Gunnm

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Ganmu

Japanese: 銃夢 GUNNM

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 9

Chapters: 53

Status: Finished

Published: Nov 1990 to Mar 1995

Genres: Action, Sci-Fi

Demographic: Seinen

Serialization: Business Jump

Authors: Kishiro, Yukito (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 8.38¹ (scored by 28,048 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #225²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #183

Members: 85,428

Favorites: 4,710

Resources

Wikipedia

8.38

Ranked #225Popularity #183Members 85,428

MangaBusiness JumpKishiro, Yukito (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /9

Chapters: /53

Available on Manga Store
Battle Angel Alita
Volume 1
$10.99

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Synopsis

The utopian metropolis of Zalem soars high in the skies, its presence dominating the horizon. Beneath it is the noxious underbelly known as The Scrapyard, where the city stockpiles all of its waste. Living amongst the vast heaps of garbage are humans and cyborgs, surviving by any means necessary.

Daisuke Ido, a doctor specializing in cyborg repairs, finds the head of a young female cyborg while scavenging a pile of old android parts. Proceeding to build her a new body, he names her Gally. Upon activation, Gally does not seem to remember anything about her past life. Nonetheless, she does not seem to mind as long as she stays by Ido’s side.

However, she soon discovers that Ido has a side job as a hunter-warrior, a bounty hunter working for The Scrapyard’s government. Despite Ido’s warning, she decides to become one herself, awakening her forgotten knowledge of fighting techniques. Equipped with newfound strength, Gally is determined to fight through the alleys of The Scrapyard and beyond, retrieving fragments from her past to rediscover her true identity.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Gunnm was published in English as Battle Angel Alita by VIZ Media in comic book format, with 68 VIZ Select Comics issues split into eight parts from July 1992 to March 1998. It was republished under the VIZ Graphic Novels imprint from July 6, 1995, to December 6, 1998, and again under the VIZ Action imprint from December 31, 2003, to March 1, 2005. Kodansha Comics took over the license and released the series digitally from May 26, 2017, to July 31, 2018. The series was also published in Brazilian Portuguese by Editora JBC; in French by Glénat; in German by Carlsen Verlag; in Finnish by Red Giant; in Spanish by Planeta DeAgostini; in Italian by Panini Comics; in Dutch by Glénat Benelux; and in Polish by Japonica Polonica Fantastica.

Oscar winning director James Cameron was introduced to Gunnm by fellow director Guillermo del Toro, and subsequently purchased the rights to a live-action film adaptation in 2000. Production was halted numerous times due to Cameron's commitment to other projects, until October 2015, when Cameron handed over the director position to Robert Rodriguez. The film premiered on February 14, 2019.

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Characters

Gally

Main

Nova, Desty

Supporting

Jashugan

Supporting

Ido, Daisuke

Supporting

Yugo

Supporting

Four, Figure

Supporting

Kaos

Supporting

Den

Supporting

K, Koyomi

Supporting

Collins, Lou

Supporting

Reviews

Apr 5, 2008

lonestar6969

Recommended

What a great original story this was. The art is very detailed and clear in the sense that you can actually understand whats going on in the fight scenes. For some fighting manga's it was very difficult to imagine what went on during a fight scene but Alita didnt lose me. I got a sense of excitment following Alita's develpment from innocent cyborg to bounty hunter to elite sportwomen to warrior as there was not a single boring moment. It was a thrill to see what new weapons or body she would get and how she would defeat or catch her enemies.

Not only was the ...

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Oct 23, 2021

teraphIl1000

Mixed Feelings

Gunnm is a succession of interesting concepts, none of which are original in sci-fi, but all of which are treated attentively and with obvious passion. The problem is that concepts alone don't make for a good story, you also need a strong plot and, arguably, even stronger characters. Gunnm has a strong protagonist, but every supporting player, much like the ideas explored, comes in and out of the story at a moment's notice. The plot, despite a few moments of brilliance, is repetitive and scattershot, never offering much to the reader in the way of constancy.

The art is very good, both in its gripping action ...

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Oct 12, 2024

Mara2463

Not Recommended

Battle Angel Alita – Spoiler Free – Not Recommended

TLDR
Story – 2/10 – 2 x 0.275 = 0,55
Art – 8/10 – 8 x 0.2 = 1,6
Characters – 3/10 – x 0.225 = 0,675
Enjoyment – 1/10 – 1 x 0.3 = 0,3
Total: 3,125

Story – 2/10
... It's such a sadness...
Battle Angel Alita’s story is a mess, a huge mess. It is difficult to describe how such a story can be so flawed. The story doesn't make sense, has many leaps of faith, and is poorly written overall. What started as an interesting premise completely forgot its purpose. This manga is anything but a coherent story, being just a collection of random things happening to Alita.
Romance is also a big part – or at least the prospect of romance – of Battle Angel Alita. Characters know each other in one volume, and they are already falling in love in the same volume. Alita’s main crush – Yogo – appeared out of nowhere, was never developed, but still played a major impact in the story for no absolute reason. Understandably, a story about cyborgs should have a part about love and human feelings, but this is simply not the way to do it. Moreover, she repeats so many times she is human that you completely forget that she is a cyborg.
There are also some time-skips, and although they aren’t poorly executed, they just make up for a case of bad writing: there are things that only make sense IF there is a non-declared time-skip: with one exception right in the beginning (a two-year time-skip), time-skips must be intuited.
But not everything in Battle Angel Alita is downright bad. For once, the world-building is quite interesting, and significant aspects of the lore are mentioned in the manga. In that sense, it is a very lore-rich story.
The ending is also poorly executed.

Art – 8/10
Art is Battle Angel Alitas's main strength – and probably the only one, for that matter. The art is very functional, stylish, impeccable, and a joy to read. The character design is beautiful, making it very easy to recognise characters from one another. There are also good planes, although no awe-inspiring ones. If only the story and characters were better…

Characters – 3/10
With one exception – Ido – the characters of Battle Angel Alita are downright bad. The main character is in fact incredibly annoying, looking like a teenager during its teenage angst phase, changing opinion on a whim; characters appear and disappear out of nowhere. It's just a mess.

Enjoyment – 1/10
Enjoyment must be definitely very low for Battle Angel Alita. This is a Not Recommended without a shadow of a doubt: the story and the characters make for an explosive mixture that renders the manga a painful and frustrating experience. Battle Angel Alita may, according to some criteria, be considered a classic (it says so on the cover of the manga), but quality is not one of them. It is a terrible manga that only has a good world-building and lore. It is also interesting to note that a manga that relies so much of its energy on the human concept of love has such a robotic approach. There is also no reason to read the sequel for the time being since it is based on a non-canonical version of the ending of Battle Angel Alita, and I definitely won’t reread it.

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Poll: Battle Angel Alita Chapter 53 Discussion TuzoAnime - Jan 23, 2010	35 replies	by Kitsu-nee »» Jul 26, 5:05 PM
Poll: Gunnm Chapter 23 Discussion joe_g7 - Oct 7, 2017	5 replies	by XlME »» Jul 24, 5:30 AM
Poll: Gunnm Chapter 35 Discussion joe_g7 - Oct 10, 2017	4 replies	by worldsfuckk »» Jun 20, 4:49 AM
Poll: Gunnm Chapter 43 Discussion Farabeuf - Aug 14, 2016	8 replies	by Spo0ky-chan »» May 4, 5:14 PM
Poll: Gunnm Chapter 11 Discussion joe_g7 - Sep 14, 2017	5 replies	by mistercb »» Mar 25, 12:39 AM

Gunnm
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