230 – Manga in Motion 35 – Alita: Battle Angel

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230 – Manga in Motion 35 – Alita: Battle Angel

This week we check out the 2019 Alita: Battle Angel: a live-action adaptation of Yukito Kishiro’s Sci-Fi seinen series! Have dakazu and Darfox finally found a good manga movie adaptation?!

Stream the episode above or [Direct Download]

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If you have any thoughts on the episode, manga suggestions, or anything else please comment below!

Timestamps:

  • 00:00:00 – Intro Song: “New Divide” by J2 Feat. Avery from Alita: Battle Angel, Opening, Introductions, French
  • 00:02:05 – Listener Emails: Manga suggestion from Leo
  • 00:04:45 – Whatchu Been Reading: Transition Song: “Dragon Ball Z” OST “Prologue”, We recommend the Manga Log podcast
  • 00:06:06 – dakazu finds the post-murderer life in Boku no Namae wa “Shounen A” to be a little unrealistic
  • 00:13:34 – GROUNDLESS is a war manga that’s oozes with World War II aesthetic
  • 00:17:44 – Next Episode Preview and Rundown: Darfox Dabbles, Darfox will check out some available manga on Shueisha’s Manga Plus app
  • 00:20:52 – Main Segment Manga in Motion: Transition Song: “Motorball” by Tom Holkenborg from Alita: Battle Angel, we discuss newly released James Cameron dream project directed by Robert Rodriguez
  • 00:21:49 – We start with our expectations we had after seeing ‘bug-eyed’ Alita in the trailers
  • 00:23:22 – We praise the film for keeping the essence of Battle Angel Alita despite changing the story from the source material
  • 00:25:09 – We compare this good adaptation to other failed ones like the Bleach movie
  • 00:26:56 – Alita is a strong female hero and Darfox praises her characterization
  • 00:28:08 – *SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON* We discuss the use of the F-word and Rodriguez’s use of clean violence
  • 00:30:28 – Darfox thought the beginning felt like a cheesy young adult novel
  • 00:33:32 – We discuss differences between the villian Grewishka and his manga counterpart Makaku
  • 00:36:15 – The movie completely changes the character of Desty Nova
  • 00:37:09 – dakazu breaks down how the movie combines the first three story arcs of Battle Angel Alita
  • 00:38:41 – We feel side characters like Chiren and Vector were under utilized compared to Zapan
  • 00:42:00 – The changes they made to Nova ruin possible story arcs that could’ve been done in a sequel
  • 00:43:58 – dakazu compares Alita’s backstory in the movie to her origins from the manga
  • 00:46:23 – dakazu explains how the movie’s ending pissed off his wife and how it was handled differently in the manga
  • 00:51:52 – We love the design of the cyborgs, the look of Iron town, and the wonderful action sequences
  • 00:53:34 – Darfox wishes there was more Motorball scenes and compares it to how Speed Racer focused on the race
  • 00:55:16 – Guillermo del Toro helped James Cameron start this project and  technology behind Avatar helped to complete it
  • 00:58:05 – We’re happy to hear the creator of Battle Angel Alita, Yukito Kushiro, loved this movie
  • 00:59:29 – We compare a bad scene to a good scene between Alita and Hugo
  • 01:00:27 – While Christoph Waltz as Ido was fantastic, dakazu is mad his nurse Gerhad was just used as scenery
  • 01:02:26 – Darfox wasn’t a fan of Hugo’s teen friends
  • 01:03:38 – We praise Robert Rodriguez for making movies with diverse representation
  • 01:04:23 – We explore the foreign sensation of having an adaptation we can recommend
  • 01:06:54 – We have doubts about Alita: Battle Angel having financial success
  • 01:07:53 – We talk about potential adaptations we’d like to see and the upcoming live-action Cowboy Bebop & One Piece
  • 01:10:10 – We laugh about the awful Dragonball: Evolution
  • 01:11:49 – We give our final thoughts
  • 01:12:57 – Social Media Rundown, Sign Off Song: “wish men” by sunbrain from Beet the Vandel Buster

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