Within the category of sci-fi action stories, Battle Angel Alita is one of the very best. Written and illustrated by Yukito Kishiro, the story’s setting is the rundown and harsh, desert-like city known as The Scrapyard. This cesspool of a city contains the worst criminals that humanity has to offer, along with cybernetic freaks terrorizing citizens. The protagonist Alita is introduced to us by a caring doctor/engineer named Ido, who finds her body in a local dump within The Scrapyard. After getting her cybernetic body put back together by Ido, Alita almost immediately experiences the horrors of The Scrapyard’s criminal activity and decides to make it her mission to become a Hunter Warrior, a bounty hunter of sorts that acts as a police force within The Scrapyard. As Alita begins her journey to help the innocent people of The Scrapyard, she soon starts to realize that the job of a hero is filled with both tragedy and self-revelation.
What makes this manga have such an exceptionally well-written story is Alita herself. I don’t mean to exaggerate when I say that she is honestly one of the greatest fictional characters ever created within anime and manga. What makes her character so great is the fact that Yukito Kushiro wrote her to be a sort of “symbol” or representation of what it means to be human and the experiences that human beings go through in life (which is a bit ironic considering the fact that Alita herself is not fully human). Throughout the story, we follow Alita through many locales of an apocalypse filled with despair and fear for survival. And although she witnesses many horrifying events and experiences pain, both physically and emotionally, Alita keeps her image as a messiah among those who are weak and need salvation. Alita contains a sort of charm or spirit of a hero that rises up against evil.
Something that also makes Alita such a great character in the story is the element of her backstory and how she suffers from amnesia. Although Alita is constantly viewed as a girl with an immense amount of courage and willpower, she still contains one major weakness throughout the story, which is her past, which is a puzzle that she constantly tries to solve. Because of this obstacle of hers, many moments of the manga brilliantly portray Alita as a damaged and ultimately flawed individual. Her flawed behavior and individuality causes many undesirable outcomes to befall on the other characters of the story. When these events happen, we witness some of the manga’s very best writing, as it shows that Alita must learn from her mistakes and flaws in order to keep the ones that she loves close to her heart.
Not only is Alita a great character, but so are the many people that she comes across throughout the story, especially the villains she encounters. What makes these supporting characters so great is the fact, like Alita, they all contain some sort of aspect or characteristic that makes them feel human. Almost all of the characters within the story have regrets about their pasts, existential feelings of nihilism, love, and thoughts about their own meaning for existence. This allows the reader to not only connect with Alita, but the many others that she meets throughout her adventures, both good and bad. Sadly, there are some characters that are often forgetful throughout the story and stereotypical. However, that is only a minor flaw considering how many other great characters like Alita there are in the story.
Aside from the excellent writing, Battle Angel Alita also has some of the very best artwork that you can find in manga. Kushiro does a brilliant job of conveying the action that we see in the panels as very gritty, dirty, and emotionally resonate with the characters that are fighting one another. The artwork also allows for you to witness the action on an “epic” scale because of the sheer amount of destruction and chaos from environments that are illustrated. What I also found great about the artwork are the breathtaking illustrations of Alita and other characters’ facial expressions and movements, making you think as though the characters were truly real. Everything from technology, body language and postures, expressions, and action are drawn with superb technique from Kushiro.
Battle Angel Alita is a manga that deserves to be read by science fiction, action and drama fans alike. This manga contains some of the best character writing that you will ever find in a manga or any story for that matter. The artwork is outstanding and Yukito Kushiro does an awesome job at portraying the humanity of Alita and other characters. Alita herself is also the perfect representation of how a hero should be written in an action story. Reading this manga will make you feel as though you’ve seen one of the most exciting and explosive action films of all time, only that this is a manga. Battle Angel Alita is a must read for anyone looking for an exceptionally atmospheric action manga, with a protagonist that is not only badass, but is also realistically relatable.
(Side Note: 1st manga review!!)
