Bojový anděl Alita 4: Dobytí Salemu

銃夢 新装版 [Gunnm Shinsōban] #4

by Yukito Kishiro, Anna Křivánková (Translator)

Epická akční sci-fi o bojovém robotovi, kterého najde jednoho dne doktor na vrakovišti, dospívá ke svému velkolepému finále! Od událostí posledních knih uplynulo už deset let. Alita se dostala mezi ty, proti kterým bojovala a coby agentka pronásleduje šíleného vědce, který rozsévá chaos a utrpení. Jenže ani v poušti, kam se vydává, není zcela osamělá. Narazí na nové postavy… a s nimi přicházejí do jejího života i nové problémy a nová těžká rozhodnutí.

Genres: Manga, Science Fiction, Comics, Graphic Novels, Cyberpunk, Fantasy, Dystopia

588 pages, Paperback

First published July 19, 1995

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

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

MEL 🖤🐶🐺🐾

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.

So much has happened to Alita since the day she was reborn by cyber-doctor Daisuke Ido. Every event has managed to successfully mold her personality and solidify her beliefs to the point where the line between cyborg and human was blurred out of her existence. Even in the mist of all the chaos she has encountered, she still found ways to discover happiness and love, eternal or not. Yukito Kishiro has shown great talent in inserting both a philosophical and poetical tone to Alita’s story while perking it up with humour, violence and sexuality.

Battle Angel Alita Deluxe Edition Vol. 4 collects both volume 7 and 8 of the original cyberpunk classic series and jumps forward 10 years after the previous events with her new friend Figure Four. After having shaken the hands of the devil, she’s now a TUNED agent whose main mission is to hunt down the mad scientist who was at the heart of all the chaos in the previous story arcs. As she travels through the desert, her story converges with that of the Barjack Rebellion and their terrifying leader Den. Her life is once again shook by the dilemmas to come, but also by the newly added cast members who will propel her towards her goals far sooner than she thought she ever would.

A plot line that has been teased and maintained throughout Alita’s story is her mysterious past. Very little of it is ever unveiled, but it remains one of the main attractions to the character as it continuously hassles her consciousness, especially when several characters claim to know of her past self. While intriguing, I still found that it has dragged on for a little too long. With only one more volume to go, fans have yet to have any real idea of who exactly Alita was and this forces us to ponder if her past is actually a key element to her plot that will get an answer soon enough or actually a needle in the back serving a much bigger purpose, something along the lines of it being a burden we always carry around but shouldn’t ever be considered the final decisive factor to what we want to become as a person.

This volume’s biggest attraction is also the introduction of a lot of new characters, especially one that brings into play a whole societal conflict that was a bit left aside in the previous volumes. What we get to enjoy is the Barjack Rebellion where those who have lived in the Scrapyard all their lives seek to destroy the reigning structure by taking down the floating city of Zalem where all the citizens are living peacefully away from the exiled. Kaos is also another character who brings a whole new level of awkward goofiness to the story, but his special talents proves to be highly valuable in the plot’s progression. Even though there are moments throughout the story where things felt overly-stretched-out, the ending definitely hints at a promising finale.

Battle Angel Alita Deluxe Edition Vol. 4 continues to be an action-packed and entertaining series that doesn’t suffer at the hands of time. Its story so far has proved its merits as a classic cyberpunk series, and what will happen to Alita in the end is what will determine how great this series truly is.

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
____________________________

Action-packed and epic as always. A lot of brand new characters are tossed into the mix, every single one of them pertinent in some shape or form. Love how the story continues to tackle to division among the people on a societal level (those on Zalem and those in the Scrapyard). The author pushes ideas of revolution and transformation in an exaggerated but highly-entertaining fashion.

Sort of sad that there's just one more deluxe edition to go and it is going to mark the end of this series (excluding all the spin-offs/prequels). Looking forward to it!

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/

[Sud666 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Volume 4 collects the "Panzer Bride" and "War Chronicle" story arcs. While interesting, I think this volume will mark the limits of my collection. The Fourth Volume is good, but the overall story seems to not be as tight. There is a mishmash of story arcs and it seems more jumbled than before. I also can not shake the feeling of having missed "something" in-between Vol 3 and Vol 4.

"Panzer Bride" has Alita working for Zalem and she even has a controller. But she runs into the weird Radio KAOS and decides to help Kaos. Along the way she runs into a huge construct known as BarJack that is fighting a war against Zalem.

"War Chronicle" covers Alita fighting against the Zalem forces which consist of advanced model Alitas. As this is happening BarJacks conflict against Zalem continues as Zalem shows it has a few surprises of its own. Alita gets her ass kicked but reaches self-enlightenment by defeating her inner demons.

Hmmm...the story is really out there. It's good, but not as good as before. At least to me. I have enjoyed my run of reading and collecting this series, but I feel it has run its course. While my interest may have run out, please bear in mind this is a very interesting series and others may like it far more than I. Even this volume is a 3 star volume. It was just not to my taste.

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this one as much as the other volumes. It seemed like the plot left the tracks, removing well developed characters and bring in odd new ones. The story started to feel inconsistent to me.

[Zbigniew Gacek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Potężna cegła, epicki finał, elegancka kreska i styl. Tym samym kończę 4 tomowy Cykl o Alicie i będę mógł się zabrać za 12 tomowy Last Order. Kawał Mangi!!!

[Matty Dub · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amazing volume filled with dynamic action and 90s cheese. I can’t wait to see what Alita’s final showdown with the Zalemites has in store!!

[Francesca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm definitely reading these spread too far apart to fully appreciate them, which is totally my fault and really sucks.

I was pretty confused by this volume. It seemed really scattered and random. I did enjoy the return of certain characters who I recognised, but there was one who I had absolutely no recollection of Jasugun. For a long time it seemed as if nothing was happening, but then when the goals of the characters are revealed it's pretty huge. So I did appreciate that some real plot was happening in there somewhere.

I do really struggle with the action scenes in this series and whereas normally you scan every inch to take it all in, I find myself skimming over the details because I know I'm just not going to be able to work it out.

One more to go, and where I was eagerly going to jump into Mars Chronicle, it's looking pretty likely that I'm not going to bother.

[Eric Van Den Top · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4/5

Hmm - These books are getting worse and worse.

However it did end in a way that I am genuinely excited for the next one.

[Darjeeling · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not entirely sure why they made her black on the front cover of this one. Are we replacing Asians with blacks now? Why? Am I supposed to be offended? Are Asians not diverse enough? Is this black-face? The mind can only boggle. It's a good comic book tho. Really cool the way the titular heroin continues to grow as a person. She had her child-like phase, then her rebellious teenage phase, & is now becoming a more emotionally mature woman, with a growing sense of duty & responsibility.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This time, 10 years have passed since the last volume and we get the final story arc to be concluded in the last volume. Alita becomes an agent for an unlikely boss, and meets some other new characters. We also meet a rebellion against Zalem. The action is intense and the Ouroborus machine is a cool concept, but again the characterization seems to take a backseat this time.

[Larissa Cezana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Certamente um volume muito intenso. Gosto da maneira como Alita evolui e como ela aprende a lidar melhor com os problemas. Um dos pontos fortes são os sacrifícios em que ela se submete.

Um volume bem completo e robusto, com muita ação e com um final que surpreendeu.

[Tytus]

😞

[Zack Clopton · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the penultimate Deluxe Edition of Battle Angel, Yukito Kishiro's creativity and inventiveness reaches its wildest level. This volume is full of so many crazy ideas. You've got a giant centaur cyborg warlord, a massively destructive laser cannon powered by a satellite, another giant cannon built from a train, zombie-like mole men, a psychic that can learn everything about an object just by touching it, a carnival full of insane body-horror creations, a serial killer turned unlikely hero-photographer, and a robotic motorcycle sidekick. Oh, and an evil double or two.

As her story is pushed to its furtherest point yet, Alita continues to grow as a character. She encounters some old familiar faces in this volume, providing more sidekicks and someone she's been searching out for a while now. (How that particular plot point plays out is heartbreaking.) Yet the new additions are equally loveable. I really like Lou Collins, the first real friend Alita has made in a while, and Kaos - the aforementioned psychic who is also a frail, blind, superstar DJ of the wastelands with connections to two of the series' biggest villains and, oh yeah, a hopelessly pathetic crush on Alita - is too damn weird not to be endearing.

And, as always, Kishiro's fight scenes are wild. The dual between Alita and her evil clone is definitely the action highlight of this addition, though the scene where she takes down the kaiju-sized Den is pretty awesome too.

As we head into the final volume, there's obviously a lot of story still to be uncovered. I hear the original ending is one of those love-it-or-hate-it deals but, nevertheless, I'm really excited to see how this'll wrap up.

[Raj · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume picks up 10 years after the end of the last one, with Alita having left Figure Four at some point and is back working for Zalem again, in her guise as TUNED unit A1. This volume sees her encounter with Den, the leader of an anti-Zalem army, and Kaos, someone who can read an object's history by just touching it. She also finally finds her lost father-figure Ido, although that reunion doesn't exactly go as she expected.

This is a strange volume and the story felt sort of incomplete. Possibly inevitable, as the pace of the overall arc ramps up towards a conclusion in the next volume. Alita seems more vulnerable here and leans heavily on some of those around her, including her new Zalemite operator, Lou (who's quite adorable, in a deeply nerdy way).

The storyline with the AR units feels like it just peters out, without really much resolution. There are supposed to be multiple AR units, but we only see two of them. If they are as powerful as is portrayed, they should have had a much bigger impact. Likewise, there's no real explanation for the missing Figure, with just the occasional flashback to him.

Den, leader of the Barjack rebellion against Zalem, is an interesting character, and had the potential to be quite a complex, layered individual, but it doesn't feel like that happened.

I'll complete the series now, but I'm losing momentum.

[Anniken Haga · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5 stars

So I wasn't really a fan of this book.
I wasn't a big fan of the time-jump, especially without us getting to know anything that Alita did in the meantime. It felt like it was only there to have some easy solutions to the Ido-arc, as well as uppin' the stakes for Alita with the girl from her past, but it didn't quite work for me.

Then there was the Kaos-arc, which was just weird and a little all over the place.
Hand-in-hand with that was the Den-arc, which I felt was left unfinished in a rather unnatural way.
And finally was the AR-2-arc, which I found natural, but again, it felt a little rushed. I really hope we get some clean-up in regards to Lou later in the story, for if it ends like this... well, again, it feels unfinished and like a cheap way of writing, which is not what I've come to expect from Kishiro.

I did like the ending, but I have to admit that I am glad there's only one book left in this series.

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another bit of a filler section but seemed to have a little more of the of the end in sight.

[Paulo Vinicius Figueiredo dos Santos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bem, gente não vou me segurar muito em relação a spoilers, só não dando muito os dessa edição. Nesse volume, Kishiro amarra as pontas soltas do conflito entre o mundo terrestre e Zalem em uma edição explosiva. Algo que ele vinha maquinando desde o primeiro volume e agora alguns segredos sobre a cidade voadora são revelados. Na outra ponta temos Alita senso salva por Kaos para logo em seguida enfrentar Den, o líder do Barjack. Apesar de Den ter uma personalidade cativante, suas ideias revolucionárias são brutais e levam em conta a destruição de tudo para a construção de algo novo. Mas, e aqueles que não tem nada a ver com o conflito, como ficam? E será que Alita conseguirá encontrar Ido e derrotar o dr. Desty Nova?

O volume 4 da edição da JBC é um volume bem parrudo e possui dois volumes e meio nele, o que não ajuda a dar uma avaliação precisa sobre a arte. Isto acontece porque ela sofre com altos e baixos e este é um momento em que o autor teve inúmeros problemas com a Shueisha que era a editora original do mangá (Kishiro levou depois para a Kodansha). Então já é um autor pressionado e querendo fechar a história o quanto antes. A arte em si tem seus altos e baixos, e nos últimos capítulos ela está arrebatadora. Como já mencionei antes, Kishiro tem uma ótima noção de cenas de ação e consegue prender o leitor por páginas a fio. Estamos falando de um volumão de quase quinhentas páginas que passa brincando por nós. Nessa resenha queria destacar a noção que o autor tem de movimentos de artes marciais. Kishiro deu toda uma personalidade ao panzer kunst, uma técnica marcial que ele criou para uma personagem ciborgue. Existe toda uma filosofia de ataque e defesa na técnica, baseada em giros rápidos. Nesse volume conseguimos ver Alita lutando contra adversários grandes, pequenos, múltiplos. Algumas cenas são lindas em seu terror. Tem um combate da Alita contra uma cópia dela em que as duas personagens fazem movimentos super rápidos e a gente fica sem fôlego acompanhando a cena.

Lembro-me que tinha reclamado de como Kishiro havia construído um universo narrativo muito auto-contido na Cidade da Sucata. Mas, desde o volume 3 que ele ampliou bastante o escopo da história. O leitor conhece melhor como é a formação do mundo que ele tinha pensado e somos capazes até de ver como se dão as relações comerciais, as organizações sociais e como Zalem entra na história. Tem até um mapinha em um dos capítulos deste volume que mostra a localização da Cidade da Sucata (com Zalem flutuando acima) e o posicionamento de todas as factories. Agora me ressinto de que a história passa rápido demais e eu gostaria de ver o autor trabalhando melhor os quatro cantos do mundo. Porque a história tem mais a ser explorada como aquela cidadezinha em ruínas costeira onde o Fogia vive, como entram as mercadorias na Cidade da Sucata e o papel dos traficantes de mercadorias. Como temos o Barjack como uma ameaça real e iminente, tudo acaba sendo destruído.

Começamos este volume com Alita tendo sido resgatada pelo misterioso Kaos, um homem que transmite uma espécie de rádio que pega toda a região próxima. Alita logo descobre que Kaos é filho do dr. Nova e que ele desenvolveu uma afeição irritante por ela. Mas, ele proporciona uma cena engraçada que é ver Alita vestida de noiva, com um vestido feito pelo próprio Kaos. Alita e Koyomi estão no furgão do Kaos quando Den acaba encontrando-os. E o combate inevitável se inicia. Como uma tuned, Alita agora se reporta diretamente a Zalem que a emprega em missões perigosas. Esta tem sido sua vida por dez longos anos desde o desastre do volume passado. Mas, a personagem ainda mantém laços com aqueles que vivem na Cidade da Sucata. Por isso que quando Den diz que vai derrubar Zalem, Alita não pensa em seus chefes, mas naqueles que vivem abaixo da cidade flutuante. É muito mais do que cumprir uma missão, mas o de salvar aqueles que ela ama no fundo do seu coração.

Até o momento, ter se tornado uma agente tuned foi um alívio para a personagem. Ela pôde descontar sua raiva em missões de alta periculosidade e até soltar sua insanidade o suficiente para derrotar seus inimigos. Mas, no fundo, ela sabe que ter se deixado repaginar por Zalem é como ter vendido sua alma. Os empregadores de Alita já sabem do lado incontrolável dela, e eles acabam colocando a alegre Lou para ser a operadora de Alita. Por alguns capítulos somos enganados com a boa (e real) relação divertida entre as duas personagens. Lou consegue fazer reaparecer em Alita o seu lado infantil e birrento. Só que nem tudo são flores e logo Alita vai se dar conta de que os objetivos de Zalem são bem mais inescrupulosos do que ela imagina. Só vai ser interessante em como as pessoas que auxiliaram Alita de Zalem vão reagir. Já vimos o quanto a natureza impetuosa da personagem consegue inspirar o coração de outras pessoas.

A introdução do personagem Kaos na equação gerou uma boa discussão. Kaos tem o poder da psicometria: o dom de saber toda a história de um objeto apenas através do toque. Isso permite a ele até mesmo aprender as habilidades de alguém se ele tocar na pessoa. Kaos é quase como um repositório vivo de conhecimento. Mas, ele escolheu viver em seu furgão ao lado de sua assistente Jasmin apenas gravando mensagens de auto-ajuda e apoio moral aos outros, mantendo uma espécie de neutralidade tácita. No entanto, o mundo tem o poder de nos dar um tapa na cara e nos devolver à realidade quando menos esperamos. Não é possível ficar em cima do muro por muito tempo, ainda mais quando se é aliado de Den e filho do dr. Nova. O quanto Kaos está disposto a comprometer sua própria segurança em busca de um ideal? Até onde vimos, o personagem é mais um bobo idealista que só pensa em viver uma existência fútil longe de conflitos. Mas, seu contato com Alita despertará desejos que ele não sabia que possuía.

Outro ponto levantado nesta última edição é a teoria do carma que o dr. Nova menciona em algumas oportunidades. Na mitologia hindu o carma é toda ação seja ela boa ou má gera uma reação em igual intensidade àquele que gerou em primeiro lugar. Acredito que Nova não acredite na ordenação proporcionada por Zalem. É uma desigualdade social direcionada para gerar benesses e evolução apenas a uma pequena parte da humanidade. É como se fosse uma enorme máquina detentora de múltiplas engrenagens. Uma abordagem fordista sobre a própria humanidade. Nova acredita em vencer o carma. Para isso ele gera o caos. Suas ações podem ser boas ou ruins, depende do ponto de vista de quem vê. Em uma primeira análise a sua insanidade é algo terrível, mas pensem no que ele já fez: forneceu os meios para que Alita derrotasse Zapan, ressuscitou o Ido tornando-o até mais jovem do que ele era e restaurou o corpo de Alita quando esta se encontrava em frangalhos. Seus meios são completamente questionáveis e ele é totalmente uma wild card.

Por falar em carma, isso vale bastante para Alita. Aliás, descobrimos que o verdadeiro nome de Alita é Youko e vou ficar só nisso. Nessa edição tem mais alguns detalhes sobre de onde ela veio. Muitas coisas ficaram em aberto para que Kishiro possa explorar posteriormente. Só que uma coisa que fica clara é que Alita acredita que tudo o que tem acontecido a ela de triste e terrível é uma forma para que ela expie seus pecados que ela cometeu como Youko. Ela até chega a aceitar essa condição de forma tácita, o que irrita Nova. Quando ele se refere a vencer o carma, ele também se refere ao destino da própria Alita. Não adianta se apegar apenas ao passado para justificar as tragédias do presente. É preciso encontrar forças para seguir adiante com sua vida e estabelecer novos laços.

Esta é uma edição explosiva em revelações só que me incomodou um pouco a velocidade com que elas são passadas. A impressão que temos é que Kishiro tinha várias ideias e decidiu terminar antes a série. Muitas coisas ficaram em aberto, apesar do final lindíssimo que ele cria para todo esse confronto com Zalem. Usar a imagem que ele usou significa também o conceito de renovação, uma ferramenta para iniciar uma nova era. A arte tem seus altos e baixos e a narrativa em si deixa muito em aberto sendo que não temos uma sinalização de que a série continuaria (hoje sabemos que ela continua). No mais, fico com vontade de saber onde mais veremos a jornada de Alita e se ela encontrará a verdadeira paz.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Successfully and adventurously blurring and then quickly refining the defining line between what is good for humanity and what is not, BATTLE ANGEL ALITA #4 showcases an excellent chapter in Alita's life in which personal growth is often too good to be true. It's unfortunate such an intense and extensive breaching of the necessary friction required to discern whether humanity is worth saving occurs so late in the manga's run, but it's to the creative team's credit to have included it so substantively.

Alita's scouring of the wasteland for Desty Nova, and by extension the Barjack crew of bandits and anti-Zalem brigade, now spans several years. The fate of Daisuke Ido is unknown. Alita's fragmented allegiance to Zalem comes and goes. And whatever remnants of the woman's humanity remain often costs the young warrior time and again. Does Alita spare a foe who turns friendly? Does she spare a friend who behaves like a rogue?

BATTLE ANGEL ALITA #4 formally introduces Den, the leader of the Barjack crew, as well as a few other characters. Kaos is a young but hobbled man who broadcasts across pirated radio waves, quests for the simple life, and yet struggles mightily with the ever-present dichotomy of needing violence to secure peace. Kaos is good-natured. But as with all dystopic manga, this means he is also a very troubled man.

Lou Collins, a Zalemite, becomes Alita's new handler. Lou isn't the stickler for rules that her boss, Director Bigott Eisenberg, happens to be, and serves as a reader empath for every jaw-crunching punch and ear-splitting explosion that echoes within spitting distance of the prized cyborg. Lou is the source of the manga's enduring comedic through-line. She's giddy and jumpy, but she doesn't give up when things get tough. Her confrontation with the director, at the book's conclusion is the culmination of the whole volume's drama wrapped into a single tense exchange.

In general, BATTLE ANGEL ALITA #4 is about enduring a loss of control, and the threats that emerge from institutions, individuals, and heartbeats of philosophy when that occurs.

Alita has a lot less agency in this volume than in the previous. The young woman is no longer looked up to by a feckless muscle-head (Figure Four) but instead awkwardly fawned over by a hopeless iconoclast (Kaos) and lusted after by a criminal sadist masquerading as a journalist. Not ideal, but true to form, the book's grim visual aesthetic and even pacing really make their mark.

The manga retains its ongoing dance with kinetic action and dalliance with gruesome, futuristic violence. The manga also ups its game in terms of more clearly articulating the consequences of that violence. Alita enjoys the spoils of her alignment with Zalem, but at what cost? And Den, who wishes to tear Zalem from the sky, knows full well that if he succeeds, then the Scrapyard will become a graveyard. The quantity of speechifying in this volume is high, but unlike a lot of sci-fi exploits, here, it's welcome.

[Alexander Engel-Hodgkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.7/5

Most plot threads converge and culminate in this deluxe edition volume containing the seventh and eighth volumes of this nine-volume saga. The end is nigh! And everything that occurs in this is fittingly hard-hitting, delivering gut-punching revelations and even a few surprising twists that I didn't see coming.

There's a minor character whose importance in the grand scheme of things is miniscule, but the glimpse into his background and his, um... desires completely changes how the reader perceives him and everything he's done in the short amount of time we've seen him. Yukito Kishiro is very good at balancing these sorts of dichotomies between what we see and what truths lie beneath the surface, and has displayed this skill time and again throughout this original run.

Things remain suitably bleak, with just the right touch of humour to keep it from becoming unbearably tragic. Of course, the complex themes explored through the series are occasionally brought back to the surface through character dialogue without becoming preachy or repetitive. They say all they need to and Yukito shows the rest through visuals and the battles that often ensue from various conflicting ideologies and circumstances.

I've neglected to mention Yukito's artwork during my reviews for these volumes, and that's a shame, because his artwork started off wonderfully and has only improved since then. His skill at depicting scale, battles, the expansive world, and the characters' emotions is truly top-tier stuff. I would seriously put this series on the same level as Ghost in the Shell and Akira, as a bonafide cyberpunk manga classic. It honestly saddens me that I barely touched this box set despite owning it since 2019, and it's even sadder knowing that Alita isn't nearly as popular as those other two.

Anyway, rambling aside. On to the final volume.

[Joseph B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Battle Angel Alita jumps forward a decade in time; reworking the landscape into a fresh setting. Alita is an elite TUNED agent now, working for Zalem. She has become more battlethirsty in that time; honing her deadly skills in the ten years that have passed. The Barjack Rebellion is also in full swing. A group of bandits living outside the Scrapyard who have declared war on Zalem. The primary plot of this collection is Alita taking on the Barjack forces, while in ultimate pursuit of the mad scientist Desty Nova.

We are introduced to a lot of new characters in this collection. Chief among them being Kaos, an enigmatic radio host who has the gift of psychometry. Being able to read the history of anything he touches, and even channeling the skills of the owner. Den is another primary character; the leader of the Barjack Rebellion. He is fearsome indeed; and a fun foil for Alita's character. There is quite a few other minor characters we see who are decently introduced and you like them. Kishiro's art continues to be an enjoyable highlight of this series. We venture beyond the Scrapyard in this collection; a much needed change of scenery for not just the art, but the story as well. That said, I did find the subplots in this volume to not flow well into one another. It can be jarring at times, but I still liked what I read by the end of this book.

Overall Battle Angel Alita remains a great manga worth reading if you want some early cyberpunk examples. 4 out of 5 stars.

[Zare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alita is on a hunt for Barjack leader, Den. During this hunt, she will come across strange personas in the desert (Kaos) and come across from persons from her past (Yokomi and of course monster Dr. Nova). What becomes as a straight forward search will soon evolve into something much greater - secret that shattered one so close to Alita that memory wipe was the only way forward.

Story is more complex at this point, as it progresses less and less things remain black and white, gray area expands and not all people involved in fight against Zalem are bad, misdirected maybe but in general fully understanding what is going on. On the other hand what seems to be forces on the side of the angels, they might be working more with daemons.

And as part of this we follow Alita herself - as she engages in the fights it is clear that she has a very wild, almost berserker side that relishes combat. As time goes by, Alita also evolves as a character with a more human side than before and she learns to use force with control, not just unleashing it on everyone in sight.

Finally, secret of Alita herself, of her origins slowly starts to unravel.

Art as always is excellent. There are several pages, especially fights between Alita and AR's that are truly epic.

Highly recommended to all fans SF dystopia and always epic SF action.

[ダンカン · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fourth volume has transcends towards all else there is on the future of Alita. In this deluxe edition chapter, we meet K.A.O.S., son of Desty Nova with the power of psychometry. Of course now Alita has a new operator name Lou Collins, a girl from Zalem and the return of an old character - Koyomi, last seen when she was just an adolescent. New enemies, new twist and of course... what happen to Doc Ido is all revealed in this volume. With what was left for this series, its coming to an end in an epic science fiction saga that spans decades as one of the best mangas ever written. Re-reading Battle Angel Alita is still refreshing and one of my all time favorites to this day since its released in the 1990s.

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the whole, really digging Battle Angel Alita. This volume was no exception. I'd prefer not to give too much away because we are nearing the end game. Alita continues to discover more about her world and herself (though not always about her past which has had a few hints but nothing major yet). What is the nature of being? Is there a difference between machine and man (and cyborg)? So many questions to ponder while reading this but never having that overtake the actual narrative.

Verdict: If you're interested in Alita the whole deluxe series thus far as been worth the price of admission.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a continuation of the Alita series, collecting parts 7 and 8. In this volume, Alita continues her search for Ido and meets someone from her past along the way. We meet new characters Kaos, a radio program host; Lou, another person from Zalem; and Barjack Den, a leader of a rebel group. We also finally get a glimpse into Zalem instead of just seeing it from below.

I liked this volume 4 better than 2 and 3, and perhaps as much as volume 1. While parts of 2 and 3 felt like filler, volume 4 seems to move the overall story along, and reveal some answers to previously unanswered questions.

[Robert Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alita wanders the desert for ten years, looking for a baddie that's right out in the open, all the time. The basic elements of the plot begin stupid, and don't ever get un-stupid. What saves it are a few intriguing character introductions, and the hope that, after a couple thousand pages at this point, we might actually get a little bit of information about Zalem and its people. And. of course, some good action. At this point, read it only for the action, because nothing else really pays off.

[Oswaldo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitivamente el mejor tomo hasta el momento.

Tiene de los capítulos mejor escritos hasta ahora, junto con los dibujos y composiciones mejor elaboradas. Al final resulta que todo lo temático Mad Max le sentó bien a Gunnm, sigue teniendo muchos momentos "Japón ve a terapia", pero otros genuinamente conmovedores. Aquí los personajes secundarios son más consistentes que los anteriores, lo cual ayuda más al crecimiento de Gally.

Hasta me sacó una lágrima genuina.

[Stefan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best volume of the series so far. 10 years have passed with Alita living in the desert and the stakes are at its highest. A whole swath of new characters drop in but I was taken back by how much I agreed with Den’s reasoning for his hatred of Zalem.

The main antagonist Den gets asked a question by a reporter who’s part of the Barjack group named Buick who asks, “What kind of place will you build after Zalem’s gone?” And he responds, “A land where birds can fly.”

[Sarah Schanze · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm glad to see the story starting to focus more on the larger story, though I may have to wait a while to finish as my library doesn't have any subsequent volumes yet, lol. Or perhaps they're not published yet. I'm not sure if I'm that invested to continue, though, unless I see the next volume some time.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

After a 10 year time skip, Alita finds her self working with unlikely allies. More is revealed about Nova and the history of this world. Alita will find herself caught in a fight between Zalem and a band of Rebel bandits. She struggles to find a way to break the cycle of violence.

[Gustavo Nascimento · Rating 1 out of 5]

Queria muito ter gostado dessa série tão popular, mas não conversou muito com o meu gosto. Gostei da primeira edição, mas da segunda em diante foi só ladeira abaixo. Este último volume me pareceu interminável ( e não é pela quantidade de páginas Akira e Blade tem formatos semelhantes que me faz querer ler tudo de uma vez), tudo parecia muito pretensioso e não conseguia me importar com nenhum desses personagens caricatos. Acho que tinha boas idéias mas não executou bem.