5.
Battle Angel Alita1993
Dir. Hiroshi Fukutomi
Based on the Manga of the Same Name
Dear James Cameron,
Stop mucking about on Pandora with the blue people and MAKE THIS MOVIE!!!!
With Love and Hugs,
CSSCHNEIDER
Seriously, this was awesome. I loved the Manga when I read it a few years back after finding the first three issues in First Edition English printings in a small used book shop in Notting Hill (they were later stolen when I my apartment was robbed). I've sought this Anime Adaptation out a few time, though I never put a lot of effort into finding it, afraid it would pale in comparison the the source material I fell in love with. When building my playlist for this marathon I tossed it in seeing this as a good place to bend the rules, though they don't bend to far. While this isn't the solitary individual versus the wasteland I'm mostly watching, it follows many of the motifs of Post-Apocalyptic stories, though there wasn't a cataclysmic event. Man just ruined the planet slowly and the fortunate moved onto a floating platform like in Astro Boy. The less fortunate reside in the slums of the planet surface.
This world reminded me a lot of Bladerunner, in a good way. Lots of violence, killer replicant type robots, in a burnt out dystopian city. All things I can get behind. But the best thing is that this is another example of the Anime/Manga obsession with turning cute little girls into savage, super power endowed killing machines. Though, she's not a little girl. In the comic its stated from the beginning that she was originally a Government Military Fighterbot that got scrapped. Now, rejuvenated by a goodly Doctor of Robots and Cybornetic Organisms she's out there as a bounty hunter.
Presented as two 30 minute episodes this could have been a great series, though it's graphic violence:
would have still relegated this to video shelves.
The craft of this Anime is really great. Beautifully realized with excellent music and bursts of violence it oozes 'cool scifi'. The end of the second episode especially has a brutal realization.
This isn't without it's faults. The dialog is as many Anime's are, very expository. But here its not terrible, and by that I mean not as bad as
A Wind Named Amnesia. Also the pacing is a bit jarring. They race through this. I wish it was 80 minutes long and they took their time showing instead of telling at times. Especially with some of the action. Could have been drawn out more for dramatic effect. I'd say if my biggest criticisms are that I wanted more, than it can't be that bad.
I've been so excited by the prospect that someday James Cameron will bring this to the Big Screen. I saw Avatar, and no I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. What I saw in it was the potential to make the most badass version of this concept and these characters that I nearly foamed at the mouth. Now, I'm more excited than ever at the prospect of Cameron's Alita vision.
Until then track this down. For Anime fans I'd call this a must see.
Grade B+