2014-01-30

Mokuyobi Post - Battle Angel

Battle Angle is a 2 part OVA based on the manga Battle Angel Alita or Gunnm in Japan.

    Far in the future earth is a barren waste of degredation and misery.  Some humans; affluent and powerful, have left the surface of the planet to live in the utopian city in the sky, Salem.  Dr. Ido is a cybernetic doctor who had once lived in the skycity, one day while digging through a trash heap he comes across a delicate android body.  Using his expertise he is able to bring the female cyborg Gally back online and adopts her as his daughter.  Gally befriends a street kid named Hugo who runs errands for the cities more shady elements.  In a last ditch effort to escape his life of misery and short time span, Hugo concocts a plan to sneak into Salem.  Gally, emotionally attached to Hugo decides to help him realize his impossible dream.  But the pathway to the city is dangerous and the reality of the utopia is not what it seems.

    This is one of the classics of the anime titles from the 90's.  Yet, its a far cry from the manga and really is a bit disappointing.  The animation is dated, a number of odd changes were made in the anime and it really doesn't get into the meat of the story, Gally (Alita) being a powerful combat cyborg from a previous war.  Honestly, you can really just skip this, but as its under an hour in length you won't waste too much of your life watching it.  Instead pick up the manga and enjoy this interesting post-apocalyptic story.

    The OAVs have been available in North America for a long time.  A quick check on Amazon though shows it going for a hefty collectors price, so it may not be worth the money.


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