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Alita: Last Order Omnibus #3
Battle Angel Alita: Last Order Omnibus 3
MEMORIES OF MASS MURDER
On her way to retrieve Lou’s brain, Alita encounters a ghost from her past—an old mentor whose revelations shake Alita's very identity. Meanwhile Elf, Zwölf, and Sechs fight their deadly – and creepiest–enemies yet as the ZOTT rages on! But will the ARs have the mental fortitude to resist the psychically altered leader of the fearsome Starship Cult?
On her way to retrieve Lou’s brain, Alita encounters a ghost from her past—an old mentor whose revelations shake Alita's very identity. Meanwhile Elf, Zwölf, and Sechs fight their deadly – and creepiest–enemies yet as the ZOTT rages on! But will the ARs have the mental fortitude to resist the psychically altered leader of the fearsome Starship Cult?
672 pages, Paperback
First published February 11, 2014
About the author
Yukito Kishiro
348 books380 followersYukito Kishiro (Japanese: 木城ゆきと) is a Japanese manga artist born in Tokyo in 1967 and raised in Chiba. As a teenager he was influenced by the mecha anime Armored Trooper Votoms and Mobile Suit Gundam, in particular the designs of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, as well as the works of manga artist Rumiko Takahashi. He began his career at age 17, with his debut manga, Space Oddity, in the Weekly Shonen Sunday. He is best known for the cyberpunk series Battle Angel Alita.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 18, 2014
No spoilers for you. I will just say Yukito Kishiro is perhaps a genius of thrilling taletelling set on a grand cosmic scale. Way to gorgeously synthesize the significance of crushingly oppressive terminal space capitalism in with the paradox of self, existence, the nature of human civilization, and esoteric sciences.
May 23, 2026
The merlin chronicles
An excellent book. Lots of action and finally some answers into the past. However careful what you ask for, does Alita really want to know her past?
Badly injured, (not that it matters, they are always being put back together), the Space Angles have made it yo the next round. Now they must face a psychotic circus. Meanwhile Alita starts her infiltration. Discovering her past and who is the mysterious Vilma?
A good book, but another characters really stole the show for me. I am really glad more characters got a chance to shine and lots of revelations. The book finished with a couple of bonus stories. Personally I was not interested in them. The rest of the book was great.
An excellent book. Lots of action and finally some answers into the past. However careful what you ask for, does Alita really want to know her past?
Badly injured, (not that it matters, they are always being put back together), the Space Angles have made it yo the next round. Now they must face a psychotic circus. Meanwhile Alita starts her infiltration. Discovering her past and who is the mysterious Vilma?
A good book, but another characters really stole the show for me. I am really glad more characters got a chance to shine and lots of revelations. The book finished with a couple of bonus stories. Personally I was not interested in them. The rest of the book was great.
May 5, 2021
An weak 4.
October 8, 2022
This whole omnibus felt like filler content. While the backstory to humanity's collapse and ascension is interesting, why did it need to include vampires? It fits in poorly with the cyberpunk aesthetic of the series and almost killed my interest in reading more. Hopefully, the last two volumes will be more interesting.
May 29, 2021
As the second Battle Angel Alita series went on, I suspect that Yukito Kishiro was having problems stretching it out and started padding it with ideas he pulled out of his ass. Hence in the middle of Alita's quest to win a big violent tournament on the dystopian space station, ostensibly to rescue the brain of her old friend Lou from series one, we suddenly get many, many issues (over half the book) devoted to a flashback to ancient history. In which we learn that vampires exist in Alita's universe.
Yes, vampires. I have not seen such a jarring insertion of vampires into a sci-fi setting since David Weber's (very bad) novel Out of the Dark in which Dracula helps fight off an alien invasion.
So about half this volume gives us a load of backstory. We learn that 21st century civilization on Earth was destroyed by an asteroid impact, which killed the vast majority of humans on Earth and brought about a global winter. During this long global winter, we get flashbacks within flashbacks about the vampires who have secretly been living among humans for millennia, and who emerged to begin hunting the few surviving humans during the post-apocalypse. Thus we're introduced to a couple of vampire main characters, only one of which survives this long backstory, and which presumably Alita will meet at some point, though after nearly 600 pages we haven't gotten there yet.
I mean, this was all kind of interesting to learn how the sky cities and the Martian Union, etc. came to be, but it really felt like padding, and the vampires really mess with the cyberpunk setting. No, they are not "supernatural" vampires, there's a pseudo-scientific explanation about how they're actually mutants, and they don't turn into bats or get repelled by crosses, but otherwise they are still basically classic vampires.
I think Alita only actually appears in a handful of pages in this third Battle Angel Alita omnibus. She's still trying to pull off a hacking caper (which she started in the last omnibus) while her teammates are fighting ridiculous hypnotic clown cyborgs.
I want to power through and finish this series, but so far there has been a lot of ridiculousness and increasingly juvenile character power-ups and Mortal Kombat fight moves. It's got neither the heart nor the cyberpunk vibe of the first series.
Yes, vampires. I have not seen such a jarring insertion of vampires into a sci-fi setting since David Weber's (very bad) novel Out of the Dark in which Dracula helps fight off an alien invasion.
So about half this volume gives us a load of backstory. We learn that 21st century civilization on Earth was destroyed by an asteroid impact, which killed the vast majority of humans on Earth and brought about a global winter. During this long global winter, we get flashbacks within flashbacks about the vampires who have secretly been living among humans for millennia, and who emerged to begin hunting the few surviving humans during the post-apocalypse. Thus we're introduced to a couple of vampire main characters, only one of which survives this long backstory, and which presumably Alita will meet at some point, though after nearly 600 pages we haven't gotten there yet.
I mean, this was all kind of interesting to learn how the sky cities and the Martian Union, etc. came to be, but it really felt like padding, and the vampires really mess with the cyberpunk setting. No, they are not "supernatural" vampires, there's a pseudo-scientific explanation about how they're actually mutants, and they don't turn into bats or get repelled by crosses, but otherwise they are still basically classic vampires.
I think Alita only actually appears in a handful of pages in this third Battle Angel Alita omnibus. She's still trying to pull off a hacking caper (which she started in the last omnibus) while her teammates are fighting ridiculous hypnotic clown cyborgs.
I want to power through and finish this series, but so far there has been a lot of ridiculousness and increasingly juvenile character power-ups and Mortal Kombat fight moves. It's got neither the heart nor the cyberpunk vibe of the first series.
January 15, 2016
The third omnibus book in the re-release of the Batle Angel Alita Last Order Story. Alita/Yoko continues to look for answers to her mysterious past in this Older Teen rated book which has violence, discovery, and to my delight a glimpse into the past after the Earth is thrown into darkness (read the book if you want to learn more.) :)
One thing I really enjoy about this book is that Alita although important to the story is able to take a back seat as various flashbacks illuminate the characters in the story. This does not mean the fighting is missing from this book. I am sure we all have our favorites when amazing art and story meld flawlessly into a fine book like this. Also I should mention two short manga put out
My personal favorite part of the book is about how Vilma got the Fata Morgana. If you like Vampires then this book is chocked with them and only one of them can save humanity. :)
One thing I really enjoy about this book is that Alita although important to the story is able to take a back seat as various flashbacks illuminate the characters in the story. This does not mean the fighting is missing from this book. I am sure we all have our favorites when amazing art and story meld flawlessly into a fine book like this. Also I should mention two short manga put out
My personal favorite part of the book is about how Vilma got the Fata Morgana. If you like Vampires then this book is chocked with them and only one of them can save humanity. :)
March 25, 2020
Definite improvement over omnibus 2 since this one focuses on characters and plot instead of just battles. This time, Alita takes a backseat (she's completely absent in the second half of this volume) as we get a substantial backstory for one of the supporting characters.
Art continues to be strong, with beautifully detailed backgrounds and great sense of motion in the action scenes.
Story is over-the-top melodrama, but it's focused on characters and plot this time, so this volume was much more enjoyable and a lot less plodding than the pretty much nonstop battles of the previous volume. Finally some of the emotional attachment to the characters returns!
The two bonus stories are fun little adventures, although their pacing is clunky, and their art is obviously much less polished than his later art.
This is probably my favorite volume of Last Order so far and a huge improvement from the previous omnibus volume.
Art continues to be strong, with beautifully detailed backgrounds and great sense of motion in the action scenes.
Story is over-the-top melodrama, but it's focused on characters and plot this time, so this volume was much more enjoyable and a lot less plodding than the pretty much nonstop battles of the previous volume. Finally some of the emotional attachment to the characters returns!
The two bonus stories are fun little adventures, although their pacing is clunky, and their art is obviously much less polished than his later art.
This is probably my favorite volume of Last Order so far and a huge improvement from the previous omnibus volume.
May 12, 2019
The origin of Scrapyard! The origin of Caerula Sanguis and how her role forms the creation of the Ladder! Plus - two bonus earlier mangas from Yukito Kishiro. The third omnibus volume goes back to the origin of how the world of Scrapyard was form that used to be Earth itself. As Alita jack-in into the old main frame of Melchizedek, she discovers the true roots of the world. Meanwhile, Sechs and the Space Angels are winning in Z.O.T.T. against Starship Cult. All in all, its another read that's opening up the world of Alita to fans and new readers alike.
June 16, 2020
Alita barely in it
This volume is primarily about the vampires and how cerulia lived with her clan after the great calamity that nearly destroyed earth. Alita is hardly in it. I’m not spoiling anything here but I wasn’t happy with the result. Turns out one specific character is responsible for how EVERYTHING transpires. The formation of the orbital elevator. The beginning of Star City. The re-rise of humanity. All based in the croons of one person. I didn’t need to know how tiphares began. The mystery was more than enough for me. Ultimately you can probably skip this one unless you’re desperate for pre Alita lore.
This volume is primarily about the vampires and how cerulia lived with her clan after the great calamity that nearly destroyed earth. Alita is hardly in it. I’m not spoiling anything here but I wasn’t happy with the result. Turns out one specific character is responsible for how EVERYTHING transpires. The formation of the orbital elevator. The beginning of Star City. The re-rise of humanity. All based in the croons of one person. I didn’t need to know how tiphares began. The mystery was more than enough for me. Ultimately you can probably skip this one unless you’re desperate for pre Alita lore.
September 16, 2019
Definitely the weakest of the Alita books. Alita's backstory is fine, but I honestly do not give a hoot about the vampire woman's backstory. Why is that even a thing? Why was there a vampire character introduced in the first place? Was this an editor suggestion based on trends?
June 26, 2018
Great first half but the last half was tiresome. The history of the world being so... weird and long, was boring.
April 2, 2026
This was a flashback volume. First we find out what it is that Alita actually did that condemned her to be dropped on to the Scrapyard. Then we find out that ancient creatures from Earths past, one of which is Vilma, later known as Caerula, are more connected to the civilization that rose from the ashes towards stars.
From now on some things might be spoilers, so be warned.
This book is more or less about Alita's and Caerula's past. After we witness actual crimes of Alita, we get introduced to Cognate, basically vampire species from Earth's past. Very powerful, deadly, superhuman but ultimately lonely species that somehow managed to coexist with humans but when a catastrophe strikes Earth and kills many (including Cognate who are long living but not immortal), Cognates decide to hunt down humans and use them as nothing more than cattle. of course considering the level of Earth's destruction this takes time, decades.
This is where Caerula comes in as she desperately tries to unite her Cognate clan and one of the very few enclaves of humanity they encountered - Farrell shelter. It is a very interesting story, full tragedy if you ask me, describing lots of decisions and actions that might have caused misfire and terrible losses for humanity. As interesting this was for me, as a consequence, we do not see much of our cyber heroes. And some reviewers do not like this as far as I can see.
Understandable. But I think goal here is to show how powerful computer Melchiedizek, that basically runs the orbital stations and is one of the reasons why humanity found its way back to the stars, started very humbly, from remains of what could be scavenged from old civilization. What started as beacon of hope quickly turned into weapon of oppression. And to close this circle author required a link, something that is not machine (again, catastrophe takes place way back, no cyberpunk solos or artificial bodies) but can pass for human. And this is where Caerula comes in - last living vampire who, in likes of Highlander, Emperor of Humankind and various other immortals helps the humanity but also, on behest of the man who brought humanity back to the stars, gets selected to act as a control mechanism. Because everyone is aware that while this supercomputer is powerful it is just the computer, and thus can easily stray depending on whose inputs it is following.
As I said very interesting story of Mad-Max like times. I like these types of stories because they build the lore and the universe.
But, since this is about 3/4 of the omnibus I can understand that some might find this distracting and not linked to the main story (which is to begin with very different from the original arc, and might not be to everyone's liking).
For me, it worked, I like Book of Eli kind of stories. So I wholeheartedly recommend this omnibus.
Only thing that had me scratching my head are two author's non-Alita first-time-in-English comics that are now regularly made part of omnibuses. These two ....... are weird AF. I am not able to tell you what happened in the first one (Oddity) at all ..... it's like some pages are missing. Second one, about space pirate gang ...... more structured but again feels somewhat disconcerted. It has such a simplified story line (literary veni-vidi-vici) that I have a feeling it is a pilot for actual comic. In any case compared with Oddity, second comic is like reading Johny Hazard. Art wise both are more cartoonish and with lots of comic relief, although subject in both is anything but childish (at least i think so......).
For Alita story-line, this omnibus is definitely recommended.
From now on some things might be spoilers, so be warned.
This book is more or less about Alita's and Caerula's past. After we witness actual crimes of Alita, we get introduced to Cognate, basically vampire species from Earth's past. Very powerful, deadly, superhuman but ultimately lonely species that somehow managed to coexist with humans but when a catastrophe strikes Earth and kills many (including Cognate who are long living but not immortal), Cognates decide to hunt down humans and use them as nothing more than cattle. of course considering the level of Earth's destruction this takes time, decades.
This is where Caerula comes in as she desperately tries to unite her Cognate clan and one of the very few enclaves of humanity they encountered - Farrell shelter. It is a very interesting story, full tragedy if you ask me, describing lots of decisions and actions that might have caused misfire and terrible losses for humanity. As interesting this was for me, as a consequence, we do not see much of our cyber heroes. And some reviewers do not like this as far as I can see.
Understandable. But I think goal here is to show how powerful computer Melchiedizek, that basically runs the orbital stations and is one of the reasons why humanity found its way back to the stars, started very humbly, from remains of what could be scavenged from old civilization. What started as beacon of hope quickly turned into weapon of oppression. And to close this circle author required a link, something that is not machine (again, catastrophe takes place way back, no cyberpunk solos or artificial bodies) but can pass for human. And this is where Caerula comes in - last living vampire who, in likes of Highlander, Emperor of Humankind and various other immortals helps the humanity but also, on behest of the man who brought humanity back to the stars, gets selected to act as a control mechanism. Because everyone is aware that while this supercomputer is powerful it is just the computer, and thus can easily stray depending on whose inputs it is following.
As I said very interesting story of Mad-Max like times. I like these types of stories because they build the lore and the universe.
But, since this is about 3/4 of the omnibus I can understand that some might find this distracting and not linked to the main story (which is to begin with very different from the original arc, and might not be to everyone's liking).
For me, it worked, I like Book of Eli kind of stories. So I wholeheartedly recommend this omnibus.
Only thing that had me scratching my head are two author's non-Alita first-time-in-English comics that are now regularly made part of omnibuses. These two ....... are weird AF. I am not able to tell you what happened in the first one (Oddity) at all ..... it's like some pages are missing. Second one, about space pirate gang ...... more structured but again feels somewhat disconcerted. It has such a simplified story line (literary veni-vidi-vici) that I have a feeling it is a pilot for actual comic. In any case compared with Oddity, second comic is like reading Johny Hazard. Art wise both are more cartoonish and with lots of comic relief, although subject in both is anything but childish (at least i think so......).
For Alita story-line, this omnibus is definitely recommended.
June 30, 2025
Man wtf was that!?
Honestamente, el primer tercio fue bastante fluido y con peleas sorprendentemente interesantes, concluyendo con un momento emocionante... Para posteriormente mostrar durante el resto del tomo la historia de fondo de Caerula, la que sorprendentemente es bastante interesante y da mucho lore al mundo de Gunnm, pero se siente raro hacer un cambio escenario y personajes tan grande. No lo sé, estuvo bien, pero definitivamente espero que los siguientes tonos no sean flashbacks.
Honestamente, el primer tercio fue bastante fluido y con peleas sorprendentemente interesantes, concluyendo con un momento emocionante... Para posteriormente mostrar durante el resto del tomo la historia de fondo de Caerula, la que sorprendentemente es bastante interesante y da mucho lore al mundo de Gunnm, pero se siente raro hacer un cambio escenario y personajes tan grande. No lo sé, estuvo bien, pero definitivamente espero que los siguientes tonos no sean flashbacks.
December 16, 2018
Loved this
November 7, 2021
4.5 stars. This collection has taken the series off in an unexpected direction. Still loving it.
March 21, 2022
fresh change
Very cool side story about vampires and a look at the dark history of earth and one of their most interesting and mysterious characters!
Very cool side story about vampires and a look at the dark history of earth and one of their most interesting and mysterious characters!
August 15, 2022
Maybe it was the only logical explanation….but the vampire story line came out of left field for me…
I really enjoyed the short stories at the end of this omnibus!
I really enjoyed the short stories at the end of this omnibus!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 26, 2025
This next sequence is remarkable in a way that plunges you deeper into this fantasy world and its origin story. Did not expect this twist.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews