Battle Ange Alita: Mars Chronicle vol. 6

On its own terms, this is probably the most entertaining “Mars Chronicle” has been so far.  It starts off with a thrilling and creative fight between bounty hunters Dass and Gillum before segueing into the inevitably tragic end of Yoko’s mom/nanny Kyoko.  There’s a bit there that chillingly illustrates how much of a psychopath Erica has become, but mangaka Yukito Kishiro manages to twist it around into something weirdly heartwarming by the chapter’s end.  Then the climax kicks into gear as Erica and Yoko are brought back to Cydonia province’s capital so that the latter can be officially recognized as the daughter of its leader. If that sounds like a good fate for her, then you might be a bit concerned to know that this is exactly what Baron Muster has been planning for.

What follows is a ragged yet thrilling scream of triumph as the Baron gets what he wants.  To the detriment of just about everyone in Cydonia. But hey, something, something about making an omelette… Seeing the Baron’s plan play out is a cynical joy in the unexpected detours it takes along the way.  I can’t say that I expected it to play out the way it did, right up until its end. That included finding out the secret origin of Yoko/Alita along the way.

Whether or not Kishiro will be able to tie that origin into the sprawling “Alita” saga going forward remains to be seen.  My money’s on “not” because while following Muster’s story has been fun, it’s not his name in this series’ title. In fact, the past four volumes now feel like the mangaka was using this series to tell a story that he was interested in, but didn’t have much relevance to Alita herself.  The second volume also sticks out like a sore thumb in how it featured present-day Alita and Erica as a means of placating fans who were wondering when this series was going to follow up on the events of “Last Order.” That still seems like a ways off as the end suggest we’re finally, FINALLY, coming up on the scene that opened that series as the two cyborg girls prove that they’re more than just helpless war orphans.  It’s about time, even if I wouldn’t put it past Kishiro to throw in another digression next time.