2003 became a benchmark for Alita fans when Viz published the first part of Yukito Kishiro's alternative vision of Battle Angel Alita, which picks up where Angel of Ascension left off and proceeds to rewrite history...

For those unfamiliar with the Battle Angel mythos, the story revolves around a cyborg named Alita, who was found by kindly scientist Doc Ido amongst the Scrapyard, a city built with the refuse from the floating city Tiphares. Alita soon discovers that the world Ido introduces her to is violent and bleak, but a chance encounter with a psychotic villain unlocks part of Alita's memory, as well as her incredible Panzer Kunst fighting technique. From hereon in she resolves to put her talents to good use, whilst she struggles to reclaim her past.

The series spanned 9 volumes charting Alita's spiritual and emotional growth, and rarely has a series managed to strike the balance of futuristic violence, human drama and pathos with such skill and emotion. The final volume was written with Kishiro in very ill health, and was somewhat rushed (personally I would never have known without being told). Upon recovering, the artist returned with an original new title called Aqua Knights, which was more comedic fare - ultimately though it was left unfinished as the lure of Alita proved too strong, and Kishiro returned to his masterpeice with the intention of improving upon it and adding new life to the series.

Last Orders was eagerly awaited. The series had survived the passage of time with a strong fanbase, and if anything had grown as an increasing number of Westerners were converted to the series. When Last Orders finally arrived, it was universally accepted as a success, and the series was revitalised.

Last Orders is a book written for fans of the original, and although it is possible to miss out on the other 9 volumes, you're enjoyment is improved tenfold with knowledge of the previous adventures. Not only are we rewarded with more detailed glimpses into Alita's past, we also get to re-experience old characters such as the diabolical (yet extremely hard to hate) Desty Nova, the driving force behind almost all of Alita's adventures to date. With such a rich back story to draw upon, it's nice to see that prior events permeate the series, and Alita is still driven by the love of the people she knew, and her most pressing concern is her friend and former Tuned operator (the Tuned being an army of Alita clones) Lou Colins, whose fate in this new timeline is unknown (although she is saved from expulsion via grabage drop in the original series).

Lou isn't the only remnant of the Tuned's past that haunts Alita - one of her android duplicates, named Sechs, has killed all but two of her fellow copies and is out to destroy the original in a bid to prove she is her own person and not a pale imitation.

Thankfully Kishiro has lost none of his subtlety, and both the art and the storyline are in fine form. New characters are introduced in the form of the children of Tiphares, and all is not well in the floating city - since Nova revealed the secret of Tiphaerian society, civil unrest has turned the paradise into hell, with the children fighting the remaining adults for survival, and in traditional Alita fashion its brutal and unsettling.

It's not hard to figure out why the series is so successful - Alita's journey is a parable for the human spirit, and that humanity is a state of mind as much (if not more than) an inherent part of our species. The series speaks with passion, power and conviction, and it would be criminal to miss out on one of the truly great stories of our time - little wonder the film rights have bought already. (Rumours persist that it's Fox...)

That Battle Angel has returned is enough to make me smile broadly for a week. That it has returned in such fine form is worthy of a party - if you've missed out on Alita thus far, then do yourself a favour and track it down. If you've read the series but don't have Last Orders, then you've really no excuses.

- Ross Liversidge

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