled around, but the face was disturbing.

Some of the pages in my copy were in colour. I loved the art on these pages. The other pages were just black and white, so it was sometimes hard to tell what was happening. There were a lot of elaborate fight scenes, which were enhanced by the colours, but difficult to decipher when in black and white.

I liked this story, so I’ll have to check out the movie when it comes out.

What an excellent edition! I've read some of this series before and loved it but I've never had a chance to read the beginning. This edition is gorgeous with a few colored pages to spice up the black and white. The artwork, as always, is gorgeous. The story is very well written and progresses well. I really enjoyed the reference material at the end that described how to say each exclamation. It was a nice touch that made the English translation seem a bit more authentic. As this is a battle manga, there is violence throughout but the gore is pretty sparse, as is any cursing. Depending on the kid, this is pretty safe for young teens and up, maybe even tweens. Definitely a great manga classic.

I would like to thank the publisher, author, and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Right, so - this is a futuristic world . . . . and um. hmms. I've no real idea what this world is. I don't even know if it takes place on earth. There's this junkyard the main male character lives in, and that the main female character was found in (without her memory). There's something floating in the sky that was called 'utopia', but beyond that I know nothing. Well, not nothing, obviously, not after reading this book. But I mean I don't know much about the setting - the world the book inhabits.

I kind of despise the man. 'I would gladly feel their blood on my face! And in exchange I need you to be as pristine as my dream for you!' - so said the man; to which the woman/cyborg responded 'I'm not your dress-up doll!' - to which I applaud. Mildly.

'I keep hunting for the pleasure'

Wow this is one bloody gore filled manga. Really really bloody/gorey - it seems like . . . what's that called, blood porn? Gore porn? Something like that.

Also one in which I didn't really understand what was going on 45 percent of the time.


This was a very violent, very weird story. I can't imagine it being turned into a movie, like the book description on Netgalley noted ('James Cameron is currently producing a live-action adaptation'). Considering the story, and what happens in it, making a live-action film will probably end up looking like that Film franchise 'Pacific Rim'.

Right, so - that's read. The first volume, at least. I do not currently plan to continue the series. This just wasn't my type of thing.

Rating: 2.78

March 7 2018

This is apparently well known classic cyberpunk manga with a huge fan base. Well, regardless this manga will capture your attention. The artwork is detailed and the addition of colored pages to the predominant black and white art was great. The detail to attention, even explaining less familiar aspects was a bonus.

But as an introductory novel, there is more action without much backstory. Given the fan base there must be more to the story arc as the series develops. The explanation at the end which includes effects and pronunciation was enough to encourage further reading. Looking forward to seeing more about Ido and Alita and understanding the world.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me access to this manga.

Two 'fights' down and I've lost all interest. Not floating any part of my boat.

I got this graphic novel from Net Galley in trade for an honest review

This review is also posted in my blog : https://onewordtoomuch.wordpress.com/2018/02/17/battle-angel-alita-volume-1-rusty-angel-battle-angel-alita-gunnm-1/

My Ratings : 5 out of 5 stars

Review

I love manga ever since in junior high but I’ve never read manga with the science fiction or robotic (mecha) style. Well, I’m not too interested with mecha because they usually have exaggerated body parts which I don’t quite like. This is the first manga I’ve reviewed and I like the story. I was intrigued when I first watch the movie trailer of “Alita the battle angel” and come across this book on Net Galley, so I have to read this one.

See the trailer of the movie below :


The setting is somewhere in the distant future, with a futuristic setting. Here’s the situation where human are not entirely human but some of them are diffused with robotic parts or they are entirely robot. Alita was found in the dumpster and given a new body by her rescuer, Ido. She became attached to Ido, which I find it’s kind of cute. It’s like a love relationship between a father and daughter.

Things begin to get interesting when Ido are actually a hunter-killer and Alita wants to follow his footsteps. She has some cool moves but she encounter a bad cyborg named Makaku. Makaku likes to kill other cyborg and eat their brain. This is her biggest yet enemy that destroys her body again and here’s the part where she gets a makeover with the Berserker body.

I like the story where Alita has a tendency to act like human, even though she’s a robot. Fusing the emotion of a robot into human is somewhat unique. The idea of a distant future with cyborg and human implanted with robotic parts is quite fantastic. This could only come from an advance mind that could imagine how far we as human being could go.

Drawing style is superb, with no exaggerated body parts. The features of the humans are well balanced and the robots are very detail. The fighting scene between Alita and Makaku is also very fast moving and alive. There are parts where Makaku extending his tongue and you could just see the spit details that make you cringed inside. Some gory scenes are also included. Background scenes are well detailed, with the crumbling rocks and city. It really depicted a dying world.
Recommend for those who love reading manga with a science fiction theme, mecha style and strong woman character.

I liked the concept of this book but i felt that some chapters of the manga were structurally messy and the story was not fully linear at points. I liked the main female character a lot and connected to the role of the creator but the villain did not feel as if he was fully fleshed out and was lacking a certain something.

'Battle Angel Alita, Volume 1: Rusty Angel' by Yukito Kishiro seems like a timely release with an upcoming movie coming out. It's also a really good read.

Daisuke Ido likes looking for cyborg parts in the junk heaps. When he finds the head of a cyborg, he rebuilds her into Alita. Alita has little memory of who she was before, but she knows she must fight. After a crushing defeat, she is rebuilt into an even fiercer weapon and goes out to get revenge on the scary Makaku.

It's definitely a classic series with a deep dystopian SF feel. The world is populated, but it seems as if most people have been turned into partial cyborgs.

The art is some of the best I've seen in manga and I loved the detail. Many of the chapters also included a few introductory color pages, and these were really well done. I'm glad I finally got to read a chapter in this classic series.

I received a review copy of this manga from Kodansha Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this manga.