Battle Angel Alita!!!

I read through volumes 1-6 of Battle Angel Alita’s “Last Order”. In consuming this comic, I found myself reminded of several important influences in pop culture. Such influences include the Matrix, Fifth Element, Appleseed and most strikingly similar Ghost in the Shell. All of these but Ghost in the Shell were produced years later than battle angel, however, so its safe to so none of these influenced the design of this comic. One may speculate, on the other hand, that this popular manga has influenced many iconic movies. I was very interested that the construction of Gally, the cyborg protagonist, looked so strikingly similar to the construction of ‘Lilu’, the super warrior star of the film ‘The Fifth Element”.

I have to wonder if Ghost in the Shell and Battle Angel influenced each other as they were being developed in roughly the same time. Both comics feature strong, cyborg protagonists in a more or less dystopian future. In reading through this comic I was reminded often of my viewing of Ghost in the Shell; this is the extent of how similar I found the two manga.

Having discussed the similarities I’ve found between Battle Angel and film media, I should mention that I feel as though Battle Angel would work wonderfully in any of a number of different media. I could easily see this comic adapted into an animated series; The comic’s numerous fast paced battle scenes would be great to see in animated form; in reading the comic I was constantly picturing my vision of what this comic would look like at 24 frames per second. While less plausible, I also feel like this comic would be a great feature film. I was shocked to find out that Battle Angel is currently in preproduction as a feature film, directed by James Cameron. While the director is most likely going to see The Dive and Avatar 2 through production first, the movie is currently set for release in 2011. I am hopeful that this comic will hit the big screen with such, especially with such a big budget.

The fast paced action and interesting environments made me excited to contemplate the idea of playing a Battle Angel videogame.