Okay, I realize this is 100% completely off the beaten path beyond LEGO, beyond the occasional video game stuff I wanted to blog about, but I can’t help myself. The trailer for Alita: Battle Angel dropped last week and I gotta say, I’m still interested, weird eyes and all. I guess that’s a good sign. Maybe watching Disney Princess movies with their big ol’ peepers got me used to them. It’s been in development limbo for awhile now, with James Cameron holding onto the film rights of the mange its based on before a script was developed and a director was found. Enter Robert Rodriguez of El Mariachi, the Spy Kids franchise, and Sin City fame.
For those of you who have no idea what the heck you just watched, it’s an English/live-action adaptation of Battle Angel. Battle Angel was a two-part anime that was based on the manga Battle Angel Alita published in the early ’90’s. The manga is, however, seeing a revival with deluxe hardcovers of the series being released over the next few months. You can order volumes 1 right now and pre-order volumes 2 and 3 for delivery in February and March 2018, respectively. Volumes 4-9 will be out later next year. The anime adaptation hasn’t seen an HD remaster, but you can still find the DVD on Amazon marketplace.
After the Alita: Battle Angel trailer dropped, I went and rewatched the anime a few nights ago and it still remains as one of my all time favorites. Film adaptations and remakes targeted for the Western market typically don’t do well, like, AT ALL, so saying that my expectations were really low is an understatement. After watching the trailer though, I’m not completely turned off. Kind of excited I guess, enough to want to post about it at least.
You can watch both OVAs below, hotlinked from YouTube or pick up the DVD from Amazon.
Alita: Battle Angel is pegged for a theatrical release on July 20, 2018.
OVAs
Thanks for indulging. We’ll return to posting about LEGO in the morning.
