Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle vol. 8

I thought we’d be getting more action to kick off this volume based on how vol. 7 ended, but that’s not the case.  The kunstlers who show up make quick work of the opposition just to show off how badass they are.  Which wouldn’t be a problem if some of them weren’t dealt with in an equally quick fashion later on to build up the series’ latest villain.  I’m getting ahead of myself here as most of what follows the opening involves Keun looking after Erica, Yoko, and Yunie while also investigating the death of his girlfriend who was researching a lost school of Panzer Kunst at the time.  Meanwhile, Erica starts making her own plans to stick it to the kunstler by striking a deal with an enemy of his.

There’s a nagging sense that the series is spinning its wheels while mangaka Yukito Kishiro sets up the next leg of “Mars Chronicle’s” story.  That’s disappointing coming off a volume which felt like the title was taking real steps into being the prequel series it was originally advertised as.  Vol. 8 does still have some things to recommend it, not the least of which are its action scenes.  There are fewer of them this time around, but what’s here is good with the best one setting up the cyborg Gyapollo as a new big bad.  In fact, the villains get some good buildup overall in this volume, and I’m including Erica here for her crackerjack negotiation skills and all around deviousness.  It’s also interesting to see how these things come around to bite her at the volume’s end which at least sets up a promisingly urgent storyline for the next volume.

This is all to say that I didn’t think vol. 8 was a bad time.  It’s just that it didn’t deliver a whole lot of forward momentum or general excitement in the midst of all of its setup.  Which is kind of a problem when you’ve got a series where new volumes are being released on an annual basis and every new one has to deliver the goods if it wants to keep the audience’s attention.