Yukito Kishiro maintains his mastery over telling a griping, savage, brutal story in this last leg of Alita’s story, which begins by taking us back to her origin as the young cyborg child Yoko living on the war-torn surface of Mars. It’s amazing how quickly Kishiro is able to create an attachment between readers and characters, so that even with very little time spent with them, the death of a character is a truly impactful loss. For example, with a minor spoiler: there are two old men in the village Yoko and Erica’s new orphanage is, whom they meet as they take a tour of the town. Later, when the town comes under attack by an aggressive army, these two old men suddenly whip out rifles and start firing at the invaders with profesional military aim and posture. This INSTANTLY gives you a rushing feeling of “Oh my God! These two old vets are so fricken cool!” They take down the hostile scouts, and as they do so the scene transforms into their delusion, reliving the days of their time in the army, charging into battle with their squad to defend the children in the bunker. It’s exhilarating and heroic, and then tragic and heartbreaking as the surviving veteran’s delusion sees his squad leaving him behind in the moment before a missle wipes him out. Despite how frequent death is, each time it’s accompanied by a genuine pang of loss and heartbreak, no matter how little exposure we’ve had to the dying character. It’s a genuine wonder and proof of the author’s skill. Being a flashback to Alita’s origin, you know that she and Erica will survive--this removes some of the tension in their situation for the reader. And so to make up for that, Kishiro packs the pages full of tension for every other character. You have no idea who might die and who might survive, besides the two main protagonists; that tension, that hope, that dread, will keep you hunched over the pages voraciously reading to find out what happens next.
Kishiro's other strength as an author is in portraying the harsh, dark side of mankind in graphic detail, while also contrasting it with inspiring heroes. At the orphanage Yoko and Erica meet Ninon Silber, who claims to be a noble of Mars who was separated from her parents, and will someday be Queen of Mars. She immediately sets herself up as an antagonist, trying to get Erica to throw Yoko away in favor of friendship with her. Ninon's behavior is creepy and arrogant, and when she later puts on a friendly face you just KNOW that she's planning some kind of vile trick. Which is why when her promise proves true, it's highly confusing. And then, as the town is destroyed by the invading army and Ninon's friends/followers are killed one after the other, Ninon dedicates herself completely to protecting the ones who are left, and you realize that her arrogant noble bearing is also coupled with a sense of duty, and her own strange kind of compassion.
The original run of Battle Angel Alita is my favorite manga, Alita: Last Order lost sight of itself in my view but was still good, and now Mars Chronicles promises to be the strongest chapter yet in Alita’s incredible story.
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Reviews with images
Fantastic prequel, amazingly illustrated and a great story.
If you're new to the series you'll feel a bit lost but will find yourself immersed in the story after a few pages. You'll quickly find yourself engaging the characters in this lively and amazingly drawn manga. I've been a fan since I saw the Anime many years ago and read many of the manga, but not all of them. After reading this new installment I have to fild the older ones as well to keep me busy until the nexx issue!
Top reviews from other countries
Alexandre lavoie
A welcome break from Last Order's over the top fightning tournament arc.
Reviewed in Canada on May 17, 2021
