Battle Angel (OVA)
Original manga by Yukito Kishiro
Battle Angel (OVA)
Originally aired in 1993
·
Due to the translational difference, “Alita” is “Gally”
in the anime and the manga.
·
They add a romantic interest in an assistant to
Doctor Ido in the OVA and downplayed the romantic tension between Alita and
Ido.
·
The language used in the anime is Korean despite
the fact that the Battle Angel Alita series is implied to either take place
either in Japan or America in the future.
·
Unlike the manga, Ido is much more reserved in
the anime and comes off more altruistically, not depicted as a sadistic hunter
of rogue cyborgs but rather a proper father figure for Gally. He is also
implied to be a great surgeon who helps cyborgs in the slums which is seen as
beneath him despite the depiction of him in the manga.
·
The love interest for Gally and the lady doctor
turn out to be shady characters in the anime and that Gally and Ido are the
most balanced of the bunch.
·
The back story for the spine/brain stealing
giant cyborg was changed to be less sympathetic in the anime as he is seen as
but a tool for the lady doctor to get back into a floating city.
·
The back story for Gally’s Berserker armor is
never explained and Ido placed the destructive machine body onto Gally despite
the dilemma as a father figure he had in the original manga.
·
Violence has been toned down in the anime save
for the dismemberment of a dog, where cyborgs and people are only implied to be
killed with blood splats but nothing more violent than that.
·
The one black character looks complex compared
to the simplistic and relatable designs of Ido and Gally in the anime, who is
in turn beaten up by Ido for tricking the boy Yugo into stealing spines and
getting himself turned into a cyborg.
·
Cyborgs are touched more upon in the anime than
that of the manga, where cyborgs are seen as either forced implants to keep one
alive or something you do in order to become more like a warrior. This was not
touched upon in the manga as cyborgs are still considered “people” as with
Alita’s case in the manga.
·
The fates of side characters are notably more
brutal in the anime though not depicted, like how Yugo was killed from trying
to get into the flying city and the lady doctor being killed and harvested for
her organs by the shady black man.
·
The anime itself was called “Battle Angel” as
opposed to “Battle Angel Alita” or “Gunnm” as with the original Japanese title.
There were only two episodes “Rusty Angel” which was a retelling of Gally’s
origins and “Tears Sign” which was original for the anime (at least not being
in the first volume).
·
Overall, it was a great watch but the politics
of organ donations played more into the anime compared to the definition of
being human as with the original manga.
Bibliography:
Battle Angel. Dir. Hiroshi
Fukutomi. Perf. Miki Itô, Amanda Winn
Lee, Shunsuke
Kariya, Kappei
Yamaguchi, Mami Koyama.
Prod. ADV Films, 1993. DVD.
