Gunnm

This is what I imagine Battle Angel visually should be, rather than what the live action movie delivered.

That is not to say that one is better than the other, but both adaptations had elements going for it. For instance, I would rather have Christoph Waltz's performance from the live action movie because of his more fatherly portrayal of Ido. The rest, this anime nailed it.

What the anime lacked was for time for its story to breathe. The anime was rushed with its 45-minute run time. It really needed some character moments to build on the relationships.

For a more than 30-year-old anime, it is still better ... animated than 60% of the seasonal anime running for the Winter 2026 season. That is crazy Madhouse quality.

The only existing animated adaptation of the Battle Angel Alita manga, Gunnm is a 2-episode OVA from the early 90s. It covers pretty much the same ground as the Hollywood movie, minus some future arcs that the movie rushed in earlier. It's not terribly interesting, but it's also not a significant time investment. To fans of the genre or the manga, this will be time well spent.

For what it's worth, as opposed to the movie, the city (Iron City, I think it's called?) can clearly be seen for the post-apocalyptic desiccated hellhole that it is, not the relatively poor, but vibrant and bustling hipster paradise ... from the Hollywood production.

In keeping with the ethic of being appropriately dark, the dog death scene is way more explicit here, as well. Be warned.

Also, just as I recently found him in Genocyber, Ryuuzaburou Ootomo, the voice actor of Crocodile from One Piece, is here, as well. He seems to be part of an old guard of voice actors more likely to be found in old school shows.

Imo it wasn't that good. I know it came before but Alita is just a robot Sailor Saturn. I also didn't like the romance in this show since Hugo's a criminal but that doesn't seem to bother Gally at all. That makes me think she's a bitch. I don't have any sympathy for her. Hugo also seemed like a dick when he kissed Gally and said they're partners in crime now. Imo it's really tone deaf since he's a guy who rips peoples spines out to sell.

And I was really disappointed with the world. I thought it would be darker and more sci-fi but the ... world of BAA is more like Samurai Jack. It's very cartoony and the robot stuff is just a mish-mash.

I thought I'd read the manga but I doubt it. It's not my kind of story. I prefer a more serious one. Was interesting to see though how this inspired Texhnolyze with the privileged city above the dark one made of junk.

If Hugo was the OVA original character I probably would've read the manga but since Chiren was, who I thought was actually decent/compelling, there's no way I'd like the manga if the author can come up with a guy like Hugo. I'm surprised this is seinen. It's probably just another one of those shounen with x-rated violence and gore kind of seinen, like Tokyo Ghoul. I hate that type.