Gunnm

This OVA makes the case for the sheer extent that good direction matters when adapting a work.

Robert Rodriguez's live-action movie contains a good 75% of the same story beats and all of the same characters as this movie here, but thanks to Rodriguez's keen eye for visuals and his ability to elicit strong performances from his actors, that version stands strong.

In comparison, this OVA here is a far inferior version of the same story, coasting by on the strength of the source material and that's it. The animation is fairly poor, the art direction isn't as impressive, and the bizarre choice was made to ... feature almost no soundtrack whatsoever--sometimes a really neat choice, but here it didn't help things at all because the pacing was so janky.

It's certainly not the worst movie in the world, but I'm really glad I didn't watch this OVA before I saw the live-action movie, because it would have killed most of my excitement at the time.

The only existing animated adaptation of the Battle Angel Alita manga, Gunnm is a 2-episode OVA from the early 90s. It covers pretty much the same ground as the Hollywood movie, minus some future arcs that the movie rushed in earlier. It's not terribly interesting, but it's also not a significant time investment. To fans of the genre or the manga, this will be time well spent.

For what it's worth, as opposed to the movie, the city (Iron City, I think it's called?) can clearly be seen for the post-apocalyptic desiccated hellhole that it is, not the relatively poor, but vibrant and bustling hipster paradise ... from the Hollywood production.

In keeping with the ethic of being appropriately dark, the dog death scene is way more explicit here, as well. Be warned.

Also, just as I recently found him in Genocyber, Ryuuzaburou Ootomo, the voice actor of Crocodile from One Piece, is here, as well. He seems to be part of an old guard of voice actors more likely to be found in old school shows.

Wow, this anime was great! Definitely an underrated OVA, "Battle Angel Alita" has me pumped to both read the manga and check out the live action movie coming out this month. It's such a shame that this long-running manga has (so far) only received this 2-episode anime adaptation, because you can tell there's so much more to this world and these characters left to explore!

Sadly this anime is mostly just an ad for the manga, and as such many story elements and character arcs are left undeveloped. For example, we never actually see the floating, rich city of Zalem, which is a shame. I ... can only assume we go there later in the manga. Alita never regains her memories, so we never learn what her previous life was like before Dr. Ido found her. Speaking of "Alita," one of the most confusing aspects of this OVA is that Ido names her "Gally" and we never reach the point in the manga where she discovers her true name, so literally the name in the title "Alita" is never spoken once in this OVA! "Alita," remains "Gally," the entire time.

Still, for what it is, this anime accomplished a lot in just 2 episodes. I really liked the characters of Yugo and Alita---I mean Gally! I really respected Yugo's drive to get to Zalem, like in the scene where he's desperately climbing up a pipe trying to reach the floating city after his feet are cut off. Alita is now one of my favorite female anime characters. She's very pretty and feminine, yet tough and ferocious when she needs to be. One of my favorite moments is a small character moment where Alita uses her reflection in a puddle to fix her hair before meeting Yugo. Alita clearly loves Yugo and would do anything to protect him, and I thought this aspect was a bit rushed (you've known him how long?), but I'm sure it was paced better in the manga. Another rushed element from the manga was how Alita begins this friendship with a stray dog, only for the dog to soon be murdered brutally by a cyborg. We barely got to see her interact with the dog, and as an animal person I really dislike it when animal death is used just to shock and motivate the hero to beat the villain. Still, I have to give credit that the moment when Alita smears the dog's blood on herself as war paint was VERY epic!

The artwork here is very detailed, especially concerning Alita's eyes. The action scenes are very well animated and hypnotic to watch. The soundtrack is used very effectively, coming in loud when it needs to. This OVA only adapts the first 2 volumes of the manga, and I hope they continue with it at some point, or give it a "Brotherhood" style remake. Hopefully the new movie will be successful and will renew interest in this anime. 8/10

I watched this when I was a teenager. I loved it then, but now I can see why it didn't continue as far as making more episodes. However, the characters are great with a cool story. Perhaps this story is more a love attraction between a cyborg and a human surrounded in a world that is not what it use to be.

Now I am looking forward to the movie that is coming out February 14th. With James Cameron producing and Robert Rodriguez directing, the movie can't go wrong. It's destined to change cinema forever. If you haven't read the graphic novel on BattleAngel Alita, it's ... worth the read.

With the dawn and soon to be released live action James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez movie on the way, LA thought to invest some time in looking at the anime series it is based off of.

Battle Angel Alita or Gunnm looks at a rather intriguing underdog story of Gally voiced by Miki Ito an android rebuilt by Daisuke Ido voiced by Shunsuke Kariya and Yugo voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi wanting to go the fabled upper city of Zalem.

The two episodes given to us gives the majority of focus onto Gally and Yugo for the most part with some of the minor characters like Daisuke Ido, ... Chiren, Gime and Vector some sort of resolution to their little subplots along the way. Gally's story is one of identity, considering she's was a scrapped android rebuilt by the Geppetto-figure Daisuke Ido, the Pinocchio syndrome is in effect only not, more like Daisuke freely gives Gally the freedom she wants to have and that freedom is what Daisuke Ido does...being a hunter warrior. The thing is this plot point of Gally wanting to do her own thing her way is brought upon but becomes intertwined with Yugo later on making "Gally rebelling against Daisuke" tame and an almost non-conflict. Yugo on the other hand has some development to him and probably the major focus of the story elements that connects most of the characters in the first place. His story is really of being the underdog surviving and wanting to have his dream accomplished, Gally has something similar as well but it's Yugo that spurs this on. See Yugo being an android part stealer makes him be in the shady side of business but it shows he'll do ANYTHING to fulfill his dream and getting away from the literal scrap heap of a city he and the rest of the cast are situated in.

Revelations with the little subplotline are shown from Yugo's motivations in the first place to why Chiren has it out for Daisuke to the entire vague reasoning of Zalem and the android bounty hunter business. Let's just say that it ends not in a rushed manner but more like the pieces fit in a short amount of time it took to do it.

For animation done by Madhouse was pretty decent for when it was released (1993), with ultra-violence shown in all it's uncensored gory schizotech bloodiness to brazen nudity though rare and some pretty distinct character designs and intentional baron scum of the world wasteland settings of Scrap Iron City to the high in the sky, heaven-like Zalem. Does the animation hold up even now?...LA says YES quite honestly, all the little details and knowing it's atmospheric moments and the interesting schizotech is quite the appeal even for an almost 25 year old (by the time LA wrote this review) anime.

Voice acting, well this might be Miki Ito's oldest work LA has seen from her and she does voicing Gally pretty well, from a naive girl to BADASS in a moments notice. Kappei Yamaguchi did ok and Shunsuke Kariya did pretty well as Daisuke. Overall, although LA doesn't know the majority of the voice cast, the voice work done was pretty decent.

Gunnm is by in large at least in LA's eyes, a pretty decent anime about being that underdog and wanting to fulfill your dreams and to that end....yeah LA can see why James Cameron would be soo attached to this anime to the point of trying to make a live action version of it, for what it's worth, we'll see how the live action movie pans out by it's final product but nonetheless Gunnm for as short of an anime OVA it is, does get you invested in this world and maybe seeing an underdog obtain his or her dreams. Simple platitudes but still...

Who is this for?

This is the first question that seems to pop up while watching something that one could keep up with, only because of previous contact with the manga it was based on.

But let’s start at a beginning. It’s an early 90s OVA that comes with all the characteristics of its counterparts: action, blood, a little convoluted plot, sharp style and animated a little better than a standard tv series.

What makes GUNNM special is definitely the source material that elevated and at the same time hindered this particular production. And while the first instinct is to judge something on its own merits, it ... feels impossible to divorce the two, in this case.

Saying the pace is going at a speed of light is no exaggeration. Awkward edits and cuts are happening almost every minute and a first-timer will definitely find themselves lost and confused. It makes it impossible not to see how the story got cut, minced and put together again, into some sort of Frankenstein’s monster. On top of that, new elements and characters were added to help keep some sort of coherency, at least from the storytelling standpoint, to a varying degree of success. New faces were introduced and then immediately dropped. Seeds of plot points and ideas planted but never allowed to grow. It’s all remnants of something bigger and the audience only sees the ghosts that are trying to portray the atmosphere and feel the adaptation was trying to convey.

On the more positive note, the animation and action scenes are hype, though a little floaty. From Madhouse, I expected a little more but it’s good enough to have fun. Whatever music there is, it’s atmospheric. Reminding me even of “Kaneda” from Akira movie with a heavier beat. Also, there is a compelling story hidden in-between the snapshots of a full plot.

Coming back to the question “Who is this for?”. People not acquainted with the manga, will find this at most an ok hour of their life or at worst a confusing mess. Though, maybe the charming lead and concept will make them curious about the source material.
Fans will be reminded all the time that they could be reading a better version of this story instead.
It feels like a demo or a proof of concept. Which may be not far from the truth since the live action movie was made. It kept even the weird, new additions original to the OVA.

With a heavy heart, I can’t really recommend watching it. Maybe if one is extremely curious or doesn’t have anything else to do for an hour. But in any other case? Please, read the manga, you won’t regret it. Or even watch the movie. It’s definitely a better version of this particular version of the story.

Average, not bad enough to make fun of it and not good enough to sing praises. (5/10)

I absolutely love anime from the 90s due to the art, the themes and the sound. So I am a bit biased here. I can just watch anime from this era and enjoy it, even if the story is poor. I feel the same about Gunnm. I read the manga which I thought was a masterpiece and I enjoyed the complex worldbuilding, the characters and the story so I was very eager to watch the OVA. I like how they portrayed Gally, but the story feels rushed. It feels like it was a single episode, rather than an OVA that has a beginning and an ... end. I got a bit bored and distracted, which isn't a good sign either. Overall, I loved seeing characters from the anime come to life on the screen and am happy that I watched it, but it didn't blow me away emotionally or anything. It was just 60 minutes of random screentime.

First show back to the good old days of OVA action. Thankfully, my expectations are rather low for 90s OVAs as in the main, the best you can expect is just above average. I guess this is a good thing as Gunnm really did meet my expectations.

The animation to good for the time. It's definitely nothing special but it does a gold enough job. The pallete is nice, varied for the time. It doesn't stick to the low saturation, pastel colours that linger in the space between grey and beige. Again, same with the animation itself, the colour is still average, not bad, not brilliant. ... Finally, the character design also doesn't stray beyond average in either direction. It's like the creators opened a box labeled 'Standard 90s Anime Assets' and drew them. Again though, this isn't a bad thing, but also isn't exciting enough to elevate the show beyond average.

This story was really disappointing for me. I can imagine the manga for this was much more exciting. The show is more romance than anything else, with very very limited action sequences that due to its episode run of two 30 min episodes, fail to excite or deliver any form of intensity. Essentially, a fight happens, lasts seconds, lacks excitement then back to some half baked romance. Speaking of the romance, again due to its run time, you have no investment in it. There is little to care about. This is something the manga does well I imagine. Sadly, the choice of doing this over 2 episodes has hindered any chance this anime had to be exciting.

All in all, it's perfectly average. If you are a fan of 90s anime, you will likely enjoy it. However, it won't be for it's story or it's characters. It will simply be just because the 90s had a way of captivating the viewer, despite the shows quality.

Imo it wasn't that good. I know it came before but Alita is just a robot Sailor Saturn. I also didn't like the romance in this show since Hugo's a criminal but that doesn't seem to bother Gally at all. That makes me think she's a bitch. I don't have any sympathy for her. Hugo also seemed like a dick when he kissed Gally and said they're partners in crime now. Imo it's really tone deaf since he's a guy who rips peoples spines out to sell.

And I was really disappointed with the world. I thought it would be darker and more sci-fi but the ... world of BAA is more like Samurai Jack. It's very cartoony and the robot stuff is just a mish-mash.

I thought I'd read the manga but I doubt it. It's not my kind of story. I prefer a more serious one. Was interesting to see though how this inspired Texhnolyze with the privileged city above the dark one made of junk.

If Hugo was the OVA original character I probably would've read the manga but since Chiren was, who I thought was actually decent/compelling, there's no way I'd like the manga if the author can come up with a guy like Hugo. I'm surprised this is seinen. It's probably just another one of those shounen with x-rated violence and gore kind of seinen, like Tokyo Ghoul. I hate that type.