GUNNM

GUNNM, also known by the names Hyper Future Vision GUNNM and Battle Angel Alita (in Spanish Alita, combat angel), is a manga created by Yukito Kishiro between 1991 and 1995 and published in the magazine Business Jump. In 1993 the anime adaptation was made. Despite having considered the adaptation of the entire series, only two OVAs were produced (one for each of the first volumes), since they did not sell well in Japan. It was partly because of the Asian economic crisis and partly because fans were disappointed by an adaptation that oversimplified the manga's intricate plot.

The manga series was originally titled Hyper Future Vision GUNNM (kanji: 銃夢, pronounced "gan-mu", meaning "weapon" and & #34;dream"). When VIZ Media imported the manga to North America, it made various modifications, such as reversing the reading direction and various lettering changes. The translator Fred Burke carried out other more drastic modifications, mainly in the adaptation of names: from that moment Gally will be known as Alita, Salem will be called Tiphares (the original name is a play on words that arises together with Jeru, his city sister: Jeru-Salem/Jerusalem) and finally, throughout the West, the official title will be Battle Angel Alita.

When the Texan company ADV Films acquired the distribution rights to the OVAs they decided to call it Battle Angel so that fans could relate it to the manga. Being the original subtitled version, there was no choice but to do without all the adapted names like Gally. In Spain it was distributed on VHS by Manga Films, while in Catalonia it was broadcast on El 33 in Catalan. Both the Spanish and Catalan dubbing translated it through the English dubbing and not the original Japanese. It is known that in Latin America it was distributed by Quality Films in VHS format with dubbing made in Mexico, in a very rare and difficult-to-find edition.

A series of nervous problems forced Yukito Kishiro to end the series prematurely in the ninth volume. A few years later he had the opportunity to pick up the parts of the story he left out through the sequel GUNNM: Last Order, linking directly from a part of the ninth volume of Hyper Future Vision GUNNM (Volume 9, Chapter 4, starting on page 16), rescuing part of it as a starting point for GUNNM: Last Order and discarding the rest of the ninth volume. Last Order is finished in Japan with a total of 19 volumes.

GUNNM: Mars Chronicle is the final chapter of the GUNNM franchise, which has been in publication since 2014 with a total of 7 volumes published so far.

The original Japanese manga has been translated into: English, Spanish, French, Thai, Chinese, German, and Italian.

Plot

The story tells about Gally (Alita in the western version), an amnesiac cyborg who is found by Doctor Daisuke Ido among the junk dumped from Salem, the utopian floating city (renamed in the West as Tiphares). Ido rebuilds Gally and adopts her as her daughter, but as time passes, it becomes clear that Gally conceals both great and mysterious combat abilities. Given this and as a way of discovering her own past, she will put herself to the test in situations that stimulate and make these abilities flourish, so that she can obtain answers about her origin. With this objective, she will face various enemies fulfilling roles such as warrior hunter, Motorball racer, security agent and many others that will put her life at risk. Later, her story will lead her to face even greater challenges and dangerous off-planet creatures.

Characters

Gally/Alita

Also known as The Angel of Death or Yoko. Its remains are found by the robot surgeon Daisuke Ido on the mountain of rubble thrown by Salem (Tiphares in the western version), the floating city. In the beginning, Gally completely ignores his past; but when he discovers his combat skills, he decides to become a warrior hunter to remember his past through Panzer KunstYour fighting style. Throughout the sleeve you can see the evolution of Gally in a human being, accompanied by the refinement of his Chi (which allows you to synchronize your movements with your opponent's to take advantage).

Daisuke Gone

A remarkable scientist from Salem. He lives in the Patio de los Desperdicios helping people as a robot surgeon, as well as working at night as a warrior hunter. Find the remains of Gally among the wastes of Salem, building a body decides to keep her as a daughter, naming her Gally.

Desty Nova

The most formidable enemy of Gally and creator of his main opponents. The sick but brilliant scientist specializing in nanotechnology, left Salem to experiment with each individual's karma, and help conquer it. Under this philosophy he handed over a worm body to Makaku, potent Jashugan's brain, raised Zapan and experimented with his son Kaos.

Plot arcs

Hyper Future Vision

It understands the original work published by Yukito Kishiro between 1990 and 1995, with a total of 9 volumes covering from the moment Doctor Ido finds Gally, passing through his stage as a warrior hunter, competitor of Motorball and Agent Tuned, until the outcome after his apparent death after the clash against Nova at the Granite Inn. Originally the last volume included more chapters where a first outcome of the story was displayed, but later this end was rejected by the author to continue the work in Last Order.

Yukito Kishiro, author of the sleeve.

Last Order

Second argumental arch of the sleeve published between the years 2000 and 2014, with a total of 19 volumes that was created by the author after discarding the first outcome to deepen and spread the story. After Gally's apparent death at the end of Hyper Future Vision, wakes up in the city of Salem after being rebuilt and perfected by Desti Nova, embarking on a journey outside the planet to know the civilizations of the solar system and to participate in the Zenit Of The Things (ZOTT), the highest interplanetary martial arts tournament, whose award allows the winner the right to found a nation with total freedom to choose the laws and rights of its constitution, thereby declaring a challenge to corrupt rulers and the order they impose.

Mars Chronicle

Third argumental arch of the sleeve, began its publication in 2014, still developing with a total of 8 volumes so far. He narrates the events following the ZOTT tournament, with Gally transformed into an agent of the supercomputers Mechizdek and Zeus, to whom his duties carry him back to the planet Mars, discovering that his current enemies are his dead comrades of his time as kunster, who have been revived as living dead, so the protagonist is imposed as a mission to stop them and seek a way of freeing them from that life. This new arc intersectes in parallel to the events present the events prior to the beginning of history, finally revealing what is the true origin of the protagonist, as well as her childhood and her time of training as a warrior, in addition to the wars of war and politics that propitiated the wars of terraformation.

Gally Bodies

Gally uses a total of eleven different bodies in the manga:

Martian Body

Appears in Gally's memories, presumably a standard model for kunsters, as all of her companions looked similar. Gally is remembered as a merciless and cruel terrorist belonging to a faction defeated in a space battle, for which a suicide attack against Earth is ordered, however it does not succeed as her body is destroyed in space, falling to the ground. dead against the atmosphere and remaining in the state in which Ido found it later.

Initial Body

Built little by little with used parts. Originally Gally assumed that Ido murdered girls to obtain the parts, seeing that he mysteriously left every night and returned the next day with pieces for her, later she would discover that he acquired the pieces with the rewards obtained as a warrior hunter, this body had a very similar appearance. more childish than the later ones and possessed no battle skills as Ido created him for Gally to live a quiet life as a normal young woman. It was used for the first confrontation with Ido against Makaku, but due to its fragility it was easily destroyed in battle.

Berserker

Occasionally translated as the raging one or the wild one, a powerful Venusian weapon created using biomechanical nanotechnology, was found by Ido some years before he met Gally in the remains of a crashed combat ship during the times of the terraforming wars. He has the ability to shoot plasma through his limbs and channel electricity from the environment to use as a weapon; Rather than being a system of cybernetic prosthetics, the Berserker is a biomechanical symbiote that maintains its consciousness in a passive state while attached to an individual who wields it. Ido would discover when studying it that it has an inhibitor mechanism that keeps it under the user's control since the last weapon of these soldiers was to deactivate this safety once they were defeated to release the unstoppable monster that is really the Berserker in enemy territory. Ido bestows, against his own wishes, this body on Gally to defeat Makaku, although originally having the appearance of an adult male Ido would reconfigure it to give it the feminine appearance of a teenager. The Berserker is later purchased by Desty Nova, who provides it to Zapan after removing the lock to initiate a full-scale massacre in the Courtyard; it is destroyed by Gally using bullets filled with specially designed nanomachines to devour Berserker tissue.

Motorball Body

Provided with skates instead of feet. Small, light and feminine in shape, her limbs have triple the movement channels of a normal racing body in a way that harnesses and enhances Gally's agility; making it her best weapon. This body allows blades to be attached to the arms for competitions, this being where Gally uses the Damascus Blade for the first time.

Body Artist

The fourth body used by Gally, due to the disappearance of the Berserker after his departure from the Motorball; a work by Ido according to the omakes included in the Japanese reissue. Inferior in combat performance compared to his previous bodies, but still strong; Gally uses it for more than two years, since after her departure from Motorball she leads a peaceful life as a singer and trainer of hunters. It is this body that she uses to face Sonic Finger . It is destroyed by Gally sacrificing herself to eliminate Zapan.

Tuned Body

Gally receives it from G.I.B. after agreeing to become a special agent for Salem; specially designed for combat. It is the body that he uses for over eleven years, almost until the end of Hyper Future Vision . Equipped with a wide variety of accessories and weapons, it has a direct connection to the G.I.B. from where he is constantly assisted by an operator, he also has a connection with Gabriel , a satellite for support and armed assistance at the service of the Tuned.

Imagines

The most powerful body ever created. Used by Gally in the ending of Hyper Future Vision and in Last Order, this body is the work of Desty Nova. Created as an improved version of the Berserker using nanomachines and the practical application of the Karmatronic Theory. Metal from the Damascus Blade was used to construct this body, a decision made without Gally's consent. The tissue of the Imaginos emulates the appearance and behavior of the human body, for which reason it has organs and tissues made of apricot particles instead of machinery, it is also more flexible than others and due to its quasi-organic nature it must be exercised to reach its fullness, He also has metamorphic qualities thanks to which Gally can create clothes on his skin or change color. Unlike the Berserker, he has no attack mechanisms, so Gally must create his weapons through force of will.

Imagines 2.0

She is born after the physical and mental collapse suffered by Gally when she discovers the secret about her brain and is resurrected by Randa Namunamu and Mechizedek, turned only into an embryo and is delivered to Deckman 100 who inserts her into Tunguska, a Jovian robot that she assimilates and from which she absorbs a wormhole that gives her infinite energy; this coupled with a connection to Melchizedek more intense than the one she possesses Aga Mbadi since she also merges with the Fatamorgana ; Her previous abilities increase monstrously and she acquires the ability to infect any life form that shares space with her with nanomachines, making it a powerful and enigmatic body to the point that Nova himself is unable to understand her nature. This body seems to react to her mind as Gally, who always compared her warlike nature to the fierce attitude of the original Gally (a male cat, Ido's pet), was reborn with a cat's tail.

Imagines 2.1

Created when Gally's body is destroyed during her fight with Touji. His abilities are enhanced and "reborn" with giant wings that will be destroyed in the same chapter. Their feathers will be used as blades to cut the opponent's body.

Human Body

Created for the first denouement at the end of the ninth volume. After the confrontation with Nova, Den and Melchizedek and after five years of being apparently dead, Figure finds Gally in suspended animation inhabiting a human version of his body created by Nova in a moment of sanity thanks to a DNA sample encoded into the floating city structure. Both her existence and her outcome should be dismissed by continuing the story in Last Order .

Gally Human

There is another human body in the denouement of "Battle Angel Alita: Last Order" where Gally's brain is replaced with a chip by Doctor Nova. At the end of this series, her brain is recovered and with it the flesh and blood body of the protagonist is recreated following her last wish before separating from her companions. Thus, two Gallys exist simultaneously: one of flesh and blood that was created to forget the fights and be happy next to Figure and the Angel of Death who becomes an agent of Mechizedek and Zeus.

Glossary

Ars Magna

Final state of the warrior. According to the Panzer Kunst a warrior can elevate his power over the limits of the abilities of his body, indifferent if he is organic or mechanical. In this state his will is all that marks the limits of his power, so his strength yields above what the laws of physics and mechanics stipulate, so some warriors with their shattered bodies have elevated their power above stronger individuals or in better state. Today it is only known of two warriors who have reached it: Gally and Jashugan.

Brain Chip

Control mode used in Salem. When citizens reach the age of majority they are taken to M.I.B. barracks where their brain is removed and replaced by a chip that contains a backing of their memory and personality, but that inhibits their extreme impulses and emotions, so that they become docile and obedient beings of norms. Sometimes there are anomalies that even after the operation persist in their behavior, such as Nova e Ido. This process is known as The Salem Secret, their dissemination among citizens is prohibited as they are educated to discriminate against cyborgs fall into madness as they become interested.

Damascus

Special alloy invented and developed in the Patio de los Desperdiciosusing as a raw material the scrap that accumulates there (Kishiro was inspired in Damascus, an alloy of artisanal design practiced in the Middle East in the old and middle ages). Created by artisanal forgers, it has a desolate look; it is the toughest and most flexible metal in the Solar System, even higher than diamonds. It is not possible to manufacture anywhere other than the Patio. Its hardness is such that it can only be sharpened by means of high-pressure water jets, since once it has finished being forged are few elements that can change its shape or wear it.

Damascus Blade

Gally's favorite weapon. Created for her on request Ed In his days as a runner, he would become his preferred weapon. Originally there were two leaves that used in their forearms but despite their quality they hardly resisted the impact of a diamond-made saw, so they would be reinforced in a single sheet that far exceeded the qualities of the ordinary lady. During his stay at G.I.B. Gally would transform her into a spear; after being murdered by Nova would be used as the raw material to create the Imagines, shortly before participating in the Z.O.T.T. would learn to generate blades of Damascus from his forearms and when he obtained the Imagines 2.1 he would get a pair of wings whose plumage were blades of Damascus.

G.I.B.

Ground Investigation BureauDepartment of Surface Research); Salem Agency which is responsible for monitoring and regulating the activities of the inhabitants of the area. It works as a police agency and is especially interested in stopping any activity or individual that is seen as a danger to the floating city. The head of the section is Bigott Eisenburg, who would enrol Gally and keep her as an agent for a decade, after that would try to implement copies of the young woman to replace her. The agency was destroyed when Nova reveals to Bigott Salem's secret, so he's mad and shattering his skull in front of his subordinates, so M.I.B. executes them.

Herza Hauen

By definition the representative attack of the Panzer Kunst. It consists of sending through the palm of the hand shock waves that pierce the surface of the opponent body reaching its organs or machinery and producing an explosion that destroys it. Especially designed as an anticíborg attack designed as a method of handing over armor, but equal cash against organic beings. The palm is usually used for this attack, but throughout the series it has been seen that the most experienced kunsters can execute it with their knuckles, fingertips, knees and even feet.

Mashine Klatsh

Anticíborg martial art that has as the basis of its techniques the control and channelling of the chi by the own body and the opponent to destroy it. By mastering chi synchronization the warrior can also predict opponent attacks and partially overcome the limits of his body, also cyborg users reinforce their limbs by combining them with sweeps so that the rotation will enhance their attacks. The philosophy of this martial art indicates that the ultimate ambition of a warrior must be to become a machine and abandon his emotions and humanity. Your best representative was Jashuganwho curiously reached the perfect state by clinging to their emotions.

Methuselah

Medical procedure used by the organic beings of the planets of the Solar System affiliated to the Ladder Council. It consists of the total suppression of the aging process in individuals. This medical technique was discovered some centuries ago and adopted by the vast majority of the organic beings of the system, except for the inhabitants of Mercury, the Patio de los Desperdicios, the ghettos of indigents and some punctual exceptions. Their discovery generated great social change, but it also led society to a state of decay as the authorities and influential people keep their posts indefinitely, reproduction has lost value as a method of perpetuation of the species, new generations have a population and infants lack human status with rights in most of the Solar System.

Melchizedek

Central computer of the cities Jeru, Salem and the rest of the planets of the system. Originally created by Arthur Farrell and his comrades 180 years after the catastrophe that ended earthly civilization, designed under the name of Merlin as a global event prediction system. He preached and guided the revival of the human race. After the creation of the Escalera de Jacob was expanded, installed in Jeru and renamed with its current name. However, it is guided in every generation by an individual, so the danger that the criterion of this interferes with or corrupts the objectives with which it was created. The brains removed from the Salemnians are integrated into him so that his abilities and consciousness fortify him.

M.I.B.

Medical Investigation Bureau (Department of Medical Research). Salem organization in charge of brain removal and replacement. This department is fully automated, including only robots among your staff so that no one knows their true activities. They are also responsible for the execution of those who discover Salem's secret. After Nova's revelation to the rest of the city about brain chips, 80% of the inhabitants are exterminated.

Motorball

Extreme sports practiced The Patio de los Desperdicios by cyborgs conditioned to run. The objective is to get the domain of a ball and take it through a circular track full of traps, while the rest of the participants try to get it by force. There are three categories in which a corridor can participate (first, second and third division). This sport was invented and funded by the Salem authorities, as a method of control and distraction to keep the inhabitants of Patio satisfied and distracted from their shortcomings.

Panzer Kunst

The first anticíborg martial art and the most powerful of all. Created by Tiger Sauer in the City of the Stars (later called Wasteyard). Designed based on the Chinese martial arts that taught him Kaelula SungwisYour adoptive mother. After arriving at Mars he would institute it as the Martian arts and create a colony where all interested Martians would be instructed, thus being born the first Kunsters, who had a decisive role in the subsequent terraform wars. With more than three centuries of tradition, after the failure of Yoko in his mission of destroying Melchizedek, the colony was responsible and destroyed, simultaneously it was ordered that the Panzer Kunst, until then secret for the rest of the people, be made public, being born the rest of the anti-ciborg arts of the bases there learned. However, with the appearance of Gally it became clear that what was released was only basic and weak techniques.

Tuned

G.I.B. agent: which operates on Earth's surface, its function is to monitor and suppress any potential threat to Salem's security or the resource movement that goes from the surface to the city. Gally was the first and only for ten years. After discovering the den of Desty Nova other tuned copied from Gally, among them Sechs, Elf and Zwölfthe only survivors of the squadron after the attempted attack by Den to the city and the hunting of copies of Sechs.

ZOTT

Zenith of the Things (Picture of the events). Combat Tournament conducted in Jeru and where teams from the entire solar system can participate. It takes place every ten years and has the right to establish an independent nation and officially recognized by the Ladder Council. However, in the twenty tournaments carried out he has never won any team that does not represent any of the already established powers, this is because it has already been imposed since the beginning as a way of demonstrating the power of the nations and of controlling the independent fighters and the opponents to the established order. Originally the tournament contemplates the use of cyborgs martial artists to constitute the teams, however at present this is only carried out by Ladder and Mars, while Venus prefers genetically designed monsters and Jupiter heavy combat machines. In the same way the tournament accepts the participation of humans without modifications and even fighters who use firearms, although subject to a rule that points out that they will only be able to use the ammunition with which ZOTT will enter and will not be able to acquire new until the tournament is finished.

Manga, Spanish edition

The manga was published in Spain by Planeta DeAgostini Cómics under the title: "Alita, Ángel de Combate". The first part, of six comic-books, was published in the second half of 1993. The translation was of a remarkably poor quality, with many examples of literal translations. The covers are the original VIZ Comics, they include the logo and other layout details. The coloring quality is poor. The Editor was JuanJo Sarto. The publisher made a lukewarm commitment to this series, minimizing resources: the letters to the editor section was taken from another collection, Dragon Ball. They were surprised by a spectacular success: at the beginning of 1995 the first edition had been completely sold out. Frequent requests for a continuation of the series appeared in the letters to the editor of other collections.

The second edition, driven by the constant pressure of the followers, has been from April 1995 to June 1998, and was made up of 5 parts with a total of 39 comic-books that compile the series with certain differences with respect to the previous one. Japanese original:

• The second part of Spain is five comic-books that comprise the second part of Japan.
• The third Spanish part is nine comic-books that comprise the third and fourth Japanese part.
• The fourth Spanish part is five comic-books that comprise the fifth Japanese part.
• The fifth Spanish part is ten comic-books that comprise the sixth and seventh Japanese part.
• The sixth Spanish part is ten comic-books that comprise the eighth and ninth Japanese part.

It should be noted that the publisher closely followed the pace of work of VIZ Comics, concluding the last part a few months after the ninth volume had been reached in Japan. On several occasions, readers were warned that the series was going to be temporarily interrupted due to the impossibility of having material available to publish. The team that carried out this work was: translation by Santiago García, lettering by Rosa Romeu, interior design by Rosa Romeu and Josep Maria Ricart, and technical production by Josep Maria Ricart. The translation has improved remarkably. Despite following the VIZ Comics version, the Japanese original is frequently consulted: the footnotes that appear in the Spanish version hardly appear in the American version. As of June 1996, the editor is Ana María Meca. Continuing with the improvements, the covers are no longer those of VIZ Comics, those in charge of coloring are A. and J. Torres.

The success of the series allowed a special reissue called GUNNM Complete Edition to be carried out in Japan in six volumes, including all the technical notes and sketches that Yukito Kishiro was publishing in the magazine and other extras, such as foldouts with the original covers and even a DVD with a short computer animation about Motorball racing. Likewise, three parallel stories are included under the title GUNNM Gaiden. On this occasion, Yukito Kishiro decides to make the covers in 3D graphics. As a curious note, the colored pages are not recovered and the material corresponding to the ninth part is not reissued. Instead there is a 'to be continued'.

Starting with this edition, Planeta DeAgostini Cómics gathers a new team and carries out an ambitious reissue based on the Japanese version, GUNNM - Alita, combat angel. Translated directly from Japanese by Marc Bernabé and Verónica Calafell, the original Japanese names are recovered. It comprises twelve volumes, published between November 2002 and October 2003. Both the covers of the nine volumes and those of the new Japanese version are used.

In Mexico it was published under the Smash Manga label of Televisa editorial from June to September 2018 in nine volumes, with the original covers of the Japanese version and with the title Hyper Future Vision GUNNM, each volume also has an extra tape that goes on the cover, where the alternate title Alita Battle Angel is read. The edition was in charge of José Alberto Sánchez and he tried to keep it as faithful to the original, keeping the name of the protagonist as Gally. This edition also includes the three chapters that were scrapped for the sequel to GUNNM: Last Order, with a clarifying note right where the "apocryphal" material begins.

Related works

• GUNNM Gaiden, a collection of parallel stories GUNNM that have been included in the new Spanish edition.
• Haisha (Ashen Victor)a short story located a decade before the beginning of GUNNM which deals with a scandal that happened at the Motorball.
• GUNNM: Last Orderthe continuation of Alita, angel of combat, finished with a total of 19 volumes and translated in Spain by Planet Comic.
• GUNNM: Memories of Marsa role video game made by Banpresto for the PlayStation.
• GUNNM: Mars Chronicle, sequel in publication GUNNM: Last Order and the end of the franchise. Also published in Spanish by Planeta Cómic.

Western names

After leaving the East, the English edition was one of the oldest translations and a model for versions in other languages; however, this translation took the liberty of changing names and designations for others that in many cases altered second readings and symbolism present in the story. The most notorious are the following names:

The person in charge of the English version, released at the beginning of the '90s, was the translator of the company Viz Communications Fred Burke, responsible on his own initiative for the most radical changes seen in this aspect. According to his own statements, he changed the name Gally since it did not sound pleasant to him, so he changed it to Alita in reference to the Russian film Aelita, Queen of Mars , to which Kishiro's story felt related. In the same way the Kusutetsumachi (Kusu (Trash), Tetsu (Steel), Machi (City); Scrapyard City) was transformed into the Scrapyard. To transform the names Jeru and Salem, he comments having used a kind of chained word game that led him to rename them Ketheres and Tiphares respectively and without any meaning or motivation beyond.

Most of these changes were fixed in later editions and for Last Order almost all of the original names are used (exceptions to this may be Xechs and Xazi , whose spelling changes as you can see above)

Music from the anime

Ending Theme

• "Cyborg Mermaid" for Kaori Akima

Film adaptation

In February 2019, a science fiction film based on the manga "Battle Angel Alita", titled Alita: Battle Angel, was released. It is directed by Robert Rodriguez, and with James Cameron as producer and screenwriter, also counts in the cast with Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali and Ed Skrein.