WIBR: Battle Angel Alita: Last Order vol. 13 — Sans Angel

That’s a particularly apt subtitle, and one that will surely annoy longtime readers of this series, as the title character is (once again) absent for the majority of the volume.  This time we’re treated to the battle between Zekka and Toji’s “Space Karate” team against the seeded Venusian team who specialize in bio-engineering rather than the mechanical kind.  They’re led by the bestial Homme du Feu who has been promised his freedom and the woman of his dreams by the team’s scheming mastermind Pissarro. 

While I’m disappointed that Alita only appears in five panels and speaks only two words, I have to credit mangaka Yukito Kishiro’s skill at giving the Venusian team enough depth as characters so that I actually cared about them even though their loss was predicated by the needs of the story.  Equally impressive is the scale of the fights in this volume (the roof is literally raised here) and the utter weirdness of the Venusian fighters and their weaponry (biologic missiles and rose guns are probably the most normal things in there).  Even though I can understand why people are going to bitch about this volume, I still thought that there was plenty to like about it.  Easily one of the better volumes that didn’t feature the title character.