Manga Underground v3.1

Okay, here we go. This is the complete up-to-date collection of Gun Dream (Kanji: 銃夢, Latinized: Gunnm, NA: Battle Angel Alita) by Kishiro Yukito. This is a series that’s also been running for the last 21 years or so, which is on par with Berserk. It’s divided into two series because the original Gunnm ended prematurely due to outside factors and author supplied a false “feel good” ending; the 2nd series, Last Order, retcons it and continues the story. The English title and naming scheme are presumably inspired by the 1923 novel Aelita by Alexei Tolstoy, whose Aelita is also Martian.

The story follows Gally (Alita), a dormant cyborg and the master of an ancient martial art, is dug out of a junk heap and resuscitated into a futuristic, dystopian city called the Scrapyard. Scrapyard itself is a giant scrap heap that sits below the floating city of Salem (Tiphares). Ground dwellers have no access this sky city and are forced to make a living in the sprawl below. Many have taken to being heavily modified by cybernetics to cope with their hard life. Machine servants of the sky city maintain a stable of hired mercenaries in the Scrapyard to protect their interests, namely food and other goods produced and refined on the ground, and bound for above…

You starting to catch the drift? I wonder how many past readers recognize the allegories they’re being presented here, and continue to think it’s a futuristic setting when it’s anything but. The relationship between the Scrapyard and the floating city of Salem is the contemporary relationship between the 1st and 3rd world countries today. Beyond its entertainment value, this is the big underlying geopolitical theme of Gunnm which runs through every facet of the storyline. I urge you to read it again, because that’s where its uniqueness lies – it’s a popular narrative presented from the near-nonexistent 3rd world perspective, and correctly casts the 1st world as an oppressor. Jame Cameron is said to be a big fan and is committed to directing the film adaptation, whose Avatar shares some similarities. Nevertheless Avatar is vastly more patronizing, and in the spirit of Dances With Wolves and Lawrence of Arabia, continues to play on Hollywood’s fantasy of other races and cultures as caricatures. I sincerely hope he doesn’t fuuu it up.

Gallys :)

The people who bring you your Gunnm goodness these days and has been for some time are Crazyankan & Rippersanime, I’m sure everyone knows. MangaProjects.cjb.net had a hand in the early Last Order volumes. I’ve also included Haisha (Ashen Victor) and the 3 gaiden (side stories) in the first series, and the Last Order gaiden called Bashaku Ando (Barjack Girl) with the newest volumes. Haisha is a 1-volume spinoff done in the visual style of Sin City by Frank Miller.