I had the pleasure of reading some of Osamu Tezuka’s work, in particular, Battle Angel Alita “Last Order” Vol 1 #1. This crazy story seems to be about a war between the government and the unknown class which includes women with mechanic bodies. The government seems to be the antagonist as they carelessly pray on this little girl, Yoto, shooting her as she runs for freedom. Soon a hopeful spirited, little girl, Erica, comes along to protect her. I wasn’t sure whether she was a robotic figure as well but she is portrayed as a strong character as she helps Yoto through the mine field to escape.
Throughout the manga, we cut between the scene described above and this mad scientist who is creating these artificially intelligent brains that he pares with female figures. Soon we have the chance to see one, Panzer Kunst, come down from the sky to fight the army with ease, saving the girls.
What I found interesting about Tezuka’s story is the large role of the female hero’s and their roll in society. The army is shown as these macho giants with their cigars and lack of care for anything. Clearly the type of soldier that joins, not for the honor, but for the power and aggression of war.
At the end of the story we see the crazy revealing of who Yoto really is, or was. We remember that the soldier kicked the girl, mentioning she was robotic. Now we realize that the cuts between her scramble through the mines and the mad scientist was to witness her own creation. I was never sure if the scientist was good or not, seeing how crazy he looked. I am curious of his purpose to create these female assassins. Is he defending against the government and am I just assuming they’re the government because they look like soldiers? This reminds me of some sort of violent take on Charlie’s Angels, but that could be far fetched. I think the big question is, who is this girl? We see her so weak right now as she’s being carried through the mine field but what is she actually capable of?
I think these questions that the story has left us with is what entices me to read the next part. I’m very curious to see what will happen to the girl. Tezuka has created such a great intro that tells us so much but still so little. He gives us the important details first so we learn about the girls and their story. What he doesn’t share is the setting and who, specifically, is fighting who on a grander level. Tezuka’s work seems to be very inspirational and I think of all the manga i’ve read before, these stories would make a great animation series.
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