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Battle Angel
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Animation - 7.8 |
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Sound - 7.2 |
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Story - 7.3 |
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Character - 7.3 |
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Value - 6.7 |
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Enjoyment - 7.2 |
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Average - 7.3 |
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| Average |
9.8 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Oh, if only all anime titles could be as magnificent as this little gem. Sure there may be little flaws here and there and it's an incomplete story but it's definitely a gem nonetheless. Battle Angel is a vintage classic that any true anime connoisseur worth his or her grain of salt should already have as part of their collection. If you have never seen or heard of Battle Angel Alita and you are into anime, sci-fi or both...then this comes highly recommended.
This show came out in the early 90's [I want to say...1992?] and yet the art still looks fabulous, even by today's standards and very few anime has that kind of bragging rights. Plus there is no CG in this one, it's just straight-up quality hand drawn stuff.
I absolutely love the ending song [Cyborg Mermaid]. It's both very desperate and very sad at the same time just like the anime. I've watched this OAV both in Japanese and English, either way is watchable since it's the story and the artwork that makes this show so compelling.
Battle Angel Alita is a masterpiece beyond a shadow of a doubt. It is a timeless and somewhat painful story about the hopelessness in pursuing dreams that are more like unattainable fantasies than those of a more realistic and practical nature. It is about succumbing with reckless abandon to lust, greed and vice...all of which serves as a means to a terrible end. It's about those in pursuit of the ever elusive paradise [in this case, the forbidding [and foreboding] city of Zalem] it's a risk worth everything, including the corruption and subsequent destruction of their very limited and fragile human souls.
The style of early 90's character design had a very distinct look to it and I think it was from this era of anime that really set Japanese animation apart from American cartoons. They were at the same time: beautiful and grotesque. It's hard to put into words unless you see shows like these from this time period. I think when you look at Gally, you see the tiny, frail looking body and her beautiful doll-like face and you would not process that image with being a beast. Normally she would be perceived as some dainty, airhead Disney-like princess, but in reality she's more tiger than princess; her tiny frame is a mass of metallic sinews capable of withstanding high impact and harsh,violent battles. She moves with a speed and ferocity that enables her to take down opponents 3x her size! She is by far my most favorite character.
Yugo is a tragic mess, he is just one example of what I mean by allowing oneself to be swayed by wild fantasies fueled by illogical and irrepressible emotions.
As I said before, this is a masterpiece. Worth whatever money you spent on it and since it's only 1 hour, it's totally re-watchable! This is the perfect kind of show you could use to show to people who like to ask the irritatingly stupid question “Why do you always watch cartoons?” and try to downplay the intelligence of Japanese art and the power of anime.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
5.0 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
0 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
4 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
| In a sense, it was kind of refreshing to watch the first part of this two episode OVA. However, the second episode was unsatisfying - even for someone who read the manga.
I am familiar with the manga and it was nice to see Gourry back in action - this time in full motion anime form. However, the beginning of this manga (which is subsequently the focus of this OVA) is not that interesting. Furthermore, they never got to the more interesting battles that happened in this same arc - that big huge robot guy is a lot more interesting than the OVA makes him out to be. The storyline in this beginning part felt a bit weak and they really never established any sort of character personality nor did they really go into enough detail about the true nature of the world above their garbage dump.
Not worth watching at all for its storyline or characters, Battle Angel Alita OVA is only good for its decent but sparse action scenes. Although faithful to the beginning of the manga, it is not a good representation of the manga as a whole. I don't recommend watching this until after you've read the manga, it isn't that great by itself.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Animan |
(2006-10-29 03:47:03) 2006-10-26 12:20:41 |
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| Average |
9.3 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Ahhhhh still a refreshing piece of art....
This anime is from a time when anime was not tainted by garbage like pokemon, naruto and et al. when pseudo intellectual, saccherine, confusion and anger inducing pieces of utter filth like evangelion or elfen lied had not yet vomited over the artform that is japanimation.
There was no american mediocrity lost and floating through space trying to watch anime to appear intelligent, it was actually intelligent people indulging in intelligent material, and the subject matter was IMMENSELY intelligent and stimulating. (hence its something which is lost to MOST of the previous reviewers).
which brings us to this little beauty....made on a tight budget, alita was inspired from one of the best manga, or shall i say one of the best graphic novels ever.
It was released on manga video vhs, and man did it rock....The character designs are fantastic, the animation is simple but it works with the whole scope of the episodes. Its not your everyday "teenage angst for the sake of teenage angst anime" its an analysis of modern society and the class system, its a mixture of ambition, lust for power, and the dream of a better life and best of all its about the beauty of innocence and how innocence can be poached upon by the ugliness of the world.
Its striking, smart, stylish, its ICONIC. (when alita dabs the dogs blood on her cheeks accepting the challenge, its immedietly memorable).
In short its unlike any other thing that has been before or after its time. its alita.
(the manga is fantastic as well by the way).
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Too short. Just way too short. Despite of it this anime just shines like a gem throughout the two episode OAV. It's a real shame this anime how this anime is being so underrated and not watched by many anime lovers. This anime is gritty, real, frustrating, sad, and packed with anger throughout the anime. This anime is not about a girl robot kicking ass, but a titanic struggle between an individual and his desire to achieve their dream though it may be impossible. This struggle leads individuals in different paths as death and only sadness awaits them.
what caught my eyes right from the beginning was the gritty animation. The animation style is rather crude . I'm not only refering to the age of this anime, but its style. For some it may be a bit distracting, and that's how I saw it at first. But as the story progressed I realized how this anime fits perfectly for this show. Stark and gritty realism and sadness is apparent in every frame of the style. The coloring of this anime is dark overall as well.
This anime is only 2 episodes. there really can't be much character development nor a grand story. What this anime does however is stating what's happening. People are struggle to live down in the scrap metal city, while few live in the floating city Zalem. Two sides are represented: those who stay down in scrap metal city to make best out of what they have perhap with a sense of justice and duty, and those who struggle to reach Zalem. This division is perhap a commentary on structure of the society perhaps even in our world. and though situation may be be vastly different, even America could probbaly relate to this with its growing poverty level (of course the cause may vary). This anime obviousy is not the same with our reality, but I think it is valid to say this anime addresses that frustration of person's desire achieve his dream symbolized by Zalem.
However the reality of this anime is cruel. I will not spoil this anime, but I can say that the results are very brutal. you must see it for yourself.
This pessimism is what makes this anime frustrating, yet gripping. the pain inside of characters in this anime resonated with me as it might with you as well. Upon finishing this animeI really was very impressed.
However like I mentioned before this animeis too short. I mean what about Gally? How the hell can she fight? What exactly is Zalem? I mean this anime basically leave everything unexplain except for its theme. With premise like this, this anime obviously deserve a whole length series. Two episodes are not the way to go in this case.
Though this anime leaves a lot to be desired, it still is one of the most powerful animes I've seen. This anime is pessimistic and leaves no hope for optimism; struggle between the impoverished and the previleged in this anime is futile as well as cruel. If you are a fan of anime I don't know how you can possibly pass this anime by. Even with its fault this is a gripping tale all should witness. Just know that its gory, sad, and brutal, so if you can't take that don't watch it. oh and some said manga is better. May be I'll give the manga a look as well.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Pantha |
(2005-08-02 14:18:41) 2005-08-02 08:34:06 |
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| Average |
7.2 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Battle Angel, despite being only two episodes long, is as complete as its short length allows. Instead of attempting to capture the manga in full bloom (which would have been extremely senseless... watch Angel Sanctuary if you want to know more), it instead takes a single plot point-the almost obsessive fascination with Zalem-and uses it to draw a miniscule picture of two young people struggling against their own odds, in a cruel and threatening universe.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| overall a very good anime series, though short it just adds enough depth of characters and still leaves a lot to be discovered... if would be great if they could continue with a true series
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
5.8 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
4 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| Hmmm, a half decent action anime that consists of 2 parts. It's not too bad. The animation was somewhat ok, the music somewhat good, and the storyline is somewhat incomplete. Heh, that's the main trouble with it actually. It felt like a chunk was missing between the two ova's, with the relationship suddenly taking a leap forward. Although it's probably meant to be that way, in the case of this anime, it just felt like they were too lazy to actually develope the characters and just had them jumping from A to Z. It felt slightly rushed, maybe because the anime was made to fit into 2 episodes, so ended up being too compressed. I like the idea behind it, although it's definitely been done before.
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CyBeR |
(2005-08-28 18:48:10) 2005-05-28 06:25:49 |
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| Average |
8.2 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| You know, there are some anime of which you hear stuff, you see the characters but never actually see the anime. At one point you start trying to guess what the anime could be about, especially after you see the great character design, in this case a girl with wings and a half-robotic body. When you finally get your hands on that certain anime that stirred your interest, you are most expecting of the show.
In my case I stumbled across some anime I really hated after waiting to see them. This isn't the case.
The thing with this anime is that it was just a introduction to the manga, with no exceptional story fitted in the 2 short episodes. It would've been just too much to try and make this into a full fledged anime series. I consider it an experiment....a good one.
For one, we have the animation which actually surprised me. I almost never rate animation a perfect 10 because most shows are just average for their time but this was ahead of it's time in my opinion. I was amazed by the characters moving in a way I rarely see in anime. NO still frames, no flashes instead of attacks...just pure movement which I very much enjoy seeing.
As good as the animation is, the sound is way bellow it. I couldn't get used to the voices or the music(as little as there is)...The technical part is 50-50...pretty balanced.
The story, as stated before, is shallow and simple. Set in a pleasant universe, this had a lot of potential if turned into a series at least 13 episodes long. But in the 2 OVAs I can say that I wasn't too thrilled with it. There are some hints as to the background of that world but not enough to stir anything. A pity...
I must say that I enjoyed the characters. Either it was the professor or Gally, they're great and have quite an interesting past. The very detailed drawing style also helps with the immediate liking of the characters. My only problem with this anime's characters is the lack of serious developing which I cannot condemn,....it's only a 2 ep OVA after all.
As there are anime that are simply to be watched and forgotten, this is not one of those. I enjoyed it although it's incomplete. I guess that's the best word to describe this: "Incomplete"...it's quite a pity...could've been much much better.
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CoachZ |
(2005-05-25 11:13:40) 2005-03-20 18:01:17 |
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| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Very underrated at it’s time. This anime was a good one, compared to many other titles that I‘ve seen these days. A lot of good action on most parts, and the drama was really good enough to keep me interested. Gally was a great main character, including with in an amazing story that went along from it. I followed it up with the manga, and it seemed to be very good at sticking with the storyline. Unfortunately it only included two episodes, which leaves you with a lot of things left out from the manga during and after the whole series. I would start with this anime, then go along with the manga if you want to see what happens next. Recommended as a starting anime and manga, nothing too spectacular if you expect something more.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
7.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Kinda like a mixture between 'Edens Bowy' and 'Cowboy Bebop’. Pretty quick OVA.2 episodes, a mini plot, really. What really pissed me off was the fact that they talked so much about Zalem, they got me very interested in what this place is all about, but I didn’t get any answers, just more questions near the end of the second episode. Another downside is the characters. At first episode the main characters are Gally and Ido and there was this little, seemingly non important character named Yugo. In the second episode, the main character was suddenly Yugo, and the plot changes to focus on him and his will to get to Zalem. Even though the entire plot and character development were both well committed, it's nothing I haven’t seen before. Overall, Decent.
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| Average |
8.8 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Lots of flaws with this but I still enjoyed it. Gally is a name given by an evil doctor in a dream trap of vol 9 ch 246 I believe, for most part of the manga she goes by the name Alita and becomes a hunter/warrior where she mets the mutant worm that can take over any cyborg body, so she fights him as he is in a wrestlers cyborg body. They cut way too scenes from this including the underground sewage battle that ends in epic porportions and some scenes are so out of place it would take time to put them back in order again. Vol 6 ch95? Is when she Hugo or Yugo as his shred cyborg is falling from the support lines. Still fun to watch just needed about 24 more episodes.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
6.8 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| I always find these post-apocolyptic type animes interesting. They are always simiar and yet have plenty of differences. Ok, so they never really say that it is in fact post apoloyptic earth, but, its the same sort of feel.
The animation is only fair - the majority of the cyborgs have generic looks to them and the actual slum world is basically how youd picture it: drawn dirty, with a lot of darks. Some of the characters are drawn kind of strangely.. most noticably the professor who's face is long as heck. Im not quite sure when this was made, but dont expect to see any high-quality digital picture, or computer animation integrated into this one.
Sound is nothing to shout at either. The BGM background is unimpressive but ive certainly heard worse.
Obviously, the story for a total hour-long anime usually cant be as in depth as if it was longer, so there were a few things that could have been explained more in depth. By the description on the main page, you could assume that one major theme type would be man vs society - in terms of wanting to move out of a slummy world into the floating city. To the people, such a city symoblizes hope and a better life. Of course, all factors work against the people who attempt to accomplish this dream. Although the floating city is only shown from beneath, you can also tell that the people of it want to stay where they are. I havent seen such a concrete man vs society theme in a while so it was kind of interesting.
The fight scenes are pretty good, and lots of blood is present. Alita/Gally is the main fighter in the story, and the fact that she fights is also ironic. Hunter/Warriors like her earn money by murdering criminals, however, these people are announced as criminals by the people of the floating city, and thus is another form of control. Anyone who tries to fulful such a dream of getting to the city is called a criminal.. and thus the real reason for the whole scum city is revealed - with lack of police and addition of hunter/warriors the "animals will wipe each other out" and thus the people of the paridise which is the floating city can feel secure. Such a thing happens in the anime, as a few of the characters are taken out.
However, characters were done well in this anime. Although their physical designs were somewhat generic, the personalities and such were more interesting. Every main character has two sides to them, almost like a coin. As Gally, she is a kind friendly, normal girl; but as Alita she is a violent ruthless machine. The best/most developed character in my opinion is Yugo, who is two-sided just like the rest. Read more to see what I mean.
Overall, i probably wouldnt rewatcht this series but it wasnt a chore to sit through either. I enjoyed it and it somewhat makes me interested to read the manga.
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| Average |
7.3 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Boasting an excellent storyline I was really impressed with Battle Angel and I felt that it deserves a TV series of its own. The OVA isnt enough to complicate a wonderful storyline. The creators tried to fit too much in just a 1 hour timeframe. Its not bad but I really want to see a TV series made from this.
Now coming to the actual review of the OVA, I'd say its a worth watch for any Sci-Fi action fan. The fight scenes are gritty and intense and theres gores aplenty... what more can anyone ask for!! The characters unfortunately arent given enough time to fully develop and thus emotions definitely seem rushed even the end and left a rather forgettable impact.
Aside from this I enjoyed this anime somewhat and is definitely something I'd recommend anyone to watch.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
7.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| I did enjoy this one. At only one hour, you can't really expect a lot of it. But considering it's running time, they did an okay job. But as with every OVA, I wish there was more.
The world they created is beautiful and offers great potential. With just 60 minutes, it doesn't really pushes it to the limits. But, comparing this to other OVA's, this actually has a roundup story. It begins and ends in this 60 minutes, and it does not fly. However, this doesn't mean that it isn't rushed. Only the real core of the story is mentioned, not a lot of background detail. This makes the characters dull and flat.
I am not a fan of those multi-episode fights you see in some anime. But this really is the other side of the spectrum. Rush rush rush.
The animation is great considering it's from 1993. It does have it's own style. It looks more like a moving comic then those slick animes of today. But it's nice nevertheless.
The sound is good. Some excellent pieces of BGM switched with some less excellent stuff.
As for enjoyment. It had quite a bit of splatter in it, which for some reason always grabs my attention. Action was nice, story was okay, animation was okay. It made an okay passing of my time.
I would only recommend it to people with lots of spare time though. It's nothing you can't miss.
Oh, and I didn't read the manga.
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kagisa |
(2004-04-11 11:10:08) 2004-04-11 11:09:08 |
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| Average |
6.5 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| I was expecting more for this anime. When I read the manga, I saw that it is a wonderful story ( good characters, perfect athomspher, good action, excelente development ), qnd when I know about this anime and I saw it, I though that who has maked it was only a stupid man that whose objective was destroy the perfect atmospher and Alita's story.
The animation is good for the year of when was produced, the sound is acceptable , the story is good, but when you read the story of the manga ( at all ), you saw that Alita's manga is a masterpiece.
This anime is enjoyment for the action, but the final is not the same as in the manga ( in the manga Yugo dies, but after that, happens more things ( and before that to ), and Alita's dies to at the end ( sorry for the sploi, but everybody knows it ( wel,every anime.fan ) ) ), and the story of the manga is more large and worked. Maybe if you like this anime and you are disagree with me, you should read the manga, because it's a masterpiece ( the same if you bored this anime, the manga is much better, and you should read it ( an eseential piece for a manga/anime-fan ( I'm talking abaout the manga, none the anime series ) ) ).
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Haruko |
(2004-03-30 20:53:59) 2004-03-11 10:29:39 |
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| Average |
8.4 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
0 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| First, the manga is much better. My impression of the characters is from the manga, actually... Too hard to separate.
It's an ok movie, a very quick summary of the background of the manga. Probably meant as to publicize the manga, like RG Veda? Anyway, I read the manga first...
It's probably better in the other order. (Although I have read comments here saying the opposite... So, here you go: just read the manga! :-)
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|
| Average |
6.3 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| I liked this anime. If only they had made more eps! I haven't read any of the manga, but from the anime, I decided to read the third part in the saga.
Back to the anime tho - it looks very nice and is really atmospheric for the world in which it is set. The actual animation could have been more impressive tho. It's style ultimately provides it with enough forgivness to give an above average thought for its visuals.
The sound is very conducive to the visuals. There are excellent sound effects which apply a good ambience to help with the atmosphere; the voice actng is also decent. No perfect score tho, since I wasn't a 100% keen on the musical score, tho it's perfectly satisfactory.
Unfortuantely, from only 2 eps, it's not really possible to give it high ratings in the story, character, value, or even enjoyment areas because you don't see enough of it to judge.
But put it this way, if they started to make the rest of it, i'd be the first one in line to watch it. It seems very cool. The adventures of the main character really do seem to be interesting, and the character herself - her ability and innocence combined make her very watchable.
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Sinai |
(2005-08-23 02:14:53) 2003-11-05 11:41:12 |
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| I think Battle Angel Alita(Gunnm) is an excellent sci-fi OAV. If you watched just it, you could entirely escape the fact that there are volumes and volumes of manga for it... The action is intense, the world real, and you can feel some real empathy for the characters at times. It won't be the first or last time the question is asked what it means to be human, but it's a worthy effort. The sheer brutality of the violence only exemplifies the philosophies. Yes, indeed, the questions of humanity, individual worth, and ultraviolence were done before Elfen Lied. And dang it, I love the good doctor's rocket hammer:)
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| Average |
4.8 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
4 |
| Value |
3 |
| Enjoyment |
4 |
| Though packed full of action and some kind of a plot, this OVA is quite plain to watch. The environment where Battle Angel takes place is very interesting, but when the animation reaches neatly the average level and sounds are somewhat insignificant, it doesn't help. The plot is shallow like nothing, all the 'dramatic' twists in the story can be predicted far before they happen and a lot of things (too many) are left unexplained. Haven't seen the manga. I guess the only situation when I might rewatch this OVA is sometime I'm drunk. Let's see now...
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| Average |
6.7 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
4 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| The adaption of the successful "GUNNM" Manga is a nice try - but not really as good as the books. It almost covers the storyline of the first two books, but only almost. Many details are not present, and that damages character and story development. I really would have loved to see a full OVA of GUNNM, but maybe the series is not "mainstream" enough. Either way, the anime is fun to watch if you know the Manga. I doubt it would make very much sense to other people though.
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