How Alita: Battle Angel Cracked the Anime Adaptation Formula

And why this doesn’t deserve to be her swan song.

Ok, Ok! We all know that when it comes to the adaptation of anime and manga, Hollywood (and even Japanese film studios) have been…wildly unsuccessful. (I’m looking at you, Dragonball Evolution, Ghost in the Shell, and Death Note!) So when I heard that Battle Angel Alita, or Gunnm, (a manga series that I was unfamiliar with at the time) was being adapted, I wrote it off as another dull and half-hearted attempt at capitalizing on an untapped industry. I mean, can you blame me? The only good Hollywood manga adaptation up until this point has been Edge of Tomorrow, based on All You Need is Kill, and that was a film that didn’t even advertise it was based on a manga. In addition to this, between the time of the first and second trailer, Alita had been pushed back twice by the studio before its final release date was secured. There was a part of me began to wonder if it was even going to come out.

Years before Alita was pushed back for the first time, it was already struggling to make its way to the big screen. In the late 1990s, circa. Titanic, James Cameron had already become enamored with the story of Gunnm, purchased the rights to the IP, and had already begun trying to bring her story to the big screen. It would be another 15 years, and passing the baton to a different director, Spy Kids and Sin City’s Robert Rodriguez, before the film was put into production. And even then, James did not let go of Alita, he stayed on as producer and co-screenwriter. The genuine passion for the character and the source material that James had, and continues to have, shines through in this film. This is something every other anime adaptation has been missing, people behind the project who actually care about the material.

(Compare this to Ghost in the Shell, made by a team of people who clearly did not care, or even attempt to understand the source material.)

While Alita: Battle Angel is the perfect storm of genres that I always find myself drawn to: cyberpunk, dystopian, coming-of-age, and science fiction, that alone was not enough to make me enjoy the movie. It had to do several things successfully: give me great action, a solid script, and most important of all, the visuals had to on point. I was glad when I found all three of these things to be present in the film, particularly the gorgeous visuals.

I’m not saying anything you didn’t already know here, it’s a James Cameron production, of course the visuals are stunning, but it’s more than that. Just like with Avatar, the CG visuals in this movie push the boundaries of what we thought CG was capable of, bringing Alita to life in a way that made her feel real, and alive. It was as if she was pulled right from the pages of the manga and yet, never once did I doubt that she belonged in the world, or thought she was out of place. In fact, the whole of Iron City felt like a very real and well realized. Weta Digital, the studio behind the impressive visuals, did a fantastic job with bringing that distinct cyberpunk feel of the city to life.

While Weta Digital brought her looks to life, what makes Alita feel authentic is Rosa’s performance. She brings such a quiet strength to the role, and a naïveté that made me root for Alita from the moment she opened her eyes. Seeing her journey, her coming-of-age, will mean a lot to many young girls (and boys!) who watch this movie. She represents that you can still me loving, and kind, but also kick some ass when it’s called for. (Not unlike another recent female superhero, Wonder Woman) Her relationship with Dr. Dyson Ido, and how it developed was heartwarming to watch. It’s something that we’ve seen before (Astro Boy and Pinocchio come to mind), however in this instance I found it to be more impactful. Unlike those stories, where the robot or the puppet are made, and see their creator as their father instantly, Alita gets to choose. She goes on her own journey, makes her own decisions, her own mistakes, and in the end she choses Ido as her family.

Now, this movie is not perfect. There were times during the movie where I felt myself losing interest. The runtime is just over 2 hours, but at times, it felt much longer than that. To be fair, it had a lot of ground to cover; ambitiously adapting around 2 1/2 volumes of the manga. So it’s no surprise that there were several story beats that had me believing the movie was finally winding down, only for it to keep going and leave me exasperated. Kingsman 2: The Golden Circle, a movie I did not like, had a similar pacing problem. The difference between the two? Battle Angel had a compelling story paired absolutely kick-ass action sequences and visuals that kept me engaged, even when I wanted them to wrap it up.

That’s genuinely the only issue I had — actually, wait. There’s one more thing. Hugo’s actor. Almost every time he spoke he managed to pull me out of the movie, something his completely CG love interest never did. He was the one weak link in an otherwise strong cast, and because of that it showed. (Note: I ended up watching the OVA this weekend and you know what? His character is annoying and out of place there as well, perhaps Keean Johnson was onto something with his performance.)

As the four day weekend comes to a close, Alita’s projected Box Office numbers are around $43m, with her taking the top spot above The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part and Happy Death Day 2U. This is good news for the Angel as many doubted she would even be able to hold her own this weekend. The road to making its rumored budget of $170-$200m back will be a long one, but possible with an assist from the international box office, where it is current going strong. (An estimated $93m!) Within the upcoming week Alita may very well come close to reaching its goal and securing a sequel.

And yes, Alita: Battle Angel deserves a sequel. It’s flaws aside, Alita gets so much right about the elusive anime adaptation and that alone is deserving of a continuation. You see, most adaptations have 3 main issues:

1. The team behind the film are not fans of the source material. They have no passion for the project and are only making the movie because they know that there’s a built in fanbase they can easily access for a moderate box office.
2. They bite off more than they can chew. I’m not sure what’s not clicking for studios but you have to adapt a story piece by piece, in manageable segments, if you want to have a chance at a decent adaptation. Would you adapt the entirety of the Harry Potter series in one movie? No, you wouldn’t because obviously that wouldn’t work. Manga series, especially long running ones, should be adapted volume by volume. In Alita’s case, it was the first two volumes, plus the Motorball elements pulled from later in the series.
3. They’re often not authentic to the series. They’ll twist a lead’s characterization (Goku in Dragonball Evolution), or change the themes of the story to fit western audiences (Ghost in the Shell), alienating the very fans they were trying access in the first place.

Now, these issues seem easy enough to address, but past adaptations have shown us this unfortunately, not the case. From what I can tell after watching the OVA and reading some chapters, these issues are for the most part, are not present in Alita. Cameron and Rodriguez have, to the shock of myself and many fans, come very close to achieving the elusive anime adaptation. On that basis alone, they should be allowed to continue their work on the franchise and make the sequel to Alita. They deserve to prove to a global audience the themes and stories within this genre can resonate with anyone, without having to compromise what made them so unique in the first place. If given the chance, I have high hopes that they’ll be able to. (I can’t say the same for the upcoming adaptation of Your Name., or god forbid, the much talked about Akira adaptation. )