Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle. Vol. 3

銃夢火星戦記 [Gunnm Kasei Senki] #3

by Yukito Kishiro

For centuries, war has raged on the dusty, red surface of Mars. This apocalyptic crucible will produce the solar system’s most fearsome warrior, Alita. But for now that warrior is just a little girl named Yoko. The future and past of the battle angel fan out across the reaches of space in the final chapter of one of the greatest sci-fi epics of all time!

Genres: Manga, Science Fiction, Cyberpunk, Seinen, Comics, Graphic Novels, Comics Manga

176 pages, Paperback

First published July 22, 2016

About the author

Yukito 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.

Reviews

[Doc · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume is more about Erica's past then Yoko though they are together for a bit of time at the beginning before they get separated with the discover of someone who knows Yoko's past and claims to be her mother. Life hardly seems fair for Erica as she is separated from the closest friend she has ever and is even further isolated by bounty hunters. With a very valuable treasure in hand Erica must make new alliances to survive even if those alliances are with the diabolical Baron Muster. Watch as one harsh incident after another corrupts this little lady as she follows her destiny.

Probably my favorite part of this dark tale is how Erica gets a human pet at Musters whim and she has re-evaluate her choices considering the type of man he is showing himself to be.

[Elyia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and mediocre

[ダンカン · Rating 4 out of 5]

The past has a way to connect with the present and in a way connects towards the future. Battle Angel Alita - Mars Chronicles third volume reveals a lot more who Yoko (Alita) and Erica of their becoming, a dark past is revealed and a new villain - Baron Muster, one that knows the secrets of Yoko. Although short and simple, once again there is much about this prequel still have yet to answer the questions but I can really wait and hopefully, the last two volumes will give me more insight on how Yoko became Alita.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Huh. So this volume picks up where volume 1 ended. Young Erica and Yoko are being helped by Dr. Finch to find their parents. It turns out Erica had a pretty damaging home life and Yoko's situation is questionable also. Meanwhile, the most over-the-top character in the series (which is saying something) is introduced. He's a total mwa-ha-ha type villain who identifies as evil and is trying to take over Mars. The art is still solid, but there's a lot more plot than action in this one, which is not Kishiro's strong suit.

[Alex E · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume picks up right were the first volume leaves off, with the two girls in the care of the kindly doctor. They're looking for Erica's family, who she remembers as kind and loving.

Yukito Kishiro is definitely going for emotion in this iteration of the series, as he dials back the fighting, and instead focuses on characterization and emotional resonance. From Erica finding out the truth about her family, to the way she "deals" with them, its all a shade much darker from the second series -w here it was all about the Zott battles.

The girls are separated, as a woman claiming to be Yoko's mom shows up to take her into custody. Erica's heart is broken, as she is left only with the kindly doctor - and not for long. It seems that Erica's villainous ways definitely have origins in her backstory. She has been through alot - and the series is only a few volumes in.

I'm definitely digging the way Kishiro is exploring the series now, and looking forward to the next one!

[Rici · Rating 4 out of 5]

Der Band ist leider etwas dünn, aber dennoch finden wir etwas mehr über Erikas Vergangenheit in diesem Band heraus. Da ihre Eltern leider ziemlich misshandelnd waren, hat es sie wohl sehr geprägt. Mir fehlt hier leider stärkere Science-Fiktion Element, was ansonsten so in der Serie vorhanden ist. In diesem Band wird es erzähltechnisch eher ruhig angegangen.

[Zachary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A much slower volume than the previous 2, a lot of build up for not much pay off in this one but still enjoyable over all.

[Yuiko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loving this series

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dual plot lines keep building nicely. Feel these vines are a bit light, as far as page count goes, but that’s a compliment I suppose. Meaning I’d like more.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Angelica Arafiles-Reif · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wondering if there's a pattern to the time jumps

[Kurage · Rating 3 out of 5]

12-16

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m excited to see this series continue, chronicling both the early years of Gally (Alita) and the events after Last Order. At first I was confused since Vol. 1 was a prequel and Vol. 2 was a sequel, and the story from Vol. 1 was left unfinished. However in Vol. 3 we pick things back up, and I realized we will be jumping back and forth between the two. I’m OK with that, as long as the publishing schedule is pretty quick. Waiting forever and only getting two or three volumes a year in the past was very discouraging.

My only real takeaway from this volume, and a small complaint, is that this book introduces yet more characters and more sub plots without finishing any of the others. It’s setting things up to go on for a very long time, something I’m not sure if we all want or not. I just don’t want to see any unfinished storylines by the end of this thing.

Still, this is a welcome development for fans, to see the series continue, especially since I believe it will become quite popular after the release of the big movie in 2018.