Alita: Battle Angel officially hits theaters this week, and while we've been covering the film, we thought it would be nice to do something a little different. So today we bring you 5 cool facts that you should know before you see the movie so that you can impress your friends at the theater!
Fact #1 - Alita: Battle Angel is based off a Japanese manga series
The manga series that
Alita: Battle Angel is based off is titled
Battle Angel Alita, and is also known in Japan as
Gunnm (which literally translates to "gun dream".) The manga series was created by Yukito Kishiro in 1990 and originally published in Shueisha's Business
Jump magazine. It was then serialized from 1990 to 1995 into nine volumes.
For English speaking audiences in the U.S., Viz originally released the story in a 25-page comic book. They then followed the same volume format as its Japanese counterpart. Along with the rest of the series, Kishiro's original
Battle Angel Alita manga is licensed for North American publication through Kodansha USA. The manga series is continued in
Battle Angel Alita: Last Order which consists of 19 volumes and 6 volumes in
Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle.
Fact #2 - There was a short lived anime series that adapted the manga
Two of the nine-volume manga of
Battle Angel Alita were adapted into two anime original video animation (OVA) episodes titled
Battle Angel. The episodes incorporated elements from the first two volumes of the manga with a few changes to the characters and storyline. According to Kishiro in an interview, only two episodes were originally planned. At the time, he was too busy with the manga "to review the plan coolly," nor was he serious about an anime adaptation.
In an interview Kishiro also said that there are currently no plans to revive the anime. All hope is not lost as the interview was from over 14 years ago (January of 2005). For fans interested in the anime, you can find an English dub pretty easily with a little Googling.
Fact #3 - The manga was adapted into a video game for the PlayStation
Due to Kishiro not being satisifed with the ending of the original
Battle Angel Alita, he created an action role-playing video game for the PlayStation based on the Battle Angel Alita manga series. The game was published in 1998 for the PlayStation after being pushed back from Its original 1997 release date. The game follows the protagonist and title character, Alita, all the way from her discovery in the Tiphares dump heap by Daisuke Ido up to and beyond her career as a TUNED agent. The story also includes additional elements that creator Yukito Kishiro created after ending the original manga in 1995, but was unable to implement at the time, which involved Alita going into outer space.
Following the completion of the Ashen Victor Manga, Kishiro worked on the game's story, character design, and packaging. The cover illustration of the game is a variation of another illustration of Alita with a blue background that he did for an earlier magazine illustration. In the game the story is advanced by completing story and boss rounds in each level. The player navigates Alita through 3D environments from a third-person perspective, exploring areas and interacting with NPCs, which includes other characters who appear in the series. While playing story mode, the player has the option of entering into Battle Mode by pressing the "Select" button, or avoiding combat by running past enemies. In fights involving multiple opponents, the player fights each enemy, one at a time, in a turn-based battle system.
Fact #4 - Alita: Battle Angel could have been James Cameron's orginal "Avatar"
James Cameron picked up and started working on
Alita: Battle Angel a little over 15 years ago. He delayed the project to work on the hit-film
Avatar that debuted in December 2009. Cameron then brought Robert Rodriguez on to condense his over 180 page original screenplay, which included 600 pages of notes, into a shooting script for the film. After doing this production for the film began in 2017 and the film released on Valentines day this year (2019)!
Cameron was not the first person to throw his name into the ring for a
Battle Angel Alita adaptation. In an interview creator Kishiro stated that he had received his first offer of a film adaptation in 1994, after which many directors, producers and productions had proposed their own pitches for the adaptation. It wasn't until around 1998 that Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox approached Kishiro regarding the film.
Fact #5 - Panzer Kunst is a martial art made for zero gravity combat
In the story of
Battle Angel Alita, Panzer Kunst (which is german for "armored art") is the first martial art to anticipate combat in zero gravity, and it originiates on Mars. It is the fighting style that Alita uses in the story, with the exception of a handful of practitioners it is nearly extinct and a dying art in the manga. It is also effective at disabling and destroying larger opponents.
The fighting style was developed to anticipate cyborg combat, emphasises combat against both armed and unarmed opponents, including those wielding ranged weapons. The fighting style also gives its user the ability to analyse an opponent's fighting style and to react accordingly. Which means a "Kunstler" (someone who practices the art) will rarely be beaten twice by the same opponent.
In the film Panzer Kunst is a combination of various martial arts including staff work and sword work, Kung Fu, Muay Thai and Kickboxing.
Alita: Battle Angel is now out in theaters! Order your tickets today at
www.alitatickets.com
Have you seen the film yet? Did you know any of these facts before? Let is know in the comments area below, and stay tuned to ComicBookMovie.com for more
Alita: Battle Angel coverage!
About Alita: Battle Angel: From visionary filmmakers James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez, comes Alita: Battle Angel, an epic adventure of hope and empowerment. When Alita awakens with no memory of who she is in a future world she does not recognize, she is taken in by Ido, a compassionate doctor who realizes that somewhere in this abandoned cyborg shell is the heart and soul of a young woman with an extraordinary past. As Alita learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield her from her mysterious history while her street-smart new friend Hugo offers instead to help trigger her memories. But it is only when the deadly and corrupt forces that run the city come after Alita that she discovers a clue to her past – she has unique fighting abilities that those in power will stop at nothing to control. If she can stay out of their grasp, she could be the key to saving her friends, her family and the world she’s grown to love.