Since I have YKK fresh in my mind and I am reading Gunnm Last Order (also read the entire gunnm series as battle angel alita) some aspects of both series rise to the top of my mind. They are in some respects mirror images. One peacefull and gentle the other violent to the extreme, and yet they both are tackling to some extent the same question. What does it mean to be human. In YKK we have the robots who are sentient gentle beings exploring the world and day by day becoming more and more human, in Gunnm we have humanity racing to become machines. The forebrain replaced by a chip. Bodies being replaced by machinery. And in the midst of it is Gally, a cyborg seeking her humanity.
Well thats my waxing poetic for the day. I look forward to some discussion on this.
- RtrentC
Wednesday, September 7, 2005
Twisted comparison...
...but interesting thought to be sure!
- Darin~
Thursday, September 8, 2005
I agree that they have a lot in common. I've only read Battle Angel / Gunnm. They both also take place in post-apocalyptic eras, and their main characters are both female. The essetial heart is strangely similar, as well, though as you say in mirror image. The meaning of what it is to be human is at the center of both manga, and in both cases is explored by someone who is not quite human.
Battle Angel also was pretty mysterious until the end, when everything is revealed. I hope there's some more information coming from the YKK world - the Taapon must be getting back soon, we have absolutely no clue as to "owner" - who must be out there somewhere - etc., etc. Ultimately, though, I think the mysteries in Battle Angel were used as ways to bring up the question of "why are we here? what the hell is going on?"
You could even draw a parallel between the time when Gally becomes enmeshed in the world of powerball and the wanderings of Alpha, as both are ultimately how they find themselves. Gally learned the purpose of battle through powerball, and Alpha seems to have come to understand age through wandering.
It's good that you brought that up - I never would have thought to compare the series. Under the surface, though, they are alike.
- adamatari
Thursday, September 8, 2005
Yes the powerball sections of the manga were a really good microcosm of the entire series. And that did seem to be the area of the series where Gally had her most growth. But even with the background of the scrapyard, the eccessive violence of the powerball, and regimented life of tiphares you still don't have the same sense of saddness that flows from YKK. Especially the sense of saddness you get from the sections on the tapon.
I guess thats one of the major differences. In YKK there is almost a sense of life on this earth slowly passing and fading away. But in Gunnm, I get the feeling of a rage against the dark, a refusal to go quietly into the night.
Down on the ground you can still sense a bit of that but unlike the feel of the tapon sequences it isn't quite as strong. Its more of the old life has and is passing away and is giving way to a new life. A transition if you will. What I don't and can't know is, is the age of man finished and those on the surface just don't know it. Or is it a transition in mans journey. Also what is to become of A7M1. Will she finally leave the tapon and go to the surface.
- RtrentC
Thursday, September 15, 2005
In a similar style one could also point out Gantz, a manga and anime whose level of violence and nudity has reached such a level to call for censoring in Japan.
However, underneath the blood geysirs and piles of mangled limbs a plot is hiding. Similarly to Total Recall it does take a while to notice it. When one of the main protagonists loses his girlfriend and is told how he might bring her back, he grows a spine, aquires a sense of duty and gains a purpose in life.
Still, there are many major points that remain unexplained, even after more than 100 chapters.
- C_P
Thursday, September 15, 2005
hmm. i would have to agree. but Battle Angel Altia was not only more like seeking her humanity, but more like trying to find out who she is. there is a second set to Battle Angel Altia, it called the Last Order. mayb that can help it. as to the comparsion between BAA and YKK, the only thing that seem to be the same is that both has sumding watching over them. in Gunnm, there tirpeae, and in YKK, there that plane. i guess there is alot of comparsion in both series.
- terra
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
> I guess thats one of the major differences. In YKK there is almost a sense of life on this earth slowly passing and fading away. But in Gunnm, I get the feeling of a rage against the dark, a refusal to go quietly into the night.
Well, it's not so much a fading away as a internal regrowth over a long period of time. In YKK you get the feeling that the bad times have ended, things have hit the bottom of the cycle and are on the way up again with Takahiro/Makki leading the way and the robots there to keep things going smoothly. Without the robots, the traditions of most of the people would rapidly disappear over a few generations due to isolation, so the robots probably help keep things going.
Gunnm is much more a traditional futuristic look where things have pretty much all gone wrong somewhere along the line and stagnated due to the pretty much immortal overseers of the world. (This is detailed in Last Order). In that sense, the purpose of living and dying takes on less and less meaning as nothing much really changes on the day to day level for the majority of the people alive. Amongst this Gally seeks to find out her purpose and meaning in living through fighting.
> However, underneath the blood geysirs and piles of mangled limbs a plot is hiding
Well, having read quite a bit the plot's pretty well hidden. For example, is GANTZ evil? Not necessarily, maybe GANTZ is protecting the world from aliens by using the only resource available - people who have died only recently who can be considered expendable towards fighting off the aliens. Of course, not all has been revealed, but it's interesting nonetheless (now, if the plot would hurry up!)
> i would have to agree. but Battle Angel Alita was not only more like seeking her humanity, but more like trying to find out who she is.
Yes, she spends most of the series working on it. If you have followed Martian Memory (the PSX game) I think most of Last Order follows that storyline, so if it continues on she should eventually realise who she is and where she came from (and why she was a cyborg at such a young age).
- PC
Saturday, September 24, 2005
I want to thank everyone for the followup comments to my initial thread. It is good to see others viewpoints on topics such as these.
- RtrentC
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
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