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starring: Miki Itô, Kariya Shunsuke, Kappei Yamaguchi, Mami Koyama, Shigeru Chibadirected by: Hiroshi Fukutomi
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786304534649
Format: Animated, Color, HiFi Sound, Subtitled, NTSC
ISBN: 6304534647
Label: Adv Films
Manufacturer: Adv Films
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Adv Films
Release Date: November 11, 1998
Running Time: 70 minutes
Sales Rank: 47493
Studio: Adv Films
Theatrical Release Date: 1997
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
This film contains graphic violence and brief nudity.
Known as Gunnm in Japan and then Battle Angel Alita to Western manga readers, Battle Angel (in all of its incarnations) is now part of the canon of Blade Runner-inspired anime cyberpunk.
The film version follows a 'Hunter Warrior' and cyborg healer named Ido. Ido formerly lived in the floating land of Zalem (Tiphares in the book), the paradise that hovers over the refuse heap of Scrap Iron City in which he now resides with his former lover, Chiren. In his travels as a bounty hunter (killing spine thieves in a world in which human nerve tissue has become the most precious commodity), Ido one day discovers and repairs the remnants of a cyborg whom he names Gally (Alita in the manga). Though possessing the body of a young woman, Gally embodies Ido's most sophisticated and lethal cybernetic skill. In the first episode on the DVD, 'Rusty Angel,' Gally challenges Chiren's own creation, Greweicia--a brain-eating gladiator--to a death match. In 'Tears Sign' Gally discovers that her first love, Yugo, has put himself in the employ of the spine trader Vector so that he can earn his way, he thinks, to Zalem. Gally confronts her fellow bounty hunters to protect Yugo, only to watch him horribly wounded in a plot to capture her for Vector.
Yukito Kishiro's finely detailed line drawings in the original manga (like a cleaner version of Miyazaki's style in the Nausicaa books) are impossible to translate into film. What the film loses in detail, however, it makes up for in its intense action sequences and shadowy mixtures of color and a darkly cinematic soundtrack. Anime fans should be prepared for some pretty graphic violence--including some horrific scenes of decapitation. Also, the action keeps the plot moving at breakneck speed, so character development often seems to happen in leaps; you'll want to read the books to learn more about Gally/Alita and her world.
For English speakers, the DVD is best watched in the original Japanese with subtitles. The dubbing seems to raise the pitch of everyone's voice, changing the mood of the film from tragic-cool to slightly comical. Gally's English is especially annoying. With her original Japanese voice (sometimes childlike and sometimes a seductive whisper), she is a perfectly deadly heroine with a leather-clad style that anticipates The Matrix. --Patrick O'Kelley
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Hmmmm. . . . It's okay
I bought this knowing that the story would be different, and it was! I liked it, but I'll have to try listening to it in Japanese. Alita (Gally, in this OVA), has SUCH an irritating voice in english. She's too girly compared to the manga. There should have been more action, but what was there was pretty good.
Hugo was a jerk, not the out of reach tease he was in the manga.
I have to say there were way too many sex scenes! (Just two, but it was indecent!)
I ... Read More
Rating: - Needed to be longer
Above Scrap Iron City exists a floating city called Zalem. To live there is a dream for most of the residents in Scrap Iron City. In a way Zalem is heaven, while Scrap Iron City is hell. While searching through a junkyard during one of Zalem's dumpings. A cybernetics doctor named Ido finds a scraped android who is still alive. He rebuilds and names her Gally. Gally has completely lost her memories but still knows how to fight.
I give this anime alot of credit. Even though it is very short ... Read More
Rating:  - Disappointing
Bone Fox's review is pretty close to how I feel about this anime. I am also a die-hard Battle Angel Alita fan and this attempt to convert the novels to an anime is a joke.
Too much of the story is left out. For example, the first face off between Alita and Makaku where Alita suffered a defeat, which in turn leads Ido giving her the berserker's body (which plays a massive role in book 5). Makaku's past and how he came to be was left out and replaced with him receiving help from a made up ... Read More
Rating:  - Depends
To begin, I am a die-hard fan of the Battle Angel Alita manga. When I first saw this 'episode' of the Battle Angel anime and the anime version of 'Tears of an Angel' I was very disapointed. I agree with the offcial reveiw that it is impossible to translate Yukito Kishiro's extensive manga into an animated format without losing the incredible artwork. However, the loss of the story is what disapointed me the most.
I feel that the depth of the original plot is simply cheapened in the anime. The ... Read More
Rating:  - A horrific sci-fi story about violence and love!!
Good:
* Intense blood and gore.
* Deep storyline (easy to understand).
* Cool character desing (so look alike to the anime in Kill Bill).
* Great action scenes with good animation (there were like 3 or 4 action scenes).
Bad:
* The graphics were kind of smudgy.
* Sad story.
The story is simple because is about this robot girl called Gally who want to become an assasin for hire so she can get a better life but later the problems become more complicated. ... Read More
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