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DrSunshine posted:Hm, I wonder if Hugo's arc could be taken as a deconstruction of the typical shonen hero's arc? Like, Hugo is the perfect example of a shonen hero at first -- headstrong, a bit of a rogue, but good-hearted, and always running determinedly forward towards his dreams and goals. What's more shonen that that?! However, he's not born into that kind of world. The reality of the Scrapyard is too harsh and too cruel for shonen dreams to take flight, which is why it results in his tragic downfall. The way I took it was that it was Alita being a dumb teen and being overly-passionate over a crush, just like a teen would. Volumes 1 and 2 emphasize that she's a kiddish teen, from how she's drawn to the dream she had in volume 1, where she saw herself as an early teenager after getting a body from Daisuke. Remember, her life up to now has been dealing with maniacs as a bounty hunter. Her meeting someone that's mentally her age and has an actual dream and passion would likely make her heart flutter. Remember, the bond wasn't really reciprocated by Hugo throughout most of the arc. When she revealed her love to him right before Hugo's flashback, he says "What are you talking nonsense for? Go home..." and it's only after Alita's forceful kiss that he notices how much he likes her. closeted republican fucked around with this message at 21:19 on Dec 26, 2014 |
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Dec 26, 2014 21:15
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I've finished up the Motorball arc. For me, the biggest thing was that Alita has finally found a concrete goal for herself; find out who she is. She mentioned it back in volume 1, but now it seems she's serious. I think being able to really use her Panzer Kunst skills has allowed her to start connecting with Yoko. beheading murderous junkies that don't put up much of a resistance doesn't really get one's mind connecting. Despite the violence, Alita has finally started her quest to discover who she really is. The way I look at it is that Motorball Alita is a mixture of the lessons she learned from Makaku and Hugo. Her destructiveness echos Makaku using violence as a way to show he's alive, but for Alita, her definition of alive is about finding who she is, not telling the world that she exists. Hugo gave her the ability to dream and go beyond living for the day. The way I look at is that the Makaku and Hugo arcs were classrooms for Alita to learn how to live; in the Motorball arc, she starts applying the lessons. Alita also seems to be getting over her angst from the Hugo arc about being a cyborg instead of a full flesh-and-blood human. Alita sees her bodies as mere tools instead of something fundamental to herself, which is a far cry from her angst in volume 2. She's learning that it isn't flesh and blood that makes you human; it's who you are. I'm interested to see if Alita will stop being so stubborn in future. Considering she's a fighting manga character, I don't think she'll just give up being stubborn, but hopefully Ed's death has taught her that not everything has to be a hill she should die on. The way I look at it is that she should be stubborn where it really matters, not on trivial things, like when you really want to keep your number in a futuristic blood sport. One thing I was worried about when starting the arc and saw Alita's behavior was that Alita had completely abandoned who she was and became the self-centered and ruthless Scrapyard citizens that pissed her off in volume 1. However, it seems that's not the case; Alita still has her sense of justice, as seen when she killed the Motorball dude that barreled through the bystanders. She straight up-called him evil right before she killed him, which showed me she still has plenary of good in her. She's more interested in herself than before, but she isn't the self-centered rear end in a top hat that the other Scrapyarders are, as her teammates in her fight against Jashugan note that she's not actually into Motorball for the self-serving glory, like the others are. At the end of the arc, Motorball Alita is still the Alita we all know, but with her innocence replaced with toughness, which is reflected in how she's drawn. I felt pretty bad for poor Ed. At first, he seems like the nice coach that truly believes in Alita. However, it turns out that Ed is actually a jealous and bitter man that's upset that his rival managed to not only survive the accident he was in, he also managed to become the champ while Ed retired because of drug addiction, the manipulated Alita into being his surrogate for revenge. Ed thinks that he's a failure, but in reality, Jashugan is the one that's actually doomed because of his slow death via sci-fi brain cancer. Ed could actually live past Motorball, while Jashu was living on borrowed time that Death was eventually going to collect. Poor Ed was just too consumed by his anger to see that he really was the one that got off the best out of the two. The art in the motorball arc made the fighting very enjoyable and understandable. I've read some manga back when where the fighting was almost impossible to understand because of poo poo art, but the art in BAA makes it easy to see what's going on and how it's all connected. On another note, Tiphares is pretty dickish. First, they consider maintaining a semblance of law and order in the Scrapyard a "debug routine" for the Factories, then it's revealed that they set-up Motorball as a way to redirect the Scrapyard's frustrations. You'd think that putting the welfare of the Scrapyard's inhabitants would be cheaper than all of this. Overall, I feel that the Motorball arc was the most interesting out of all the arcs so far because of the good fights and the twists and turns Alita's character went through. The mixture of character development and fighting was just right; it had interesting fights that you made you want to keep reading to see how a cannon-fodder character would get wrecked, then gave you equally-addicting character development sections when you were starting to get tired of fighting.
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Dec 27, 2014 14:17
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The beginning of the race where Jashugan efficiently obliterates the entire team over the course of about half a dozen pages without a single word being said is still one of my favorite sequences in any art form. This is a sport that is just pure noise in almost every aspect, and here is carnage being displayed completely silently, the first time I've really been able to feel that it is happening in slow-motion(impressive for a still image to wordlessly convey that, to be sure) as the other racers only begin to react as Jashugan brutally dismantles them. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the artwork in addition to the characters, too. I've always felt BAA(and especially Last Order, which I won't go into more detail on why until you're there), while having a fairly absurd artstyle at times(Makaku's ridiculous face and tongue come to mind), is incredibly effective at conveying the tone of a scene, the utter despondence that pervades every corner of the Scrapyard, the adrenaline and addiction of Motorball, etc. Man I really can't wait until you meet Desty Nova. Talk about a memorable bastard.
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Dec 27, 2014 15:13
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Loved BAA and tried to get into Last Order and was put off by some vampire story arc I barely remember. I will go back and finish it now. Can't believe there is still more to this story and that it's still moving forward. It's such a well realized universe but the bleakness kept me from wanting to know everything. Hugo's arc is the defining story to me. I loved the rest of the original series, but that's the story that I remember best because of how it played on your hopes and expectations of fiction but is just realistically cruel. I didn't like the character at all when I read it as a kid but even then it struck pretty hard when he dies so desperately. Actually, now I'm gonna go Amazon the original series first cause I need to go re appreciate that stuff.
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Dec 27, 2014 15:38
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Yeah, because of closeted republican's amazing in-depth summaries, I've decided to go back and reread all of BAA and LO from start to finish, just for the sake of re-experiencing all the joy that comes from it. Kishiro's art really is fantastic, and really helps sell things. All the action and fighting, like you said, is incredibly clear and well-paced compared to a lot of other fighting manga that I've read. And there's a certain richness or "fullness" to the linework that really makes the world seem richly detailed and lived-in, that gives it the sense of being a space where people have inhabited for years and years.Captain Invictus posted:The beginning of the race where Jashugan efficiently obliterates the entire team over the course of about half a dozen pages without a single word being said is still one of my favorite sequences in any art form. This is a sport that is just pure noise in almost every aspect, and here is carnage being displayed completely silently, the first time I've really been able to feel that it is happening in slow-motion(impressive for a still image to wordlessly convey that, to be sure) as the other racers only begin to react as Jashugan brutally dismantles them. Oh my gosh, yes!! That scene was really incredible, it had a truly cinematic feel to it. And the moment that Alita gets thrown - CRASH! - into a wall, it all bursts back into focus, with all the noise of the spectators and the sound of engines. It was a masterfully drawn scene.
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Dec 27, 2014 15:47
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Honestly, it's no mystery why James Cameron loves this series and wants to adapt it when you think of what makes Kishiro's art so distinctive.
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Dec 28, 2014 00:30
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Chinaman7000 posted:Loved BAA and tried to get into Last Order and was put off by some vampire story arc I barely remember. I will go back and finish it now. Can't believe there is still more to this story and that it's still moving forward. It's such a well realized universe but the bleakness kept me from wanting to know everything.
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Dec 28, 2014 01:45
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I decided to re-read volume 4 because I was kinda tired when I first went through it. I have to say that the race at the start is fan-loving-tastic because of the art. You not only know exactly what's going on, you can just feel the speed in the match and the intensity each hit and kick does. My favorite parts are all of the aerial maneuvers Altia does because Kushiro makes each of her moves look so goddamn good and powerful. After re-reading it, I still think that Alita is still mostly the same person she was in volumes 1 and 2; she just hides it behind her toughness and a new sense of selfishness, the latter which wears off as the arc goes on. I kind of consider the Motorball arc an experiment for Alita to see how she would be as a selfish person. In the end, she managed to start making steps towards discovering who she was, but at the cost of Ed's life and scaring the poo poo out of Ido. Also, I got volume 6 in the mail today, so I won't feel like I"m screwing myself over when I read volume 5 later on. 
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Dec 28, 2014 02:20
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You could just read scanlations while waiting for the books if you don't want to wait, you know. There's the entirety of Last Order and BAA out there, and I don't recall the translations being horrible.
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Dec 28, 2014 04:23
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Captain Invictus posted:You could just read scanlations while waiting for the books if you don't want to wait, you know. There's the entirety of Last Order and BAA out there, and I don't recall the translations being horrible. Actually no, don't really look for the LO scanlations. You don't want to ruin the experience by getting it through some of the god-awful garbage that Rippersanime put out in their early attempts.
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Dec 28, 2014 05:20
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Maybe I just blocked it out from my mind then.
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Dec 28, 2014 05:39
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I finished up volume 5. That was...quite a chapter.  First off, Desty Nova is a badass. His theory is nuts and gets people killed, but the dude sticks with it. Hell, in the Novamobile near the end of the volume, he pretty much admitted that all of his experiments have ended the same, but that doesn't stop the dude from trying. He's a complete nutjob, but drat if he doesn't do it with style and that slight offness that makes you love the dude. I wanna see what schemes he has cooking in the later volumes. He's basically a mad scientist taken to 11 working on a bizarre theory and is such a pimp that he has a nude woman on the facade of his lab and has his own big-boobed lover. Oh Nova.  I really felt bad for Alita in this volume. She not only gets completely hosed over and has her life ruined, she also learns that playing the hero and going in guns-blazing can have serious consequences in the harshest way possible. Still, what I liked is how she took it; you could tel that having everyone dead broke her, but she was still determined to destroy Zapan. But, no matter what bad poo poo happened, she never gave up, even if it meant being arrested for firing a gun. The ending was quite sad but heartwarming at the same time, and I hope that Alita still remembers her time with Ido and friends later on the series, even if someone has to help her remember.  Kushiro did a great job with selling Zapan as a sympathetic bad guy. Yes, he was a complete maniac, but the way he was drawn made him look more like a pathetic and broken man instead of a monster. Even after he got the Berserker body, I felt bad for the guy because he was denied his chance at finally resting for one of Nova's insane experiments which reduced him to pure rage incarnate. He was a complete dick, but he didn't deserve that. The chapter also really brought to a head the differences between Alita and almost everyone else in the Scrapyard. During Zapan's rampage, the Scrapyarders were scared out of their wits and saw Alita as a sacrifice to save their own skin, while Alita was determined to take down Zapan instead of lying down and dying like a bitch. I think for Alita, her thing is all about taking on life's challenges instead of running away from them. The Scrapyarders only care about themselves, but when danger strikes, they poo poo their pants instead of standing up. Alita actually has principles and sticks with them, no matter the consequences. She's brave in all the right ways. I have to give Kushiro credit for the art. Normally it's the fight scenes and backgrounds that wow me, but this time it was Alita and Zapan's facial expressions that really got me hooked. The dude really knows how to draw emotions on character's faces when it comes time. Zapan's bulging eyes and terrified look on his face really show how far gone he is even before being absorbed by the Berserker body, while Alita's face was perfect for helping the reader understand how she felt at a certain time. Whether it was the joy of being with her friends and family or her mixture of mourning, sadness, and rage at Desty for Ido's death, you could easily feel what she felt. All of the chapters have been great so far, but I think this one has been the most touching because of all the turmoil and pain Alita has gone through. She survives, but at a huge price emotionally and physically. Alita makes plenty of mistakes, but at the end of the day, she has the bravery that the Scrapyard needs. Now I'm all sad after thinking about how Alita's old life is gone. 
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Dec 28, 2014 11:38
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These writeups are really good and it's taking all my willpower not to spoil stuff in the future to tell you exactly how right you are.
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Dec 28, 2014 12:34
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closeted republican posted:Zapan also echos Hugo's fate. He became obsessed with a dream; ruining Alita, no matter if it meant her dead or [ b]he turned into a monster[/b]. However, I think he really wanted her dead, which is why he lost it when she showed him Hugo's head. His back-up way for ruining Alita was just an excuse to assure himself. When he couldn't legally kill Alita, he lost it. I'm sure he'll survive because he also has something besides his dream; being really pissed off. I just really had to restrain myself from spoiling what ended up happening to Zapan in volume 5, because of how remarkably prescient it turned out to be. Ultimately I think Zapan's story, his tragic fate and downfall, really ties into Desty Nova's eternal quest to uncover the meaning of karma: can we escape the bonds of fate that tie us to other people and the world? Ultimately, Zapan would be, in Nova's mind, a victim of his karma, unable to let go of his resentment and hatred of Alita.
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Dec 28, 2014 15:50
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DrSunshine posted:I just really had to restrain myself from spoiling what ended up happening to Zapan in volume 5, because of how remarkably prescient it turned out to be. Ultimately I think Zapan's story, his tragic fate and downfall, really ties into Desty Nova's eternal quest to uncover the meaning of karma: can we escape the bonds of fate that tie us to other people and the world? Ultimately, Zapan would be, in Nova's mind, a victim of his karma, unable to let go of his resentment and hatred of Alita. Goddamn, I was completely right.  I don't think Nova's experiments are going to pan out in the Scrapyard, where being a selfish jackass rules the day. If you can only think about yourself, there's no way you can get past your own karma. Of course, since he's a mad scientist, it won't stop him from trying.
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Dec 29, 2014 02:25
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Done with Volume 6 and re-read it. Poor, poor Alita. I get the feeling that she was basically broken by the time we see her on the train. She's depressed as all hell and it seems the only thing driving her is finding Ido. Her tone in most of her dialogue and the faces she makes sometimes are very melancholy, like she's accepted that she's all but gone and that she's just someone's tool now. She considers herself as something bad to others now because of what happened with Zapan, and, to a lesser extent, the end of Motorball, as indicated by what she first says to Figure and her reminiscing about how everyone seemed to hate her in her dream-like state at the start of the volume. I feel the high she gets out of battle stems from trying to find SOMETHING positive out of her experiences as a person desperate for a little bit of enjoyment in her life. Of course, it could also be a thing from her time as Yoko that's popping up after fighting for so long as a coping mechanism. Her state throughout the volume is even sadder when you consider the somewhat hopeful speech she gave when she was accepting Bigott's offer. It was nice seeing her genuinely laugh at the end of the volume. It's probably something she hasn't done in ages. I think her depression is also why she falls for Figure so quickly. Figure is Alita as she used to be; independent and willing to do the right thing. Most importantly, Figure still has a zest for life; he never gives up on kicking Alita's rear end during their fight and he teases her to the point where she gets angry, but in a silly way. I feel he's the one that reawakened Alita's old self, which can be seen when she saved Figure and Yolg twice. Alita does have a thing for falling for dudes that awaken some part of her, as seen with Hugo. I feel that Kushiro good a good job at making Figure his own character instead of just being a living pep talk for Alita and Yolg. He's like the old Alita, but greatly amplified; he's cocky and willing to do the right thing, no matter what. At first I wasn't sold on him, but he's a fun and enjoyable character that adds some humor to what would otherwise be a sad chapter. Having a dumb normal guy being able to take on cyborgs and win is neat as well, considering that almost everybody in the story before was some sort of cyborg. I want to see more of him. During my re-reread, I noticed that there are a surprising about of subtle hints that Knucklehead was more than he seemed. The Bar Jack characters constantly talked about how Knucklehead was a dumbass with little skills, which now seems like a big sign that Knucklehead was actually the opposite and just needed an opportunity to strike. Remember: never doubt the abilities of failure characters when push comes to shove. It's not like there isn't a precedent for this in BAA; Tiegel won a race and gave Alita the chance to remember the secrets of Panzer Kunst by ramming Jash off of her, and he was described as a failure. At first, I wasn't 100% sold on the Mad Max theme the chapter had when I was flipping through the pages. However, I think it works well and fits the Alitaverse. The Scrapyard is a giant shithole that seems to be various junk from Tipharies glued together in a way to make a city. A desert surrounding the area with more sophisticated-looking Mad Max bandits fits the whole "everything is hosed" theme the Earth's surface has in the Alitaverse. The bit with the water walls of doom did bring up something; how the hell way Nova able to get so far away from Tiphares at the end of volume 5? It seems to me the whole Tiphares area is on lockdown and getting out would be impossible for something as simple as the Novamobile. Considering how silly Nova and the Alitaverse is, I wouldn't be surprised if it was something like Desty whoring out his assistant (which I'm sure she would enjoy) to pass through a checkpoint. It seems to me that the entire theme of volume 6 is getting Alita on the road to recovering from her deep depression and becoming a person again. As someone with depression, I can fully emphasize with Alita and how she seems to have things in order at first, but in reality she's a broken mess. At least her depression seems to be temporary. I'm rooting for her to eventually fully recover. Also, the Socket Soldiers used by Bar Jack are creepy but really drat cool. EDIT: Oh yeah, forgot to mention the art. Once again, Kushiro did a great job with illustrating facial expressions. It was pretty easy to read how the characters felt throughout the chapter, especially Alita. Berserk Alita was just off compared to what we've seen of Alita before, with the giant eyes and bloodthirsty grin on her face, which was a huge contrast to the blank Alita drawn when her depression was showing itself. How he drew Yolg also made it a lot easier to sympathize with him because of how pathetic he looked. And, as usual, the fights were easy to understand and enjoy. closeted republican fucked around with this message at 14:09 on Dec 29, 2014 |
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Dec 29, 2014 13:55
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closeted republican posted:The bit with the water walls of doom did bring up something; how the hell way Nova able to get so far away from Tiphares at the end of volume 5? It seems to me the whole Tiphares area is on lockdown and getting out would be impossible for something as simple as the Novamobile. Considering how silly Nova and the Alitaverse is, I wouldn't be surprised if it was something like Desty whoring out his assistant (which I'm sure she would enjoy) to pass through a checkpoint. Well obviously he got past because he's Desty Nova, and an awesome mad genius. Doyyy. Who's to say that he hadn't already built some kind of secret underground escape tunnel leading right out of the Scrapyard, exclusively for his Novamobile? Also, the system seems designed so that it's very hard for desert wanderers to get in, but still allows necessary traffic to get out through the checkpoints. I'm sure that as a Tipharean and a citizen of some note, Desty Nova has arrangements with Tiphares to come and go as he wishes. EDIT: Oh man, so you're nearing the end of the original run now. The last 3 books are one long continuous arc, and things are going to get a bit crazy. Also, the ending of Volume 6 has got to be one of the most emotionally satisfying endings I've ever seen, with just Alita and Figure with these huge-mouthed anime grins of pure joy and relief. Kishiro doesn't normally do very exaggerated expressions, but it worked amazingly well. DrSunshine fucked around with this message at 16:45 on Dec 29, 2014 |
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Dec 29, 2014 15:49
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closeted republican posted:I don't think Nova's experiments are going to pan out in the Scrapyard, where being a selfish jackass rules the day. If you can only think about yourself, there's no way you can get past your own karma. Been waiting for the next volume so I could highlight this. You were right: it didn't pan out that people could get past their karma in the Scrapyard.
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Dec 29, 2014 16:49
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DrSunshine posted:
Thanks for the heads up. Since the arc is three volumes long, I'll break it down into reading each volume per night so that I don't read the rest of the series at once. Any cliffhangers might help make things more exciting, anyways. Volume 6's ending was very nice. Alita is a depressed wreck and her and Figure are out of water. It feels like the end, when all of the sudden a huge storm rolls through and it rains both water and fish. You can't help but smile when Alita and Figure let out these big and goofy laughs.
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Dec 29, 2014 19:28
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closeted republican posted:Thanks for the heads up. Since the arc is three volumes long, I'll break it down into reading each volume per night so that I don't read the rest of the series at once. Any cliffhangers might help make things more exciting, anyways.    
DrSunshine fucked around with this message at 22:15 on Dec 29, 2014 |
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Dec 29, 2014 22:10
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Aww man, you didn't post her reaction after Figure ate her food at the last second. Seeing her be goofy and fun is always a treat in volume 6.
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Dec 30, 2014 00:38
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DrSunshine posted:Aqua Knight was great stuff, but it ended pretty conclusively, I think. It's actually really worthwhile to track down the books, even though they're out of print, in order to get a look at Kishiro's art. There's a several-years gap between the original series and BAA:LO, and a major stumbling block for me, at first, was getting used to the art style in LO, which is much more polished. Aqua Knight fits neatly into the slot between the two and you can see how it's the perfect transition phase between 90's Kishiro and 00's Kishiro.
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Dec 30, 2014 06:47
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closeted republican posted:Aww man, you didn't post her reaction after Figure ate her food at the last second. Seeing her be goofy and fun is always a treat in volume 6.  Yeah, this is something I am realizing as I'm working my way through Tears of an Angel -- Alita's just so gosh-darned cute sometimes!! 
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Dec 30, 2014 07:10
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Read and reread volume 7: I wasn't sold on the volume when I first read it, but after a reread, I think it's a lot more enjoyable. I don't think it's as strong as the previous volumes, but this one seems like it's meant to set up the final bits of the manga than anything else. It's good to see Alita finally getting a sense of purpose again. She's finally (re)discovered a purpose for her abilities, which is great news. Most importantly, it feels like she has something to live for again; life itself. I really was right about her mental state in volume 6 and how her interactions with Figure, most notably the end of volume 6, brought back the old Alita. I'm also happy to see that she's gained enough of a sense of what life is that she no longer lives just to get high as a kite from battle because it was not only weird, but showed how desperate she was to be happy in some sort of way. Now, she has a purpose and can finally start getting back on track again, even if it almost cost her life against Den. I'm glad for her. Also, I noticed Alita was a bit more goofy than she has been in the past. She gets gets teased by her operator, then teases her back, sasses Koyami after rescuing her, teases Koyami for breaking up with someone, has her own mini-Alita that does what she thinks and beat up Lou, and fights a centaur-bot in a goddamn wedding dress. It's good to see Alita's fun side shine again. I did notice a big difference in Alita compared to earlier chapters; she doesn't act on her anger like she used to. Back in earlier volumes, she flipped the gently caress out and let her anger over things like the guys at the bar unwilling to take down Makaku being her main drive. However, in this volume, she actually restrains herself when Den talks about his plan to wipe out Tiphares instead of going "gently caress YEAH LETS KILL 'EM!". Even Den is surprised that she's unwilling to go with his plan, even though he found out how much she hated Tiphares as Kaos. My guess is that it's because Alita has now found a purpose for her and her skills; to protect people instead of just being Hero of the Moment. Taking down Tiphares would technically protect people, but at the cost of wiping out everyone in the Scrapyard. Acting on such a large amount of hate can lead to terrible consequences, as she hinted herself. I can't get a read on what Alita thinks about Tiphares. She insults it at the start of the chapter, but after finding a purpose for her skills, she claims to Kaos that she's starting to view herself as a link between Tiphares and the Scrapyard instead of Tiphares' slave. But, before the Den fight, she seems to be only interested in the Scrapyard's welfare. At the moment, I think her talk with Kaos about Tiphares and the Scrapyard was just BS so she could link back up with Lou and find Nova and Ido. The Den and Alita fight was short, but really cool. I love seeing Alita take down giant foes with her skills and weapons because of how badass it is seeing a short girl wipe the floor with a giant. It isn't her skills that makes her a beast; it's how she uses them. At firs,t I thought Koyami was a bratty dumbass, but then it hit me; that's the point. She's about 12 years old and she's going off on adventures that are far more than a 12 year old, even one raised in a dump like the Scrapyard, could handle. She's way in over her head, thinks she can coast along with her gambling skills, and doesn't understand the gravity of the situation she's in when she joins Den. I like Lou. I know she's supposed to be the stereotypical scatterbrained female character in anime and manga, but there's something plain fun and enjoyable about her. She plays off of Alita's goofy side well and has her own moments that lighten the mood. I think she also worked well as a way showing that Tiphares isn't Shiny rear end in a top hat Land and that it doesn't deserve to get wiped off of the map, oppressive as their system is. Kaos is pretty creepy. The dude repairs Alita, then tries to make her his waifu as soon as she regains consciousness. At least Alita was smart enough to play him so that he wouldn't wreck everything, but still man, get a hold of yourself. I am interested in his relationship with Den, though. I get the feeling that Den and all of Barjack is just another Desty Nova experiment. The narration has been emphasizing how unwilling Kaos is to use his skills, so I'm guessing Den is some sort of wacky Nova experiment to see what would happen if Kaos could overcome his karma and put his skills to use. Finally, I want my own mini-Alita doll to screw around with like Lou does.
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Dec 31, 2014 02:21
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Done with volume 8. Volume 8 seems to be about kicking down poor Alita as much as possible. She goes from helping Kaos, to learning that she is truly alone with no family, then to giving up on life and having AR-2 nearly kill her because she realized the ten years of pain she went through were just so some dickhead could make heartless copies of her and her fighting skills. I actually felt pretty drat bad for her in this volume, moreso than volume 2 or volume 5. At least in those volumes, Alita had some positive things, like how she could go back to Ido if she wanted at the end of Volume 2 or made sure that the Scrapyard was safe at the end of volume 5. In volume 8, she's basically reduced to nothing; she feels alone and that she went through the worst period of her life as Alita just so she could serve as a template for killbots. The world basically beats down her heart and nearly drives to to suicide by kilbot. I like how Alita eventually manages to pull herself from her rut thanks to Lou putting it all on the line to save Alita from AR-2 and remembering her promise to Figure Four. It reminds me a bit of what I learned when recovering from depression; no matter what, there's always an opportunity for things to get better sometime down the line. One thing I've noticed during the TUNED arc is that there’s an emphasis on showing Alita's emotional weaknesses more than previous arc. Alita cries a decent amount of times, acts childish, is impulsive, and loses hope in the TUNED arc. It seems to me that this arc is meant to show that Alita isn't perfect; in fact, she can be just like a kid, have her heart broken, and just plain give up on life despite being a hero and rekindling her love for life after 10 years of depression. She wasn't perfect in the past, but even as a secret agent, Alita is still a human being with her own lifestyle and beliefs, some of which aren't what you'd expect from a professional rear end-kicker like her. My favorite parts of volume 8 are the ones that involved the Alita clones. AR-2 brings Alita's issues to a head and manages to beat down Alita not through skills, but by taking a giant poo poo on Alita's trials she past ten years. Her entire existence spits in Alita's face and her efforts, doing more damage to Alita through psychological ways than through any of her copied Panzer Kunst skills. AR-2 may. AR-10 is Alita without any sense of morals and her love of fighting during her period as a TUNED agent cranked up to 10. AR-10 embodies how the clones, at least at the start, were heartless bastards that show the importance of having a heart and caring for others is for Alita. Without the nurturing from Ido, she's just be a monster. I'm beginning to like Kaos a lot more than in the previous volume. He's admitted he has a problem where he doesn't live for himself and finally takes a stand against his dad and his experiments instead of being a giant wimp that drives around and plays music in a giant camper. I think he still has to come to terms with the emotions he gains from his powers, especially regarding Alita, but now he's starting to carve his own path instead of being a fusion of poo poo he's learned from his powers over the years. Even though he can be creepy, it is explained as an effect of his powers, showing that learning about the past just by touching has significant downsides, despite it sounding cool as hell. I thought he was annoying at first, but now I can't wait to see what happens next to him. Earlier in the thread, DrSunshine mentioned how Yukito is good at developing what would otherwise be throwaway side characters. The evil Spielberg lookalike in is a good example of this; the guy goes from a random cameraman to a bizarre psychopath pervert that discovers his true joys within a single chapter and it ties into the larger plot. Even though Evil Spielberg is a complete bastard, you can't help but understand and enjoy his story and his mini-journey of self-discovery. Plus, his story is actually tied into the main plot; because of his love for destruction, he prevents AR-10 from killing Koyomi and gives Fate a chance to take out AR-10. In other stories, a character like him would just be a living lesson as to how hosed up the story's setting is, but in BAA, he moves the plot along and is somewhat sympathetic, despite the horrific things he's done. I have to admit that I wasn't really interested in his story, but after re-reading volume 8, he was quite interesting for a throwaway side character. Lou is also an interesting character. At first, she was presented as a gimmick ditzy character for Alita to be friends with, but in volume 8, she finds a real purpose and takes a stand for her friends and new-found beliefs. She discovers that, thanks to Alita, the surface-dwellers are people as well and begins thinking about how to connect the Scrapyard and Tiphares instead of keeping them separated. I consider Lou pulling a gun on AR-2's operator somewhat of a symbolic rejection of the current Tiphares. TUNED trying to dispose of Alita is typical of Tiphares' rear end in a top hat ways, but Lou pulling a gun on AR-2's operator is Lou telling Tipahres that she isn't going to stand for their poo poo anymore. It's not deep or anything, but it does show that Lou is more than what she seems at first glance. Overall, I liked this volume a lot more than the previous one. Seeing Alita get emotionally stomped on was heartbreaking to the point where I actually thought “poor baby” a few times while rereading it, but I'm glad she managed to recover. Even though volume 9's ending isn't official, I still want to see what happens in it. Also, anyone else notice that the Alita clones never make Alita's trademark octopus lips?
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Jan 1, 2015 08:52
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Wait wait wait. So Last Order finished? gently caress yeah. This was the comic series that got me reading/watching soem anime when I was in high school. Glad to see it might finish. Ramadu fucked around with this message at 09:51 on Jan 1, 2015 |
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Jan 1, 2015 09:46
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closeted republican posted:Also, anyone else notice that the Alita clones never make Alita's trademark octopus lips? It's a sign that they're soulless machines, octo lips are what makes you human!!! Excellent trip reports for volumes 7 and 8. I think the first time I read volume 7, and saw Kaos falling in love with Alita, I was a bit pissed and was like "Oh great, another dude falling for Alita  ", but seeing how Alita really doesn't reciprocate his feelings and actually sort of pities him makes a great deal of sense. I actually quite like how Kaos develops through the series -- he goes from kind of a nerdy wimp into something of a real badass. Volume 8 has one of my favorite fight scenes in the series, with Alita's duel against the TUNED robot. The moves and hits are all incredibly fluid and powerful, and it's real neat seeing Panzerkunst vs Panzerkunst finally, after volume after volume of Alita vs. Giant Dude. It really shows off how graceful and fluid the style is. EDIT: closeted republican posted:Kaos is pretty creepy. The dude repairs Alita, then tries to make her his waifu as soon as she regains consciousness. At least Alita was smart enough to play him so that he wouldn't wreck everything, but still man, get a hold of yourself. I am interested in his relationship with Den, though. I get the feeling that Den and all of Barjack is just another Desty Nova experiment. The narration has been emphasizing how unwilling Kaos is to use his skills, so I'm guessing Den is some sort of wacky Nova experiment to see what would happen if Kaos could overcome his karma and put his skills to use. Oh my god, hahaha! You pretty much hit the nail on the head with this one. I'm sure you know now, given volume 8. DrSunshine fucked around with this message at 17:31 on Jan 1, 2015 |
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Jan 1, 2015 15:05
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closeted republican posted:Earlier in the thread, DrSunshine mentioned how Yukito is good at developing what would otherwise be throwaway side characters. The evil Spielberg lookalike in is a good example of this; the guy goes from a random cameraman to a bizarre psychopath pervert that discovers his true joys within a single chapter and it ties into the larger plot. Even though Evil Spielberg is a complete bastard, you can't help but understand and enjoy his story and his mini-journey of self-discovery. Plus, his story is actually tied into the main plot; because of his love for destruction, he prevents AR-10 from killing Koyomi and gives Fate a chance to take out AR-10. In other stories, a character like him would just be a living lesson as to how hosed up the story's setting is, but in BAA, he moves the plot along and is somewhat sympathetic, despite the horrific things he's done. I have to admit that I wasn't really interested in his story, but after re-reading volume 8, he was quite interesting for a throwaway side character. I really like how most of the villains are just victims of circumstances beyond their control, it's a good way of showing how hosed up the setting is. A broken world makes for broken people. Very few of the characters are simply evil for evil's sake, they have goals and drives that make them feel real. Even a run of the mill serial killer like Buick gets a character arc and a badass death. I especially like Den. The guy is a giant cybernetic rage monster leading an army of murderers and rapists across the desert on his personal quest for revenge against the "gods," but when his doomsday weapon proves ineffectual and gets blown up he orders his troops to disband in order to prevent further losses.   Things get even better in the Last Order, when Kishiro gets a lot more room to play around. Some of the backstory arcs went on a little too long for a monthly release, but they're fun to read in the collected volumes. Every character, from humanity's greatest hero to its worst villain, is sympathetic, flawed, and human. Even the robots. And I love the ridiculous infodumps: 
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Jan 1, 2015 20:35
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I marathoned through last order, but again the ending just felt realy rushed with loads of stuff not wrapped up idk. Was there a reason for it this time?
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Jan 1, 2015 23:21
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track day bro! posted:I marathoned through last order, but again the ending just felt realy rushed with loads of stuff not wrapped up idk. Was there a reason for it this time? Last Order's ending is in no way rushed. That poo poo was coming to a head for literal years with tons of chapters kind of setting up (spoilered for Closeted Republican's benefit) Mbadi's and keytheres' downfall. Unless you mean Alita Quest, which is just a wrap up of the original Alita Volumes for all the folks on Earth. The not wrapped up stuff specifically in Last Order is being carried on to the next series, on Mars. Two Tone Shoes fucked around with this message at 01:23 on Jan 2, 2015 |
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Jan 2, 2015 01:18
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Finished up Volume 9, and with it, BAA. The first half of the volume was just as good as volume 8, but the story took a noticeable drop in quality after Alita woke up from her flashback as Yoko. The story goes a lot faster, to the point where there doesn't feel like there's a lot of explanation for what the hell is going on. Because I read that LO ignored BAA's ending, I treated BAA's ending as a “What if?” situation than a definite ending, which is probably one of the reasons why I was underwhelmed by the second half of the story and the ending. Anyone else feel really bad for Alita in the Ouroiboros machine? First, she kills the person she knew as a father twice, causing her to break down and beg for a way to change things while in tears. Then, the poor girl finally gets to live a carefree life as a little girl; something her fighting skills denied to her. It was sad enough that even Nova fell for his own trap. However, she eventually shakes it off and tells fake Ido that she knew it was all a dream, but indulged herself. I consider it an implicit admission from her that she'll never be the happy and peaceful little girl that Ido wanted, and that poo poo will always be happening to her. Alita never had the period of innocence that children have, and that's a real tragedy. I liked how Alita was an unstoppable badass after defeating getting out of the Ouroboros machine for the first time. Alita whoops Nova's rear end, says she'll happily take down the entire AR series after Bigott threatens her, and both of Nova's assistants were turned effortlessly into mush within a few pages with little effort. Cocky and powerful Alita is always fun to read. The bio-chip reveal was cool and weird at the same time. Instead of showing something like an MRI, Nova slices his goddamn head open to show everyone the brain chip. I do understand Bigott's breakdown; it seems to me that Tiphares had prided itself on being pure human, but then Nova shows that Tiphares' citizens are actually machines piloting a human body. Everyone assumes they have a brain, and having such a fundamental pillar of who you are could cause anyone to seriously doubt themselves and lose it. I admit that I'd lose it just like Ido and Bigott did if something that big was revealed to me. However, I'm disappointed that not a lot happened with with the reveal besides explaining why Ido got his memory wiped and using it to destroy the GIB. The LO preview I saw at the very end of volume 9 suggests that it does become a Big Deal in LO. Also, I like how Nova is hardcore enough that he not only slices his head to show the secret of Tiphares, he casually puts his severed part of head back on like it was a hat. He does not give a poo poo. As for the actual ending itself; yeah, you can tell it was rushed. There's all sorts of weird things that happen in the ending, like Alita going nuts and decided to destroy a suicide booth for...reasons, the central computer getting really mad and trying to kill everyone for some unexplained reason, and Lou the airhead shrugging of the bio-chip reveal within two or so panels, even though it drove a hardass to utter insanity earlier in the volume. LADDER disappears without a trace once Alita gets planted, and the whole bio-chip thing is never mentioned again, despite being shown as a major plot point earlier on in the story. The ending was also kinda sappy. Alita undergoes an Ultimate Sacrifice within the span of a handful of pages and everything ends up being hunky-dory on Earth. Everyone ends up happy and nice, with things like Kaos and Lou getting together out of the blue and nothing bad happening with the Scrapyard and Tiphares getting together. The Alitaverise is a shite place to be, so having everything become just fine and dandy in the ending seems to miss the point. I liked the flashback to Alita's time as Yoko. It's surprising to see that Alita was once a stone-cold terrorist bitch that had no problems offing anyone wounded and didn't bat an eye committing a suicide bombing. Having Alita actually watch the dream and disagree with Yoko's extreme and brutal actions is a good way to the reader to understand that Alita and Yoko are two different people with their own values. Yoko is ruthless and obedient, but Alita is caring and willing to do things her own way instead of following everyone's orders or common wisdom. However, Alita isn't completely different from Yoko; both seem to despite weakness, or at least what they perceive as weakness. In volume 9, Alita uses the word “weakling” on Nova, which is the exact same word Yoko uses when she shanks the dude that admitted he had a crush on her right before the ship she was on got destroyed. I'm hoping no other parts of Yoko appear in Alita in LO. And, for my thoughts on the series as a whole: Alita is awesome. I love how she's a complete character with her own flaws instead of just being a Badass Karate Girl. Yes, she can take down killer cyborgs ten times her size with her fighting skills, but she's not perfect. She has her own fears and makes plenty of mistakes. Her hotheadedness eventually ruins her old life in the Scrapyard and helps leads to the production of soulless clones of her for black ops operations, one of which nearly kills her. She gets emotionally beaten down in volume 8 to the point where the wants to commit suicide by killbot instead of continuing to live. As a TUNED agent, she slumps into a deep depression, despite being a badass secret agent that can carve through a group of heavily-armed soldiers with little difficulty, and it's only though Figure Four's antics she finally reawakens and finds a purpose again. My favorite parts of BAA are the ones where Alita has to confront her emotions; like her breakdown when dealing with AR-2, finding Ido, the Ouroboros section in volume 9, her love for Hugo, and being “saved” by Figure Four. Those sections show that she's just as vulnerable, immature, and scared as the rest of us. Seeing things like her slinking around Farm 21 because of how nervous she was meeting Ido again helps her connect to the audience and gives us a chance to see that Super Secret Agent Alita is really just one part of Alita instead of being all who she is. She can be a teenage girl with butterflies in her stomach, among other things, as well. One thing I liked is how Alita story progresses to show how flawed she is. In volume 1 and 2, she's the perfect hero; she kills scrub criminals like it's nothing, takes down one of the most-wanted criminals in the Scrapyard, and saves Koyomi in the process of defeating said criminal. But then, things go wrong at the start of volume 3. Despite her best efforts, Hugo dies, then things start getting worse. She manages to track down Ido and Desty, but at great cost, including depression and attempted suicide, to herself. Earlier in my posts, I noted that Alita was special; she actually cared for others and wanted to help, unlike the self-centered assholes in the Scrapyard. Despite the trials she goes through, she keeps these principles for herself, even if she did stumble during volume 6. In volume 7, she figures out how to put her kindness into action: protecting others. However, I think protecting has been her driving force from all the way back in volume 1; it just took her until volume 7 until she consciously realized it. I think it's one of the reasons why she hits it off so well with Lou; both of them want to help others instead of just being selfish dicks. Another thing I really liked about BAA is how every character has their own flaws and motivations. Everyone has their own good and bad sides, no matter what they seem. Ido is a nice guy that gets his kicks killing people, while Den is a living embodiment of anger and a side of people they would prefer to forget that manages to find purpose, even if his methods are very extreme. Hell, even a head-snake monster man with an overdetailed human face and a goddamn serial killer that looks like Spielberg are sympathetic characters. Fleshing out characters like that makes the comic understandable and enjoyable. Any decent story does this, but I'm impressed how even throwaway characters are flawed and given both good and bad parts instead of being 2D saints or monsters. The way Kushiro characterizes people helps you understand the situation the surface-dwellers are in. They're selfish assholes, but they're not bad people; they were just given a very bad hand in life and have tried to live the best they could in bad circumstances. Considering that, I can see why Alita is so fond of the Scrapyard even though it looks like rear end in a top hat Central to the reader. Another thing I enjoy is how the manga toys with your expectations. When I was first reading, I saw Alita as the typical great hero that always does things right at the end and always had a plan to get out of something bad. Then, volume 3 rolls around and even her best skills can't save Hugo. Other characters go through something that makes you see them in a completely different light. Ido stats out as a nice guy in land of jerks, but then you learn he's very hosed up in his own way. Bad boss and traitor Bigott dies as a gibbering wreck who's lost any trace of sanity he had before that you feel sorry for. The friendly barkeep from volume 1 turns into an abusive alcoholic, then redeems himself by saving a falling Koyami. These types of twists and turns makes the story interesting and encourages you to continue so that you'll read more. The “what makes us human?” question is pops up from time to time, so I figure I'd give my two cents on what I think the story says about it. I think the story shows that what makes us human isn't what parts of us are mechanical are not; it's our experiences. The only organic part of Alita is her brain, but she undergoes a full series of emotions and experiences that humans go through. Lou has a chip for a brain, meaning that her “self” is just a machine but has her own beliefs and views that influence what she does that makes me see her as human. On the other hand, the Alita clones lack the experiences, emotions, autonomy that Alita and everyone else in the series has gone through (even Makaku!), so I don't consider them human because of that, not because they're androids. I think the story worked well as a comic. The illustrations make it much easier to see Alita's world as it was intended and makes the fights a real treat instead of being boring action filter. Overall, I have to say that BAA was an awesome read and I'm happy I bought physical copies. Alita and her world are flawed and interesting to read about. I actually had to prevent myself from going through the whole story within two or so days so that I didn't spoil the experience for myself by trying to shove a nine volume manga into a small timeframe, which is pretty rare for me. It's one of the best reads I've had in a long time and I enjoyed every moment of it. It managed to go beyond a fighting manga into something really fun, enjoyable, and interesting to read for anyone interested in a good character-driven story. I'll be ordering the first Last Order Omnibus very soon to see if I like LO.
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Jan 2, 2015 12:47
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It's important to remember that Alita is, in effect, a teenager. She has 13 or 14 years of life experience starting from when Ido found her. Yoko was a completely different person. Her combat training is so deeply ingrained that it survived even when she lost all her other memories, but being a badass doesn't help her socialize with others or predict how her actions will affect the future, that she has to learn on her own. Like most teenagers, she doesn't know what to do with her life. Lacking a clear purpose she gravitates towards violence, because she's good at it, because her world is a violent place, and because fighting gives her a glimpse of Yoko's life. Yoko was a badass, but she was also a flawed and incomplete person. Her memories help Alita to survive, but they can't show her how to live.
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Jan 3, 2015 00:43
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Avulsion posted:It's important to remember that Alita is, in effect, a teenager. She has 13 or 14 years of life experience starting from when Ido found her. Yoko was a completely different person. Her combat training is so deeply ingrained that it survived even when she lost all her other memories, but being a badass doesn't help her socialize with others or predict how her actions will affect the future, that she has to learn on her own. True. If you look at how she's drawn, she goes from 12 years old from volume 1 to about 17ish in volume 9. You make a good point about it being a story about Alita discovering what she wants to do with her life. What's interesting to me is that you can clearly see signs of what she wants to do (protect others with her skills) as early as volume 1, where her compassion leads to her wanting to save Koyami. It's like she's done so much over the years it took her until volume 7 to slow down and finally realize it.
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Jan 3, 2015 03:01
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closeted republican posted:The “what makes us human?” question is pops up from time to time, so I figure I'd give my two cents on what I think the story says about it. I think the story shows that what makes us human isn't what parts of us are mechanical are not; it's our experiences. The only organic part of Alita is her brain, but she undergoes a full series of emotions and experiences that humans go through. Lou has a chip for a brain, meaning that her “self” is just a machine but has her own beliefs and views that influence what she does that makes me see her as human. On the other hand, the Alita clones lack the experiences, emotions, autonomy that Alita and everyone else in the series has gone through (even Makaku!), so I don't consider them human because of that, not because they're androids. Oh my gosh, wow, you really hit the nail on the head with this one. Last Order continues to probe into this question by massively increasing the number of various types of human characters that appear. That is the whole point of the comic, the philosophical message that "what makes us human isn't what parts of us are mechanical are not; it's our experiences." In a way it's an incredibly humanistic and progressive message, in that it transcends physical nature and makes humanity what is done in actions and experiences and touching others with our lives. It's a liberating message, and one that embraces a love of humanity, for all its faults and strengths, its noble aspects and its degraded aspects. quote:Overall, I have to say that BAA was an awesome read and I'm happy I bought physical copies. Alita and her world are flawed and interesting to read about. I actually had to prevent myself from going through the whole story within two or so days so that I didn't spoil the experience for myself by trying to shove a nine volume manga into a small timeframe, which is pretty rare for me. It's one of the best reads I've had in a long time and I enjoyed every moment of it. It managed to go beyond a fighting manga into something really fun, enjoyable, and interesting to read for anyone interested in a good character-driven story. I'll be ordering the first Last Order Omnibus very soon to see if I like LO. I'm glad you enjoyed it! I really enjoyed reading your writeups, and really appreciate the effort you put into writing them. You've put far more thought and care into pondering about this story than I did the first time around that I read it, and reading your summaries has helped me gain a deeper appreciation for the themes and the writing. Now I'm rereading the series and rediscovering the joy that is Kishiro's dark opus. I'm quite curious to see how you react to Last Order. Not only is the art style quite different, the pacing and tone are different as well. It will be very interesting to see your thoughts comparing the two. In general, what you can expect from LO is much more combat and mindless wacky action. However, interspersed between the wacky and increasingly over the top fight scenes, you will find a series of short vignettes and stories, ranging in length from about half a chapter to two volumes, about various characters struggling to survive and do best by the hand that's dealt to them by a cruel and unforgiving world. I think (if you get that far) you may enjoy LO volumes 8-9, as it turns a sort of silly gimmicky flashback into quite the heartfelt drama. DrSunshine fucked around with this message at 04:58 on Jan 3, 2015 |
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Jan 3, 2015 04:56
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I loved this series when I was a kid but I haven't really read Last Order. Is it just as good? And I wish Cameron made this a movie instead of avatars.
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Jan 3, 2015 20:59
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In my opinion LO was significantly worse than the original, it's basically one giant tournament arc and abandons the cyberpunk aspects so it can be as ridiculous as possible. Some people liked that about it but it wore pretty thin on me about halfway through. Also there's a flashback arc about vampires that goes on for way too long that most people dislike. The final arc (Alita Quest) redeemed it a bit though.
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Jan 3, 2015 21:48
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DrSunshine posted:Oh my gosh, wow, you really hit the nail on the head with this one. Last Order continues to probe into this question by massively increasing the number of various types of human characters that appear. That is the whole point of the comic, the philosophical message that "what makes us human isn't what parts of us are mechanical are not; it's our experiences." In a way it's an incredibly humanistic and progressive message, in that it transcends physical nature and makes humanity what is done in actions and experiences and touching others with our lives. It's a liberating message, and one that embraces a love of humanity, for all its faults and strengths, its noble aspects and its degraded aspects. I like it because it shows how silly the whole 'does having x amount of robotic parts not make me human anymore???". It's not about whether you fit some arbitrary number, it's about who you are based on your personality, thoughts, dreams, and other things that make us stand out from other animals. quote:I'm glad you enjoyed it! I really enjoyed reading your writeups, and really appreciate the effort you put into writing them. You've put far more thought and care into pondering about this story than I did the first time around that I read it, and reading your summaries has helped me gain a deeper appreciation for the themes and the writing. Now I'm rereading the series and rediscovering the joy that is Kishiro's dark opus. I'm quite curious to see how you react to Last Order. Not only is the art style quite different, the pacing and tone are different as well. It will be very interesting to see your thoughts comparing the two. I have no problem with more action since Kushiro does a good job with making enjoyable fights. I've already prepared myself for LO becoming "The Amazing Adventures of Sechs and His Fellow Misfits" around volume 11ish anywho. Since I'm reading the tournament arc in one big gulp instead of waiting for chapters to come out each month, it should be a lot more enjoyable. It seems to me that LO's story mixes light-hearted zany action with BAA-style stories for other characters. I have a question though: how much does Alita figure in when the tournament really gets into motion? Not that I mind her disappearing for a little bit to give some other characters the spotlight, I just want to see if she does anything when it really ramps up or she gets put on a bus until it's time to her to appear in the final part of the tournament.
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Jan 4, 2015 03:00
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closeted republican posted:It seems to me that LO's story mixes light-hearted zany action with BAA-style stories for other characters. I have a question though: how much does Alita figure in when the tournament really gets into motion? Not that I mind her disappearing for a little bit to give some other characters the spotlight, I just want to see if she does anything when it really ramps up or she gets put on a bus until it's time to her to appear in the final part of the tournament. It's weird! She goes off and does Alita stuff now and then, only to reappear for other matchups. She's there in the final match, but not as the main event. Of course, that is half the plot of the early parts of ZOTT -- that it's all a cover for her to get at her real goal, so it's not like we don't get to see what she's doing when she's put on a bus. EDIT: Also the Vampire flashback arc is great, and explains why the world is the way it is. It's great world building and sets the stage for the ending. It also has some of the best fight scenes in the series. It's just two volumes, anyway! DrSunshine fucked around with this message at 04:46 on Jan 4, 2015 |
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Jan 4, 2015 03:05
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Nate RFB posted:In my opinion LO was significantly worse than the original, it's basically one giant tournament arc and abandons the cyberpunk aspects so it can be as ridiculous as possible. Some people liked that about it but it wore pretty thin on me about halfway through. Also there's a flashback arc about vampires that goes on for way too long that most people dislike. The final arc (Alita Quest) redeemed it a bit though.
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Jan 4, 2015 04:41
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Captain Invictus posted:The vampire flashback was worth it to see the beginning of the alitaverse. And my single favorite thing about LO, aside from the insanely good artwork(in my top three favorites artwise) What are your top three, I'm curious? For me, in art terms, it's: 1) Nausicaa 2) A Bride's Story 3) Battle Angel Alita
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Jan 4, 2015 04:48
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