Battle Angel Alita

After watching the terrific movie Alita: Battle Angel, which I felt fell apart towards the end, I decided to watch this to see if the story was the same. It is, and it's also an hour long which means it runs through that story like lightning. There's very little in the way of character development; just lots of plot.

Turns out it's a pretty similar story, and from what I've read the anime and the movie are both fairly true to the original manga but make some changes. Unlike the movie, the anime holds together because it doesn't start throwing in a bunch of stuff that seems crammed in. But it also lacks emotional punch because you're not given a chance to really get to know the characters.

It's not as good as the live-action movie, but it is entertaining enough.

Any serious anime fan will have a special place in his heart for Gally. She is *the* textbook example of the innocent anime girl. Where this work shines is in Gally's character development through her experiences where she discovers a personality of her own after being reanimated. Her gradual acquisition of her defensive affection with the Doctor and her innocent but deep attachment with Yugo are impressive. No fan of good film acting can criticize this "cartoon" as inferior to live action.

All this applies to the Japanese version with subtitles. The English dubbing is awful.

You can really tell by watching this film that the source material it is based on is really excellent. The story is a fine and compelling one, that is filled with fantasy elements and is set in a sort of future post-apocalyptic world. Because of this fact, I'm also positive of it that the James Cameron version of this movie called "Battle Angel" is going to be absolutely great.

This animated movie version is also a good one but unfortunately also heavily flawed.

The biggest problem with the movie is that it's very short, with as a result things get rushed. Also every sequence feels incredibly short. Every time you think you're going to get to see a big long fight sequence, it's already over again. It also makes the storytelling disjointed at times. Villains are keep getting introduced throughout the movie, until you finally start to loose interested at who is actually supposed to be the biggest and main villain of the movie. Some characters really made a redundant impression and they did not got the treatment they obviously deserved. The movie is also over before you know it, with a sort of an incomplete ending that will also give you an unsatisfied feeling.

The storytelling and build-up really isn't the greatest within this movie, although that isn't anything too uncommon for a Japanese anime, it still is a bit worse than acceptable in this case. The movie really gave me the feeling it had so much more potential, if it only had a better budget and production time span. It now unfortunately never reaches the level of true excellence and certainly is not among the top Japanse anime's.

Nevertheless the movie has plenty of qualities that make this a watchable one. The story is one of them, even though it's potential isn't fully used. The imaginary futuristic world and concepts within this movie are just so fine. It also has a fine love-story, that however also gets very rushed in the movie. The short action within the movie was also fine, which was mainly thanks to those awesome looking cyborgs with each their own special fighting powers and weapons. The movie is also filled with plenty of gore.

It's a certainly good watchable movie but still I would wait for the James Cameron movie version if I were you.

7/10

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This is the one that taught me not to judge an anime by its cover. I expected an hour of mindless violence along with a weak story line. Instead, I found myself in a very deep and well developed world for the short time spent in it. It was all story, and an incredibly imaginative place perfect for the story.

It was definately too short. It could have had a great and long lasting series life if they had chosen one. But it was none the less, an enjoying ride, and not a moment of wasted time.

This feature deals with the possibility of full cybernetic replacement of the frail human body and the effects this may have on society and the individual. What kind of value would be placed on human life? What capabilities do you build into a machine body? Can a human brain thus sustained, have a soul? There is plenty of action and even a love interest. It's an anime' classic that should be required viewing for any anime' fan. And a great starter for anyone wishing to try anime'. Be advised, though an animated feature, "Gunnm" is graphicly violent. It is NOT a cartoon. No cute bunnys. "Gunnm" (Battle Angel) is an incredibly well animated adaptation of a popular Manga (Japanese Comic Book Style). The only drawback is that their is only one and apparently no plans to continue the work in Anime'. The Manga however... continues.