Two Manga, Briefly

Battle Angel Alita:  Last Order vol. 16 represents the first collection published after mangaka Yukito Kishiro packed up shop after a dispute with his former publisher Shueisha and moved over to Kodansha.  So if you’re wondering why this volume looks different, that’s why.  Fortunately the localization staff remains the same so the change is more cosmetic than anything else.  (Though I will miss the cheesy “Angel” subtitles we got for each volume while it was published at Viz.)  As for the actual content of the volume itself, it continues to remain a superior example of the shonen fighting genre even if the plot barely moves forward here.

Let me say this:  I will always take the science-based and clearly meticulously planned out battles of the Zenith of Things Tournament over the “I’m going to FINALLY beat you by trying harder than ever before AGAIN!” formula that infests most Shonen Jump titles.  Though the pyrotechnics here are certainly impressive, with the three simultaneous fights all having something to recommend them, things really haven’t changed all that much since the previous volume.  Yes, Alita manages another stunning resurrection but that’s starting to become old hat at this point.  What separates this from the ones she’s undergone before is the implication that it’s taking her farther away from any kind of humanity she used to have is interesting.  We shall see if this is properly followed up on in February.

Now I thought that the sixth volume of Saturn Apartments would be the last one, but according to the “next volume” blurb at the end, it’ll wrap up with the seventh.  It’s certainly heading that way as the secret vessel that will carry young window-washer Mitsu to Earth nears completion and tensions start to flare between residents of the upper and lower sectors after an accident at a power plant.  The setup to that event and the follow-through also serves as a satisfyingly dramatic means for Tamachi, the window-washer who was working with Mitsu’s father when he had his accident, to redeem himself and effectively finish his story.

Though this is good, it’s the business with Mr. Nishimaru, the shady scientist behind the plan to descend to earth, that provides the most compelling material here.  We finally get to see why he’s so driven to succeed and why his presence has always been more unsettling than anything else.  I won’t go into detail, but he blames the upper levels for the current state of his wife and it has effectively driven him mad as a result.  Let me say that while I realize mangaka Hisae Iwaoka’s ovaloid-looking characters may not be to everyone’s taste, her style communicates madness VERY well.  This, taken in context with his frankly horrific actions towards the end of the volume really raise the stakes for the title’s final act.  It’s a transformative moment for a series that has mostly been fairly low-key and genial.  But these dark undercurrents have always been there and it should be something to see them clash in vol. 7.